Chapter 5 Flashcards
incantation
a series of words said as a magic spell or charm.
pg 102 - Then the wail rose, remote and unearthly, and turned to an inarticulate gibbering. Percival Wemys Madison, of the Vicarage, Harcourt St. Anthony, lying in the long grass, was living through circumstances in which the incantation of his address was powerless to help him.
effigy
a crude dummy or image representing a hated person or group
pg 93 - At first he was a silent effigy of sorrow; but then the lamentation rose out of him, loud and sustained as the conch.
sagely
wisely
pg 129 - “So the pig-run must be somewhere in there.”
Ralph nodded. He pointed at the forest.
Everybody agreed, sagely.
inarticulate
incomprehensible; unable to speak with clarity
pg 96 - Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.
obtuseness
dullness; slowness to apprehend or perceive
pg 121 - On the other side of the island, swathed at midday with mirage, defended by the shield of the quiet lagoon, one might dream of rescue; but here, faced by the brute obtuseness of the ocean, the miles of division, one was clamped down, one was helpless, one was condemned, one was—
decorum
proper behavior, good taste; orderliness
pg 96 - “Nuts!”
That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.
chasms
deep openings or cracks
pg 114 - He was surrounded on all sides by chasms of empty air.
discursive
rambling, lacking order
pg 99 - The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter from the palms to the water and away along the beach, beyond night-sight.
interminable
without possibility of end; endless
pg 107/108 - An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter.
lamentation
the passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping
pg 93 - At first he was a silent effigy of sorrow; but then the lamentation rose out of him, loud and sustained as the conch.
