Lord of the Flies Flashcards
‘fair boy’
How does it contrast to Jack
Chapter 1
Ralph
The fact that the character has fair hair could show the innocence of Ralph as a character, as lighter colours are associated with purity, which contrasts the later description of Jack ‘his hair was red’ (also chapter 1) with the colour ‘red’ having associations with evil and the devil.
‘a mildness about his mouth’ ‘eyes that proclaimed no devil’
Chapter 1
Ralph
‘mildness’ - noun suggests kindness but also weakness, trustworthy, is exactly he how seems
Shows his innocence
It suggests that he has a good soul but might also suggests that he’s boring or no fun - doesn’t take any risks
Possibility - could suggest that he is not a devil but he is also not an angel or maybe suggests later on in the story his devil will “come out”
‘Now that the pallor of his faint was over, he was a skinny vivid little boy’
Chapter 1
Simon
How the boys base authority and power off of appearance, Simon is automatically seen as weak mentally because of his physical barriers.
Others consider him to be strange which sets him apart
Shows hes not physically strong
‘His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness’
Chapter 1 Jack Contrasts to the description of Ralph Instead of being handsome and having fair hair, he’s described as being ugly and having a crumpled face with freckles. This shows that Ralph and Jack are complete opposites, which could foreshadow future disagreements between them 'fair boy' 'fair haired boy'
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them”
Chapter 2
Jack agreeing with Ralph
‘Got to’ - imperative - indicates the urgency that if they don’t make rules and obey them, their society will fall apart -
It’s ironic as Jack and his - are the first to break the rules, they cause chaos and order to breakdown
‘Bollocks to the rules’ - Chapter 5
Also Jack interrupts when others are holding the conch and speaking showing more irony - ‘conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain’ - Chapter 2
Context
Golding a naval officer in WW2 ->rules, uniforms and status(like soldier and general - having someone in charge) keeps order
‘We’ll have to have ’Hands up’ like at school.’
Ralph
Chapter 2
Enforcing rules represents civilised manner and shows that boys are still civilised unlike later in the book
Ralph has the idea of when it is someone’s turn to speak you have to be holding the conch, and no one else can talk.
The conch symbolises order because the boys need to be holding the conch if they wish to speak. Without this rule on the island would be full of chaos. This rule shows how the boys are still civilised, unlike how they are later in the book, especially after the conch is destroyed which shows democracy ad order has been fully lost
‘Eyes … bolting and nearly mad’
Chapter 3
Jack
This is the first scene that really shows Jack descending into savagery, how his primal instincts and desires (or obsession) for hunting are slowly taking over him. He is keen to prove to himself and the others that he can catch the pig, since last time he couldn’t do it. I think that this shows the island can make the boys oblivious to a lot around them, making their own personal decisions on what’s important on the island.
Somewhat animalistic like a predator hunting to catch its prey
‘Dog-like’ ‘less a hunter than a furtive thing ‘ape-like’
Chapter 3
Jack
Zoomorphic simile
This animalistic imagery shows the transition from human into animal. Furthermore, it suggests the deterioration of their behaviour on the island.
As the boys spend more time on the island they begin to evolve into animalistic beings. As they become estranged from society Jack is less governed by the rules of society and gives into his desires. (1950s repression)
