Lord of the Flies

Question 1

Jack and Piggy - Essay Plan

Answer 1

1. Different incompatible traits.
2. Bully vs. victim
3. Jack’s jealousy of Ralph and Piggy
4. Differing priorities.
5. Jack’s belief in survival of the fittest

Question 2

Jack and Piggy - different incompatible traits quotes

Answer 2

1. ‘chapter chorister’
2. ‘“s’right”’
3. ‘short and very fat’
4. ‘dog-like’
5. ‘a fat lot you tried’

Question 3

Jack and Piggy - bully vs. victim quotes

Answer 3

1. ‘able at last to hit him’
2. ‘stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach’
   ‘Fatty’

Question 4

Jack and Piggy - Jack’s jealousy of Piggy and Ralph’s relationship quotes

Answer 4

1. ‘that’s right, keep Piggy out of danger’

2. ‘musn’t let anything happen to Piggy, must we?’

Question 5

Jack and Piggy - differing priorities quotes

Answer 5

1. Piggy ‘cradled the conch’

2. ‘Conch! Conch! We don’t need no conch!’

Question 6

Jack and Piggy - Jack’s belief in the survival of the fittest quotes

Answer 6

1. ‘beastie’
2. ‘shucks to the littl’uns’
3. ‘you’re no good for a job like this’

Question 7

Ralph and Jack - Essay plan

Answer 7

1. First impression and early friendship
2. Division in priorities
3. Power struggle
4. the hunters form their own tribe
5. the hunt for Ralph

Question 8

Ralph and Jack - first impressions and early friendships quotes

Answer 8

1. ‘the choir belongs to you, of course’
2. ‘smiled at each other with shy liking’
3. ‘they were lifted up; they were friends’

Question 9

Ralph and Jack - division in priorities quotes

Answer 9

1. ‘Now the antagonism was audible’
2. ‘they both pushed their anger away’
3. ‘You and your fire!’ - ‘all you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’
4. ‘You let the fire out!’
5. ‘Not even Ralph knew how a link between him and Jack had been snapped and fastened elsewhere’

Question 10

Ralph and Jack - power struggle quotes

Answer 10

1. ‘Bollocks to the rules!’
2. ‘If you’re frightened of course-‘
3. ‘Who wants Ralph not to be chief?’
4. ‘I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you’

Question 11

Ralph and Jack - the hunters form their own tribe quotes

Answer 11

1. ’ Jack sat there garlanded like an idol’
2. ‘terror’
3. ‘Chief’
4. ‘He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief’

Question 12

Ralph and Jack - the hunt for Ralph quotes

Answer 12

1. ’ “I’ll tell him what’s what” ‘
2. ‘They’re going to do you’
3. ‘viciously with full intention’
4. ‘Who’s boss here? I am, Ralph said loudly’

Question 13

Context -psychology

Answer 13

> Ideas from psychology about rational and irrational thought are placed in context by Golding.
Rational thought(expressed at first by Piggy and then by Ralph) leads to civilised behaviour, such as the conch and meetings.
Irrational thought leads ultimately to savagery, such as the killing of the sow and destruction of the fruit trees.

Question 14

Writing about evil

Answer 14

> Golding experienced WW2 and viewed it as a catalyst that released an already present evil - the original sinfulness of mankind.
This trait he saw as fundamental , universal and permanent, able to emerge at any time and under any conditions.
Golding viewed the children as potentially evil and sadistic.
In this novel, we see stark examples of their cruelty - Jack mocks Piggy and is cruel to him for the first chapter.
When Piggy suggests he can help explore the island, Jack declares ‘We don’t want you’ (1.21).
Later on, Roger is cruel to the littl’uns and is willing to torture the twins.

Question 15

Ralph and Piggy Essay Plan

Answer 15

1. First Meeting
2. Jack as an intermediary
3. Working together
4. Death of Piggy

Question 16

Ralph and Piggy - First Meeting quotes

Answer 16

> ‘The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of acquaintance was not made’.
Ralph ‘machine-gunned Piggy’.
Ralph ‘tries not to be too obviously uninterested’.
‘Ralph, looking with more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed’.

Question 17

Ralph and Piggy - jack as an intermediary quotes

Answer 17

> ‘You and your blood Jack Merridew’
‘Shrank to the other side of Ralph.
‘fastened’
‘Oh lord! Oh no! Piggy gripped Ralph’s arm’ - when R mentions giving up leadership.

Question 18

Ralph and Piggy - working together quotes

Answer 18

> ‘I can’t think, not like Piggy’
Ralph ‘spoke despairingly, out of the new understanding that Piggy had given him’.
‘When (Piggy) understood how far Ralph had gone towards accepting him, he flushed pinkly with pride’.
‘held out th econch to Piggy who flushed, this time with pride’.

Question 19

Ralph and Piggy - death of Piggy quotes

Answer 19

> ‘That was murder’. ‘You stop it! said Piggy, shrilly. What good’re you doing talking like that?’
‘you keep right close to me’
‘Ralph wept for…the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.’

Question 20

Freudian’s Psychological Theory - the super ego

Answer 20

> Piggy.
Each stage is processed through Freud’s concept of the human mind as a three tier system consisting of the superego, the ego, and the id.
The super ego functions at a conscious level. It serves as a type of screening centre for what is going on. It is at this level that society and parental guidance is weighed against personal pleasure and gain as directed by ones id.
Obviously, this puts in motion situations ripe for conflict.

Question 21

Freudian’s Psychological Theory - ego

Answer 21

> Ralph.
Much like a judge in a trial, once experiences are processed through the superego and the id they fall into the ego to mediate a satisfactory outcome. >Originally, Freud used the word ego to mean a sense of self, but later revised it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgement, tolerance, reality testing, control, planning, defence, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.

Question 22

Freudian’s Psychological Theory - id

Answer 22

> Jack.
The egocentric centre of the human universe, Freud believed that within this one level, the id is constantly fighting to have our way in everything we undertake.

Question 23

Ralph

Answer 23

> Ralph is the chief and uses the conch to control meetings. He has the responsibility of looking after the other survivors.
He’s the main protagonist and represents order and civilisation ad Golding uses him to show a practical and rational approach to the boys’ problems.

Question 24

Civilisation and savagery - key quotes

Answer 24

> ‘What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?’ - Piggy pleads.
‘Jack stood up as he said this, the bloodied knife in his hand. The two boys faced each other. There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled common sense.’
‘Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong - we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-!’
‘We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s a meeting’.

Question 25

Civilisation and savagery intro

Answer 25

> Lord of the Flies shows the conflict between two different instincts - one wild and brutal, whilst the other civilised and moral.
Golding has used allegory in order to show the contrast between civilisation and savagery.
Ralph has been used to present order and leadership, whilst Jack represents savagery and the desire for power.
Throughout the novel, the split between the more civilised boys on the island and those that have become savage grows leading to two separate groups forming on the island.

Question 26

Civilisation and savagery tracker

Answer 26

> The shift from civilisation to savagery is a crucial theme, and the novel clearly traces a shift from one state to another.

1. Initially boys try to create civilised society, conch, democracy.
2. Violence increases, appearances dirtier, face paint, hunters chant.

Question 27

Civilisation and savagery - what happens as the boys become more savage?

Answer 27

> As the boys become more savage, the consequences of their actions become more serious:

• Simon’s death.
• Piggy’s death then Jack gloats ‘The conch is gone!’
• Samneric tortured.
• Ralph hunted.
• Fire on island.

Question 28

How does civilisation return to end of novel?

Answer 28

> The naval officer brings civilisation back to the island and is astonished that the boys have descended so far into savagery.

Question 29

External and internal conflict

Answer 29

> The literary concept of conflict:
-There are 2 types of conflict: external and internal.
There are many contrasting pairs in the novel.

Question 30

External conflict

Answer 30

> External conflict is when someone is up against another human, an animal, the forces of nature or anything else outside him/herself.
Examples:
-Ch.2, boy with birthmark first mentions a ‘beastie’.
-Ch. 3, Ralph struggles to build shelters against the forces of nature.

Question 31

Internal conflict

Answer 31

> Internal conflict is when a person struggles with forces within him/herself.
Examples:
-Ch.5, Simon struggles to articulate his thoughts and is not understood.
-Ch. 8, Ralph can’t think clearly because of the shutters coming down in his mind.

Question 32

The island, textbook

Answer 32

> The island itself can be seen as a symbol, representing Paradise or the Garden of Eden before it was corrupted by man and the original sin.
Remember Golding was a Christian and he intended to incorporate Christian ideas into his writing.
Parts of the island also become symbolic: e.g., the forest scar represents the corruption introduced by the boys and their plane.

Question 33

Piggy’s glasses, textbook

Answer 33

> As the means of lighting the fire, the glasses relate to civilisation, because they’re a tool and the use of tools is a sign of more advanced societies.
They can also be associated to intelligence through their connection to Piggy, who’s the most intelligent boy on the island.
Once stolen, they are no longer used for signal fires, but only for the more basic needs of warmth and cooking, and for violence in smoking Ralph out of the forest.

Question 34

This signal fire, textbook

Answer 34

> The fire represents hope, as it is the key for the boy’s rescue.
Fire is also symbolic on the island of things getting out of control, both when it is first lit and at the end of the novel.

Question 35

The beast, textbook

Answer 35

> The beast comes to symbolise the boy’s fears.
Initially, a ‘snake-thing’, it has clear connotations of evil (linking to the Garden of Eden, like the island itself).
Eventually, the beast is revealed to actually be a dead parachutist - a symbol of the destruction going in the outside world.

Question 36

Characters as symbols, textbook

Answer 36

> Golding clearly makes his characters symbolise key ideas in the text.
Piggy represents logic and clear rationality, Ralph is the symbol of order and civilisation, while Jack represents savagery.
In a reading of the text as a political allegory, Ralph represents democracy, while Jack stands for totalitarianism.
In a Freudian psychological reading, Jack represents id, Piggy the superego and Ralph the ego.

Question 37

Conch

Answer 37

> Piggy and Ralph spot a conch and decide to use it to call a meeting. The boys impose a “rule of the conch” on themselves, deciding that no one can speak unless he’s holding the conch.
As a representative of law and order, the conch helps Ralph get elected: “The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart” (1.240).
Even Jack respects the conch. After he fails to stage a coup, he “laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet” (8.74). He may not want to play by the rules, but he still respects the rules.
At the same time, the conch reminds us that the tools of power are fake. Crowns and flags are no more meaningful than this random shell that Ralph spots in the grass. It’s the meaning that people give them that matters. Rules are only powerful if people agree on them, and that’s why Ralph refuses to blow the conch when he knows that things are starting to break down: “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued” (5). Because he doesn’t blow the conch, its power holds.
But finally, the conch is broken when the Roger pushes a rock over a cliff. When the conch is broken, Jack runs forward screaming that now he can be chief. With no conch, power is once again up for grabs.
The conch ‘shattered’ into a million pieces.
The conch is definitely associated with Ralph, but it’s also associated with Piggy. Piggy’s the one who recognizes it and knows how to blow it; he’s the one who keeps returning to its power; and they both die at the same time.

Question 38

Fire

Answer 38

> Boy with birthmark incident.
‘You got your small fire all right’ P to J.
The fire becomes a a symbol, paradoxically, of both hope of rescue and of destruction.
Ironically, J’s fire at end leads to rescue.
If the boy’s world = symbol of real world then they’re not being rescued at all; they’re just going on to a larger scale of violence - to grow up into soldiers getting sent off to war.
Hence, rescue = destruction.

Question 39

The Glasses

Answer 39

> Symbol of advancement, innovation and discovery.
Offer sight which is a metaphor for knowledge.
Piggy knows things the other boys don’t like how to use conch, necessity for laws and order. When boys take his glasses he can’t see anything which is his greatest attribute. Only way he’s useful.
Without them, he’s useless - and so is the world he represents.
Fire.
They are the remaining relic of their old world so when they break that’s one more link to civilisation gone.
‘The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.’ 10.
Now no longer a symbol of reason and smarts but a symbol of just how far from civilisation the boys have come.

Question 40

The Pighunts

Answer 40

> Symbolise man’s capacity for destruction and violence.
In their bloodlust, the boys become vicious monsters.
It’s about exerting power over the helpless animal.
Later the boys act out the pighunts over and over, in a sort of play-acting ritual that takes a horrifying turn when Simon is beaten to death by a mob of excited boys.
‘Here, struck down by the heat, the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her. This dreadful eruption from an unknown world made her frantic; she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror […]. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them […].
At last the immediacy of the kill subsided. They boys drew back, and Jack stood up, holding out his hands.
“Look.”
He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks . . . (8.191-196).’

Question 41

Ralph’s Hair

Answer 41

> Important as the very first words of the novel are, “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down” (1.1). And it just keeps growing.
Here’s a small sampling of what that “idiot hair” (8) gets up to:
-Ralph’s eyes “yearned beneath the fringe of hair” (6)
-“He would like to have a pair of scissors and cut this hair—he flung the mass back—cut this filthy hair right back to half an inch (7.2)
-“His hair was full of dirt and tapped like the tendrils of a creeper” (12.1).
In particular, Ralph is constantly playing with that hair. He “pushes” his hair off of his face twelve times in the novel.
It’s meaningful, what it means is savagery. Ralph’s growing hair is a symbol for the gradual breakdown of law and order. It’s a reminder of just how far he is from civilization.

Question 42

Clothing

Answer 42

> Clothing is another relic of the old world.
Clothes can be ominous, as when Jack and his choir boys appear to be one long, dark creature as they travel in a pack wearing their black choir robes at the beginning.
At first, the boys need to wear their clothing to avoid getting sunburned (meaning they’re not yet ready for the full island lifestyle), but they’re soon running around almost naked, their skin and their minds having adapted to the surroundings.
We even see Ralph go from “the fair boy” to being “swarthy.”

Question 43

Allegory

Answer 43

> The island represents the whole world.
Ralph’s conch-led Parliament represents democratic government.
Jack’s tribalism represents autocratic government.
Piggy represents the forces of rationalism, science, and intellect—which get ignored at society’s peril.
Simon represents a kind of natural morality.

Question 44

The Beast

Answer 44

> The beast represents evil and darkness. But does it represent internal darkness, the evil in all of our hearts?Or does it represent an external savagery that civilization can save us from?
At first, the beast is nothing more than a product of the boys’ imaginations. The smaller boys are afraid of things they see at night; rather than be blindly afraid of The Great Unknown, they give their fear a name and a shape in their minds. You can’t defeat a “nothing,” but you can hunt and kill a “something.” And then an actual “something” does show up: the dead parachuting man, who seems to come in response to Ralph’s request for a “sign” from the adult world. It’s ironic that the best the adults can come up with is a man dead of their own violence: maybe the beast isn’t just confined to the island.
And now we start getting some real insight into the beast:
-Piggy basically says the beast is just fear of the unknown: “I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn’t no fear, either” (5.99).
-Simon, on the other hand, insists that the beast is “only us” (5.195). Well, it is: it’s a person that fell from the sky. -When the twins list off the horrible attributes of the creature they saw, they reveal that it has both “teeth” and “eyes”; Ralph and Jack see it as a giant ape.
-So the “beast” is a man-who-isn’t, the animal side in all of us
-But even that isn’t quite what Simon means. He’s talking about the beast being the darkness that is inside each and every one of us. If this is true, then, as the Lord of the Flies later suggests, it is absurd to think that the beast is something “you could hunt or kill” (8.337). If it’s inside all of us, not only can’t we hunt it, but we can never see it, never give it form, and never defeat it.

Question 45

Body Paint

Answer 45

> Jack is the first one because he figures out that his pig-prey keeps spotting him: “They see me, I think,” he says: “Something pink, under the trees” (4.2). And so he gets the bright idea to paint his face, “dazzle paint. Like things trying to look like something else” (4.24).
But the paint turns out to be more than camouflage. It doesn’t just make Jack look like something else; it actually turns him into something else. It turns him into a savage—and then the chief.
When his face is finished, “the mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (4.34). With the paint on his face, Jack isn’t choir-leader Jack anymore; he’s a savage ready to be chief.
And Jack isn’t the only one who has an inner savage. Eventually almost all the boys paint their faces, too. Ralph and his tiny band of still-civilized boys know that it’s just paint, but that doesn’t change its power. When they plan to go take Piggy’s glasses back from Jack, Eric hesitates: “But they’ll be painted! You know how it is.” And everyone does: “They understand only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought” (11.66).
Overall the paint “liberates” the boys into savagery, freeing them to act in a way that schools, parents, and policemen have never let them. In other words, the paint represents the savage within. It doesn’t disguise the boys’ true nature; it reveals it.

Question 46

Wounds

Answer 46

> From the moment the boys land on the island, we begin to see signs of destruction. Over and over we are told of the “scar” that the plane leaves in the greenery (1.3). The water they bathe in is “warmer than blood” (1). The boys leave “gashes” in the trees when they travel (1). The lightning is a “blue-white scar” and the thunder “the blow of a gigantic whip,” later a “sulphurous explosion” (9).

Question 47

Were the boys are violent by nature or are made violent by their unfortunate situation?

Answer 47

> If you’re trying to answer the big question of whether the boys are violent by nature or are made violent by their unfortunate situation, you could argue that (1) because the island/nature is already so violent (think the thunder and lightning), the boys couldn’t help but become part of its savagery when they arrived; or that (2) the boys are bringers of destruction, ruining the island paradise.

Question 48

Setting

Answer 48

> We don’t find out much about the scenery until the boys do, so we get the same thrill of exploration and satisfaction of discovery.
All we know when we start is that the boys have crash-landed into “the jungle” and Ralph is heading toward “the lagoon” (1.1). The shore of the lagoon is lined with palm trees, which sounds nice. But don’t be fooled by this false sense of security—there’s a lot more to the island than relaxing waterside views. Ralph looks out over the lagoon towards a “coral reef” and, beyond that, the “dark blue” of the “open sea.” Behind him is the “darkness of the forest proper” (1.50). Are you getting all this? We have a dark scary forest (danger), a bright “shimmering” lagoon (excitement), and a wide open sea (isolation).
When Ralph, Jack, and Simon get around to looking about, they head to the closest end of the island, only to find they can’t see around the corner because it’s a gradual curve.
They endeavour to climb the mountain, using a series of “pink rocks” that wind through “the looped fantasy of the forest creepers” and thinking that animals, not people, made this quasi-path. They come to an opening, and now that they are high above the rest of the island, excitedly push a rock that falls through the air and “smash[es] a deep hole in the canopy of the forest” (1).
When the boys can finally see the whole island, they notice on the far side “another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them.” A reef encloses one side of the island, about a mile away from and parallel to “their beach.” That’s right, “their” beach. Already they’ve started taking possession of the island. >The boys have taken advantage of the naturally occurring structures on the island (reefs, mountains, platforms) and imposed their own system on it. >Eventually they impose another human legacy on it: fire. The boys move seamlessly from working in harmony with the island to accidentally kind of, you know, burning it up.
By the end of the story, the island isn’t a deserted Eden; it’s a populated dystopia—just like, we think Golding is saying, every beautiful, natural place that man settles.

Question 49

Jack and Ralph - First impressions

Answer 49

> Potential tension over leadership election but overcome.
Like each other – lots in common.
‘The choir belongs to you, of course’. Shows that despite the potential tension over leadership election, Ralph tries to branch out to Jack by offering him another leadership role. Not only does it show that Ralph is trying to build a pleasant relationship with Jack, but also his trust in Jack.
‘Smiled at each other with shy liking’. Shows that they are united and like one another at this point.
‘They were lifted up: were friends.’ As they are exploring the island, they enjoy each other’s company and enjoy the fun of the island. However, this early friendship soon begins to fade.

Question 50

Jack and Ralph - Division in priorities

Answer 50

> Different priorities lead to tension.
Jack letting the fire out causes a rift.
‘Now the antagonism was audible’ – Ralph is complaining how he is the only one doing work, while Jack goes off to hunt.
‘They both pushed their anger away’ – for now, they can easily make up and reunite their friendship however each time the bond is broken, it becomes weaker and weaker until it eventually snaps.
‘You and your fire!’ - ‘All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’ - Both hate one another’s obsession, these different priorities are the primary cracks in their relationship that start to grow.
‘You let the fire out!’ - Ralph’s angry at Jack.
‘Not even Ralph knew how a link between him and Jack had been snapped and fastened elsewhere’.

Question 51

Jack and Ralph - Power struggle

Answer 51

> ‘Bollocks to the rules!’
‘If you’re frightened of course-‘. When approaching Castle Rock for the first time, Jack tries to undermine Ralph and present him as weak so that Jack himself seems more powerful and brave.
‘Who wants Ralph not to be chief?’ He repeats this. Challenging Ralph’s authority. Despite this he still goes off to start his own tribe.
‘I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you’ – shows it is all a game for Jack, emphasising the strong contrast between them.

Question 52

Jack and Ralph - hunters form their own tribe

Answer 52

> ‘Jack sat there garlanded like an idol’. Jack rules as a dictator, whilst Ralph is democratic.
Jack aligns with Roger, whilst Ralph and Piggy get closer. Roger is described as a ‘terror’. As though Jack is getting closer to evil so he can embrace it and distance himself even more from Ralph.
Jack is referred to as ‘Chief’ and has established a clear hierarchy in his tribe, contrasting to Ralph’s equality and fairness.
‘He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief.’

Question 53

Jack and Ralph - The hunt for Ralph

Answer 53

> Despite Jack’s actions, Ralph still intends to approach him as a civilised human and explain the seriousness of the situation. ‘I’ll tell him what’s what’.
‘They’re going to do you’ – Jack’s willing to go to all extremes in order to eliminate Ralph and gain absolute power. This shows his lack of care and his jealousy towards Ralph.
Ralph understood Jack’s hatred towards him but not to this extent.
His rule is through fear which conflicts with Ralph’s kindness.
Jack hurls his spear at Ralph, ‘viciously with full intention’ – this is no game.
‘Who’s boss here?’ ‘I am’,’ Ralph said loudly.

Question 54

Jack and Ralph - intro

Answer 54

> From the very start of the novel, Ralph and Jack are presented as enemies, who take two completely contrasting views on leadership.
Ralph symbolises a democracy and the good in life, whilst Jack stands for a dictatorship and evil within life. >The gap between these two worlds is so vast that nothing securely fastens a solid relationship between them and as the novel develops, Golding shows the darkness of man’s heart as Jack leads a hunt for not just a pig, but Ralph – a fellow human.

Question 55

Jack and Piggy - intro

Answer 55

From the very start of the novel, it is clear that Piggy and Jack shouldn’t get along and this idea is developed throughout the novel.
>Their characters are polar opposites and their relationship is immediately viewed as a ‘bully vs. victim’ situation.
>Golding has also used their differing priorities and ideologies to highlight even greater cracks in their bitter relationship.

Question 56

Jack and Piggy- different incompatible traits

Answer 56

>The very first chapter, The Sound of the Shell, introduces Piggy and Jack's different incompatible traits. 
>Whilst Jack arrives on the island as a 'chapter chorister' from a private boys school, Piggy is immediately introduced as a working-class boy through his language.
>Golding's use of abbreviated language in Piggy's dialogue shows he is not as well educated for example, Piggy says “s'right” rather than 'that's right'. Not only do the boys have differing backgrounds, but they also have contrasting appearances.
>Piggy is 'short and very fat' whereas Jack excels physically, hunting in a 'dog-like' manner. 
>Jack constantly uses Piggy's laziness and physical incapabilities against him and digs at him, saying 'a fat lot you tried'.
>Golding has created these two characters to be polar-opposites in order to emphasise their inability to get along and justify the tension between them.

Question 57

Jack and Piggy - bully vs. victim

Answer 57

> Golding has presented Jack and Piggy’s relationship as a ‘bully vs. victim’ situation. This further highlights the hate they feel towards each other.
Jack appears to find pleasure out of mocking Piggy and routinely takes his frustration out on him, in other words, Jack uses Piggy as a ‘scape-goat’.
After having argued and been embarrassed by Ralph for letting the fire out, Jack was ‘able at last to hit someone’; this ‘someone’ was Piggy. He ‘stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach’, breaking his glasses.
Jack also uses verbal bullying in addition to physical bullying as he constantly calls Piggy, ‘Fatty’. This name-calling is emphasised as Piggy isn’t even his real name so going one step further and calling him yet another demeaning name shows Jack’s total disrespect towards him.
Therefore, Golding presents their relationship as an almost hierarchy – Jack on the top, Piggy at the bottom.

Question 58

Jand Pi - J’s jealousy of R and P

Answer 58

> Golding suggests that Jack is also jealous of Piggy’s relationship with Ralph, increasing Jack’s resentment towards him.
Jack is a total power-freak and as Piggy gains power through Ralph and Ralph favours him, Jack begins to get jealous and frequently mocks Ralph’s bias towards Piggy.
He taunts ‘that’s right, keep Piggy out of danger’ and snaps ‘musn’t let anything happen to Piggy, must we?’ when Ralph insists Piggy stay behind rather than explore.
These jealous digs at Piggy, show Jack believes Piggy doesn’t deserve any attention or protection from Ralph and hence, suggests Jack sees him as irrelevant and undeserving.

Question 59

Jack and Piggy - differing priorities

Answer 59

> Throughout the novel, there’s a key contrast in Jack and Piggy’s priorities and philosophies, allowing Golding to display the tension and antagonism between them.
Piggy is constantly focused on the importance of the fire and rules, both of which Jack shows a care-free attitude towards.
Piggy ‘cradled the conch’ repeatedly at meetings however, in Beast From Air, Jack exclaims ‘Conch! Conch! We don’t need no conch!’.
The conch symbolises democracy, rules and civilisation so Jack’s disrespect towards it shows his autocratic and chaotic character and highlights his difference with Piggy, who values the conch and the right to speak.
Therefore, Golding creates a huge ideological contrast between them which appears too big for them to ever get along.

Question 60

J and P - Jack’s belief in the survival of the fittest

Answer 60

> One of Jack’s key beliefs is in the ‘survival of the fittest’ and Piggy doesn’t fit into this belief, which increases Jack’s hatred for him and prompts him to act callously towards Piggy’s lack of fitness.
Piggy is entitled to looking after the littl’uns from the very start and always attempts to voice their concerns, for example about their nightmares about the ‘beastie’. >However, Jack says ‘shucks to the littl’uns’ as he feels they are too dependent and unnecessary to their survival on the island.
Also at the very start of the book, Jack expresses his distaste and lack of concern for Piggy when they are about to go and explore the island, telling Piggy ‘you’re no good for a job like this’ and so for him to stay with the liitl’uns.
It is interesting how Golding has created Piggy’s character upon his asthma, his size and his intellect, knowing this would repel him from Jack’s interest and belief in the survival of the fittest.
Using this divide, Golding really emphasises the spite in their relationship and presents them as two separate worlds.

Question 61

J and P - conclusion

Answer 61

> Overall, Golding has shown the enormous disconnect between Jack and Piggy’s ideas and beliefs which, in turn, results in a disjointed and dysfunctional relationship between them.
With conflicting characters, Golding has made it clear that it is impossible for Piggy and Jack to ever get along and portrays their bitter sentiment for each other.

Question 62

Early sign of Roger’s character

Answer 62

> While Jack wants power because he likes the thought of being in charge, Roger wants power because he likes the idea of hurting others.
Even before things have started to go too wrong, we can tell. He and his buddy Maurice destroy the littluns’ sandcastles for no reason at all, “kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction” (4.7-8).
This goes way beyond not helping the kids pick fruit to straight up psycho behavior.

Question 63

Roger example of change from beginning to end

Answer 63

> Roger doesn’t become a murderous psychopath all at once.
At first, he’s held back by the “taboo of the old life” (4.14). While he throws rocks in little Henry’s general direction, he doesn’t actually throw them at the kid: “round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law” (4.14). For now. >By the end, Roger has given in. He’s the one who, with “delirious abandonment,” drops the rock that kills Piggy.

Question 64

Roger - quote for power

Answer 64

> Chapter 11. ‘Roger edged past the chief, only just avoiding pushing him with his shoulder. The yelling ceased, and Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority. (11.231)’.
Elected officials can get voted out of office; autocratic rulers get forced out of office—and they’re lucky if they survive.
When Roger just barely avoids pushing Jack, we get the feeling that there’s another power showdown on the way, and it’s not going to be pretty.

Question 65

Roger - timeline

Answer 65

> Introduced as a quiet and intense older boy, Roger eventually becomes a sadistic and brutal terrorist over the course of Lord of the Flies.
Midway through the book, Roger’s cruelty begins to surface in an episode where he terrorizes the littlun Henry by throwing rocks at him.
Still beholden to the rules of society, Roger leaves a safe distance between the rocks and the child, but we see his moral code beginning to crack.
As Jack gains power, Roger quickly understands that Jack’s brutality and willingness to commit violence will make him a powerful and effective leader.
When he learns that Jack plans to torture Wilfred for no apparent reason, he thinks about “the possibilities of irresponsible authority,” rather than trying to help Wilfred or find out Jack’s motivation.
Roger gives into the “delirious abandonment” of senseless violence when he releases the boulder that kills Piggy.
He then descends upon the twins, threatening to torture them. The next day, Samneric tell Ralph “You don’t know Roger. He’s a terror.”

Question 66

Roger - textbook timeline

Answer 66

> Roger and Maurice destroy the littluns’ sandcastles and kick sand into Percival’s eye. (Ch. 4, p.62).
Roger, concealed by a tree, teases a littlun by throwing stones aimed at land close by (Ch. 4, p.64-5).
Roger is the first person Jack shows the clay mask to (Ch. 4, p.65).
Roger acts “with a sense of delirious abandonment” when he brings about Piggy’s death. (Ch. 11, p. 200).
Roger has a stick sharpened ‘at both ends’ when the boys hunt Ralph. (Ch. 12, p. 211).

Question 67

ROGER - threatening nature

Answer 67

> “You couldn’t stop me coming if I wanted.” Roger casually threatens Robert in Chapter 10, when he comes upon Robert keeping watch at Castle Rock.
By this point, Roger has already been established as a sadistic and cruel boy. Robert explains the apparatus rigged to drop large boulders on enemies, which Roger finds exciting for its violence.
This conversation foreshadows Roger’s barbaric murder of Piggy in chapter 11 when he drops the boulder on Piggy.

Question 68

Views on Simon

Answer 68

> One of the boys portrayed, Simon, a boy who is kind and physically fragile expresses a deeper knowledge of the problems on the island that the other boys are unaware of.
There are many differing viewpoints on his role in the novel:
-One of these is that he is a biblical parallel; Simon portrays a saintly figure, and shows many of the qualities demonstrated by Jesus Christ.
-He demonstrates a strong connection with nature throughout, and also is shown to be a character of strong goodwill and kindness.

Question 69

Simon and the beast

Answer 69

> Simon possesses a deep knowledge and understanding about the truth of the island and the beast of which the other boys know not.
He also seems to posses many mystic qualities.
He is the first to understand truly that the beast is not a physical or material being, but something that lives within the boys.
Unlike piggy or Ralph, who are able to appreciate adult knowledge and understanding, Simon possesses the ability to see the darker side of knowledge.
For Simon, the eyes of the Pig’s head on the stick are “dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life”, meaning that adults believe nothing is ideal, therefore his realisation in itself is cynical– the beast lives within the children, making Simon distrust the human nature.
He knows the truth but is unable to get it across to the other boys; “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s’ essential illness”.

Question 70

What does Simon represent?

Answer 70

> The incarnation of goodness and saintliness.

Question 71

Simon - goodness

Answer 71

> He helps the littluns to get fruit, and ‘pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands’.
He also helps Piggy to get his glasses back when Jack has knocked them off, showing that he does not discriminate against Piggy because he is different but chooses to help him, even if this may cause him to suffer in the future.
These may indicate that Simon, though other characters may be thought of as “good” and kind, such as Piggy or Ralph, Simon shows no flaws at all.

Question 72

S quotes

Answer 72

> ‘As if it wasn’t a good island… As if…the beastie, the beastie or the snake-thing, was real. Remember?’Chapter 3
‘We used [Piggy’s] specs…He helped that way.’Chapter 2
‘I wanted–to go to a place…just a place I know. A place in the jungle.’ In Chapter 5
‘Maybe there is a beast… Maybe it’s only us.’ Chapter 5
‘You’ll get back all right. I think so, anyway.’Chapter 7

Question 73

Simon -ever-present

Answer 73

> Golding presents Simon as ever-present – Simon is described by Jack as ‘always about’ (3, 56).
He is loyal and is the only boy who helps Ralph with the third shelter.
However, he also spends time alone and seems to be the only boy who regularly seeks this. Simon is often regarded by critics as a prophet – even a saint or Christ-like figure.
He is the one who confronts the Lord of the Flies, who symbolises Jack’s evil. He is murdered bringing the truth back to the other boys.
Had he lived to tell them the truth, he would have destroyed Jack’s power.

Question 74

The chant

Answer 74

> ‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in’.
Rhythmic with a repetitive three-syllable chant.
Simplistic, losing ties to civilisation.

Question 75

Jack - Gift for the darkness

Answer 75

> Although Jack has said they are going to forget about the beast, the pig’s head is still left as a gift.
This can be symbolic as in Ancient history, primitive man left offerings to pagan gods. Jack’s tribe is primitive.
Jack represents the primal, instinctive part of us (allegory) this is clear early on but then develops in this chapter as he takes the other boys to ‘hunt and feast and have fun’.

Question 76

Jack’s leadership

Answer 76

> Jack is not named, only called ‘the Chief’, while the rest of the boys are simply the ‘tribe’ or ‘the savages’.
In the dictatorships of the 1930s and 1940s, enigmatic leaders such as Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were revered initially, while the people they led faced loss of individuality and strict discipline.

Question 77

Piggy - Fire on the mountain

Answer 77

> Piggy’s role is representative of reason.
While most of the boys see the potential for enjoyment of the fire, Piggy sees its’ possible dangers.
His manner and tone in this chapter are almost parental: ‘My! You’ve made a big heap, haven’t you?’
He also urges for the need for practical considerations, like shelters, after the cold of the previous night.

Question 78

Crowd Mentality

Answer 78

> Golding particularly chooses to show what happens when crowd mentality is combined with a loss of order and an increase in savagery.
Individuals are less distinct in a mob, leading them to feel absolved from blame for what the mob does.
E.g. When focusing on the hunt, the boys are unconcerned about being rescued.

Question 79

What issue does crowd mentality raise?

Answer 79

> The idea of crowd mentality raises the issue of individual responsibility within the novel.
It is important to be aware that Golding was influences by existentialism and its’ philosophers:
-They claimed that individuals were responsible for their own actions.
Only R accepts it - ‘That was murder.’

Question 80

Good and evil

Answer 80

> With Ralph’s government, good is always the dominant force.
When Jack forms his own tribe, evil takes control.
Only the naval officer’s intervention prevents its complete triumph over good.

Question 81

Jack and order

Answer 81

> Jack ignores agreed rules and routines many times in the novel, often explicitly challenging Ralph’s leadership.
One example is when he replies to Ralph’s demand for Piggy’s stolen specs with ‘Got to? Who says?’ C11.
This demonstrates Jack’s lack of concern for the order the boys have established on the island, his short sharp questions adding a mocking tone to his refusal to accept Ralph’s status as chief.