Lord of the flies - Chapter 4

Question 1

Description of Roger and him throwing rocks at younger boys

Question 2

What happens in chapter 4?

Answer 2

more days later - day that the ship passes by
- Ralph sees a ship passing but the fire has gone out
- Jack has killed a pig, which they roast
- the boys have painted their faces. They dance chanting ‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.’

Question 3

What are the key themes in chapter 4?

Answer 3

Innocence and corruption
Good and evil
Civilisation and savagery
leadership

Question 4

What are the main symbols in chapter 4?

Answer 4

Fire
Piggy’s glasses
The pig hunt

Question 5

Jack’s new hunting strategy

Answer 5

Jack gathers the hunters to reveal his new hunting strategy:
using coloured clay and charcoal to camouflage their faces
Jack commands all his hunters, including Sam and Eric who are on fire duty, to join the hunt

Question 6

How does the boys appearance in chapter 4 suggest their decent into savagery and loss of civilisation?

Answer 6

• hair has grown very long
• adopted primitive behaviours, like the face-painting and hunting

Question 7

How is Jack’s violence towards Piggy shown in chapter 4?

Answer 7

‘Jack smacked Piggy’s head’
- acts violently towards Piggy
- breaks one of the lenses of Piggy’s glasses
- violence towards Piggy is physical and verbal

Question 8

‘Here the invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.’

Answer 8

‘old life’ - civilised world with civilised behaviour
‘parents…school…policemen…law’ - Roger is still being influenced by civilised society

Question 9

‘Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.’

Answer 9

‘Kill’ - focus word, monosyllabic, violent verbs
‘Cut her’ - adds savagery, enhances their bloodlust
Rhythmic - chant, mob/tribal behaviour

Question 10

‘His mind was crowded with memories…of the knowledge…that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.’

Answer 10

‘outwitted’ - smarter
‘like a long satisfying drink’ - simile, killing is being compared to something pleasurable, bloodlust, only way to be satisfy their bloodlust is by killing

Question 11

‘There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of baffling common sense.’

Answer 11

‘brilliant world of hunting’ - provokes the primal appeal of hunting
‘tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill’ - enjoyment of strategy, feeling of accomplishment that comes from success
‘‘world of baffling common sense’ - contrasting world of reason, logic and social order, how this is difficult and unappealing when pitted against the immediate gratification of primal instincts.
This quote highlights the polarity of Jack and Ralph and their differences in leadership focus