Lord of the flies - Chapter 5 Flashcards
Simon’s description of the beast
‘maybe it’s only us’ - statement is ambiguous
Golding uses Simon to explain his theory of ‘mankind’s essential illness’
How is Ralph portrayed in chapter 5, specifically in comparison to Jack?
- opens the chapter with Ralph being repulsed by his own hygiene
- ‘Once more that evening Ralph had to adjust his value.. Piggy could think.’
–> Ralph’s internal struggle with leadership and recognition of Piggy’s intelligence - ‘The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.’
–> senses the decline into savagery - ‘Because rules are the only thing we’ve got’
–> desperate to maintain order
How is Jack portrayed in chapter 5, specifically in comparison to Ralph?
- believes hunting and food is the most important
- begins to bully the littluns, ‘Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!’
- says he is a hunter
- ‘Bollocks to the rules!’
–> doesn’t respect the conch or the assemblies - manipulates the littluns fear of the beast for his own power
–> ‘If there’s a beast we’ll hunt it down’
How does the power of the conch change in chapter 5?
’ “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it…We’ll be like animals”. “If you don’t blow, we’ll soon be animals anyways. I can’t see what they’re doing but I can hear” ‘
- hard time controlling, even though they voted him chief, conch’s power is weakening
- The influence of Jack’s savagery seems to have gotten to many of the other children
- Piggy suggests they have become animals already and the transformation of Jack’s group to savagery is apparent in the noises Piggy ‘hears’
What does Ralph say about the beast?
aims to dispel fears by discussing it openly at the meeting
- ‘We’ve got to talk about this fear and decide there’s nothing in it…then, when we’ve decided, we can start again and be careful about things like fire’
What does Piggy say about the beast?
gives scientific opinion
- ‘I know there isn’t no beast…but I know there isn’t no fear, either…Unless we get frightened of people.’
The Beast: symbolic purpose
- symbol of Jack’s growing power
- represents the terror and allure of the primordial desires for violence, power and savagery that lurk within every human soul = darkness of man’s heart
- parallel between the littluns’ fear of the beast rising from water and the emergence of savagery and violence rising from their own subconscious minds
‘Thing’s are breaking up. I don’t know why.’
Ralph is confused why it isn’t working like he had hoped on the island
Didn’t anticipate the decent int savagery that would build alongside Jack’s power
‘Who are you anyway?’
Jack openly challenges Ralph
Jack begins to openly defy Ralph in the assembly
How is the theme of decent into savagery shown in chapter 5?
‘scrambling’s, screams and laughter’
- Jack and his hunters begin to pull away from Ralph
‘they were chanting something’
What happens in chapter 5?
The evening of the day the ship passed by
- Ralph calls an assembly to put things right. He says the signal fire must be kept alight
- the meeting ends in chaos
What are the main themes in chapter 5?
Order and disorder
loss of innocence
power
leadership
fear
wisdom
What are the main symbols in chapter 5?
The conch
The beast
