Lord of the Flies - Summary + Analysis

Question 1

Summarise the first 3 chapters

Answer 1

1.The boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash
2.They have a meeting and Ralph is elected chief, at Jack’s expense
3.Ralph, jack and Simon explore, and Jack nearly kills a piglet, but hesitates and it gets away
4.The littluns are afraid of a beast that one imagined.
5.Ralph uses Piggy’s glasses to light a fire for rescue. The fire gets out of control and a littlun is killed.
6.Ralph and Simon build shelters, but the rest of the boys are off hunting.
7.Ralph and Jack argue, and Simon goes off into the forest

Question 2

Summarise chapters 4-6

Answer 2

1.Ralph, Simon and Piggy see a ship, but Jack took the boys hunting and let the fire go out.
2.The hunters come back chanting about a pig being killed
3.Ralph and Jack argue about the fire. Jack hits Piggy, breaking his glasses.
4.They act out the hunt, Maurice pretends to be the pig whilst they dance and chant
5.The boys hold a meeting about the beast
6.A dead airman lands on the island, SamnEric think its the beast
7.The boys hunt the beast and find the Castle Rock

Question 3

Summarise chapters 7-9

Answer 3

1. Ralph injures a pig while hunting, the boys re enact the hunt and Robert gets hurt
2. Ralph, Roger and Jack climb the mountain in the dark to see the airman, and think its the beast
3. Jack’s tribe viciously kill a pig, they put its head on a stick as a gift for the beast
4. Simon finds the pig’s head covered in flies - the Lord of the Flies. He thinks it speaks to him, sees the airman and goes back to tell the boys the truth
5. Ralph and Piggy go to Jack’s feast and join in the tribe’s hunting dance
6. Simon stumbles in, and is killed as they thought he was the beast

Question 4

Summarise chapters 10-12

Answer 4

1. jack’s tribe attack Ralph’s group and seal Piggy’s glasses so they can light a fire
2. Ralph’s group try to get Piggy’s glasses back, but Sam n Eric are captured.
3. Roger pushes a boulder down a cliff, which pushes Piggy off a cliff, killing him
4. The tribe begins to hunt ralph, who runs into the forest to hide.
5. He finds the LotF and destroys it
6. Jack’s tribe rolls boulders at the thicket Ralph’s hiding in, then lights a fire to smoke him out
7. Ralph runs, and is chased, until they run into a naval officer, and are rescued.

Question 5

How are the choirboys shown to be evil from the beginning?

Answer 5

1.They march in step together
2.They are described as, “Something dark”. Showing the evil within them

Question 6

How is Piggy shown to be intelligent from the beginning?

Answer 6

He knew what a Conch shell was, and has the idea of using it to call others.

Question 7

How does the novel start off fairly optimistic?

Answer 7

1.Ralph is elected as chief, and everyone accepts it - even Jack.
2.This shows they are still trying to stick to a society they know - democracy
3.The boys feel excited as they go exploring, and feel triumphan when they reach the top, saying the island ‘belongs’ to them

Question 8

How is the island described as beautiful at the start?

Answer 8

Golding uses descriptive language to show the islands beauty.
The shore is ‘fledged with palm trees’ and a lagoon of ‘shimmering water’ reflects paradise, almost like the Garden of Eden

Question 9

How is danger and conflict hinted at in chapter 1?

Answer 9

1.Jack is humiliated when Ralph becomes leader instead of him.
2.Jack is annoyed when he fails to kill a piglet trapped in a creeper, he says “next time there would be no mercy”
3.The boys bully Piggy

Question 10

How is the island described as unfriendly at the start?

Answer 10

1.The heat is a ‘threatening weight’
2.The cocunuts are ‘skull-like’
3.Piggy’s knees are ‘scratched by thorns’

Question 11

How does Ralph try to sustain civilisation, and show leadership in chapter 2?

Answer 11

1.Ralph sets out rules for the boys based on school rules like ‘hands up’, as he tries to maintain civilisation
2. Ralph uses the Conch, a symbol of democracy as his method of leadership.

Question 12

How does Jack show his darker side after Ralph makes rules?

Answer 12

1.He gets excited to have rules, so he can punish anyone who breaks them.
2.This shows Jack wants rules to be able to control people - Hitler

Question 13

What are the first signs of fear in the novel?

Answer 13

1.A littlun says he saw a snak-like beast in the night
2.Ralph tries to explain that it’s not real, but the irrational fear becomes ‘ungraspable’. This shows their child like feelings

Question 14

How does Jack use the Littluns to gain power and undermine Ralph?

Answer 14

He says he’ll ‘look for the snake’ when hunting, which undermines Ralph’s authority, and uses the littluns’ fear to gain power.

Question 15

What symbol does the Conch play?

Answer 15

It is a symbol for democracy

Question 16

What symbol is the signal fire?

Answer 16

It is a symbol of the boy’s hope.

Question 17

How does the signal fire kill a littlun, and what effect does it have?

Answer 17

1.It gets out of control, as the boys decide to have fun instead
2.it burns out of control and kills a littlun
3.The boys ‘looked at eachother fearfull, unbelieving’. This shows they still have moral values
4.The death changes the atmosphere of one of adventure to one of danger

Question 18

How does Jack become more savage and barbaric ?

Answer 18

1.He ditches his school uniform, and only wars shorts and a ‘knife belt’.
2.His hair has grown longer, and he carries a sharp stick.
3.Jack throws his spear at a pig, but misses.
4.These show that he is no longer held back by the rules of his old life.

Question 19

How do the differences between Jack and Ralph become more obvious?