The Island Flashcards
‘the scar’
Represents the impact of mankind on nature. The arrival of the boys on the island has ‘scarred’ it.
‘Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the awful unknown and menace.’
The ‘claws’ could be a reference to the beast. It links darkness to the best and fear. Golding makes it deliberately unclear who is narrating/who’s point of view this is from because the reader is not meant to know/he wants them to be confused. The word ‘full’ makes it seem as if fear has consumed everything.
‘High up among them bulging clouds thunder went off like a gun.’
The ‘thunder’ is pathetic fallacy it sets the scene and makes the mood seem dark and references the end of peace. The mention of a ‘gun’ foreshadows death (in the next chapter Simon dies). The simile alludes to just how loud the thunder is to the boys and how scary it is.
