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| Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik! Original document contains a graphic at this position!
Chapter
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Events
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Themes
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The boys’ reactions
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Plane crash on a tropical island; Ralph and Piggy find a conch, blow it and
call other boys;
boys vote Ralph for their chief; Jack doesn’t dare to kill a
pig
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- Beauty of the island
- Glamour like a paradise
- Leadership
- Friendship
- Survival
- What it means to kill
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They enjoy freedom, especially Ralph; games, adventure, fun,
friendship
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- II.
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Boys build fire on the mountain’s top to get rescued; little ones are
afraid of an imaginary beast; due to their carelessness they burn down a big
part of the island; a small boy is missed
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- • Rules
- First signs of brutality (grabbing Piggy’s
glasses)
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Small boys are afraid of the beast and older ones not really
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- III.
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Jack tries to kill a pig but fails; Ralph & Simon build shelters for
protection against rain; first quarrel between Ralph & Jack;
Simon discovers a secret place in a clearing in the jungle where he can
hide;
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- Fire is a symbol for civilization and protection
but also for danger
- Jack enjoys hunting
- Nobody supports Ralph in building the huts
→ People are selfish
- Jack’s indifferent to other boys’
ideas
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Boys think that Simon is batty; he’s a dreamer and a bit strange to
them; Jack is angry because he failed; Ralph is frustrated; Fear also comes up
to the older ones; selfishness
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- IV.
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Little ones are quite happy and don’t miss their parents; they are
still aware of the rules of civilization (Roger teases a little boy); Jack
paints his face → camouflage; ship passes but
the fire is out because some boys don’t obey the rules; Jack kills a pig
→ enjoys killing; first real conflict; Jack
knocks Piggy down and breaks one glass of his specs; Jack doesn’t accept
criticism; they roast the pig and react the killing scene
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- • Leadership
→ 2 different types of leaders (Jack &
Ralph)
- Change from civilized schoolboys to painted &
long-haired savages
- They feel hidden behind their masks
- Gap between hard work and fun
- Violence and cruelty are
increasing
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Jack can’t stand criticism; Ralph changes the sides (feels sorry for
piggy)
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Ralph wants the boys to talk about their fears because the little ones are
afraid of a beast;
Jack attacks Ralph rules and the assembly breaks up; rules weren’t
obeyed;
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- Teamwork → they
ought to share the work
- Ralph has got the makings of a good leader
(→repeat things, short and simple, knows what
is important)
- The original sin
- The power of fear (difficulty of fighting against
irrational fear
- Breaking up the rules
→ split up →
chaos
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Ralph begins to behave like an adult; he feels the burden of
responsibility;
Jack is aggressive;
Ralph almost wants to renounce to his leadership
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Dead man with a parachute lands on the island; Sam and Eric think
it’s the beast; Jack wants to hunt it; they search for the beast
→ tension between Ralph and Jack;
They find “castle rock”
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- Increasing fear
- Hunger for hunting
- Tension and conflict
- Leadership gets more difficult to
Ralph
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Boys are annoyed of Ralph → they think
Ralph behaves too much like a grown-up; Ralph feels tired of responsibility
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- VII.
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Ralph is day-dreaming and he hits a bore →
proud;
They play a mock-hunt → during that they
hurt Roger; they climb up the mountain to the beast & see a bulging ape
→ flee in terror
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- Irony: the beast (parachutist) they fear is
harmless
- Hatred and competition
- Antagonism between Ralph and Jack
- Fear, bloodlust & violence
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Jack tries to dominate and he gets more and more aggressive; Ralph misses
his home;
He realises that they gradually turn into savages
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This time Jack is calling a meeting → he
wants to replace Ralph; Jack behaves like a bully because he has split up their
small community; Jack and his hunters put a sow-head on a stick as a sacrifice
to appease the beast;
Jack invites to a feast; Simon has a fit of epileptic
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- Difference between “leader” and
“chief”
- Lord of the Flies = devil = Satan
- Evil is inside of all of us
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Jack is hurt first because Ralph is voted as chief again; with the painted
faces the hunters feel like hidden; Simon understands that there’s evil
inside of human beings
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Simon discovers the parachutist; Jack has a feast again
→ mock hunt; in the frenzy Simon is mistaken
for the beast → they kill him; Simon’s
body is washed out
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- • Power and authority
- Violence
- Murder and cruelty
- Rituals
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Jack is like a dictator and is demagogic; the hunter’s chant and
dance turn to a ritual dance; Simon discovers the truth, but doesn’t
succeed in informing the others; Jack is the leader now and treats the others as
his subjects;
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- X.
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Ralph cannot admit that they joined the ritual; Jack controls his group;
hunters steal Piggy’s specs → fire; Jack
and his hunters have an own territory on the island, castle rock
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- • Brutality
- The savages take what they need without taking
care of others
- No rules, 2 groups caused by Jack’s
incompetence
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Ralph and Piggy refuse to admit their guilt; they have a bad conscience;
Ralph is longing for security; Jack establishes his authority
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- XI.
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Ralph and the others realise that Piggy’s specs have been stolen
→ they want to get it back and go to castle
rock; the savages refuse to give the specs back; during the fight between Ralph
and Jack, Roger kills Piggy by purpose and also splits the conch; Samneric are
kidnapped
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- • No fairness between the groups
- Ralph’s group understands the liberation
into savagery that the concealing paint brought
- No stop at killing human-beings (Roger kills
Piggy) → whereas Simon’s death was more
or less by accident, Piggy’s death was murder
- Symbol of authority and rules, the conch, is
broken
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Ralph is alone after all; Piggy needs the conch to be respected; Roger is
the cruellest of all the boys; Jack feels indifferent about Piggy
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- XII.
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Ralph tries to contact Samneric, who have already joined Jack’s
tribe;
The savages plan to chase and kill Ralph →
Ralph flees into the jungle; Jack burns the jungle to catch Ralph
→ Ralph gets to the beach;
Naval officer finds the island due to the big jungle fire
→ get rescued
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- No signs of civilization anymore
→ no mercy
- Torture made Samneric to speak and betray
Ralph
- Irony of the officer: he asks if they were
playing war
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Samneric have to obey Jack and join his tribe; Ralph is alone and Jack and
his tribe want to kill him;
When the naval officer asks for the chief of the boys and Ralph answers,
Jack is astonished
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Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik! Original document contains a graphic at this position!
Ralph:
Ralph is described as a 12-year-old, handsome boy, very likeable. Already
from the beginning he shows makings of a leader. Therefore he gets voted for the
leader, although he didn’t seek for a leadership. He accepts the task that
he was chosen and wants to live up with it. He is smart, thinks optimistic, and
knows what’s important for the others. Ralph sticks to his ideas and
because of his fairness he is willing to share his leadership with
Jack.
He behaves sensibly and courageously and not a coward. As a chief he tries
to cheer the others up.
Another making of his leadership is that he has a lot of common sense,
rationality and responsibility. He knows that without rules they won’t
survive. Ralph soon realizes that fears are difficult to handle. The boy has
some natural authority, charisma and has a strong moral sense for what is wrong.
Simon’s murder causes a bad conscience in him and he also admits it.
As a good leader he cares for the welfare of the others and worries about
them.
Jack:
Jack has also the makings of a leader but just the opposite of Ralph.
Instead of being understanding he dominates his subjects and rules like a
dictator or even a tyrant (→ anarchy = chaos,
no rules, the strongest one dominates). He is egotistic and wants to control
others, and he doesn’t care for the welfare of the other boys.
Jack enjoys the admiration, for this reason he more or less likes the
situation on the island and so he doesn’t really want to be rescued
because in the world of the grown-ups he would be a normal 12-year-old boy
again.
He releases ruthlessness by his instincts, the power he gets corrupts him.
Jack envies Ralph’s chief position from the very beginning; however, at
the end he is neither a boy, nor a leader, but a tyrant, a savage chief
respectively. William Golding shows Jack’s evil inside at the beginning
when he and his choir appears like a dark creature or a snake.
Simon:
Simon is really shy and sensitive, just due to the reason that he has a
personality, which cannot express his ideas. The others don’t take him
seriously and treat him like a crazy outsider. Although he is friendly and
helpful nobody really accepts him because he is so batty and imaginative, that
you can say he lives in his own world.
In contrast to Piggy who is the rational type, who acts and thinks with his
brain, Simon has insight by his intuition, which can make him
courageous.
Simon is able to resist the devil’s temptations, although he lacks of
self-confidence, so he becomes a martyr who dies for the truth.
Roger:
At the beginning he is an introverted boy and not much different from the
others. However, soon it gets obvious that evil is inside of him. First he
teases one of the little ones by throwing stones at him, but he’s still
aware of the rules and the limits of civilization. Finally he turns to the
cruellest “savage” and is even able to kill Piggy by purpose. He
commits that murder without Jack’s order, but with his silent
agreement.
He enjoys hurting others and doesn’t feel guilty about it. Due to his
lack of moral scruples, he becomes a merciless torturer and Jack’s
“hangman”.
Piggy:
Piggy differs from the others, which is apparent from the beginning on. He
is a boy from working class, already causing a social difference between him and
the boys. Additionally he is handicapped by his illness. Nevertheless he is the
most intelligent of the boys and because of his common sense and his perceptive
and practical thinking he often knows what to do.
Although he seems more grown-up (mature) and quite wise the others
doesn’t respect him. Piggy cannot talk to the boys and sometimes Jack
teases him that much that he is unable to control himself. He has a scientific
view of life and trusts in rules and order, in Ralph.
Piggy bears the danger from Jack in his mind, but he underestimates it.
First he doesn’t believe in fears and beasts but later on fear also grips
him.
He knows exactly that Simon’s death was a murder but he tries to
suppress it. As already mentioned, Piggy lacks of intuition in contrast to
Simon.
Symbols:
Fire: Fire is an ambivalent symbol
because on the one hand it stands for danger but on the other hand it signifies
protection, secure and food.
Irony: Jacks jungle fire attracted the officer’s attention
Conch: The conch is a symbol for
belonging together and democratic order and society. It stands for fairness and
stability and actually the conch makes it possible to create a community in the
beginning.
Furthermore it signifies authority and civilization, and William Golding
shows that rules, stability and fairness can be easily broken.
Painted faces:
When the boys are painted they are deliberated from civilization, they
become more and more savages. They don’t have to obey rules and orders
anymore and can do what they want.
Dance and Chant:
The singing is important because it’s a sign for belonging together
and they can forget their fears. However, when they are all united in this crowd
nobody of them think for themselves anymore, which makes it easier for the
leader to control them.
Parachutist/The beast:
He is symbolic for the world of the grown-ups and that there is no
difference from the boys’ situation. “The adults world” is
even crueller.
The beast is actually the opposite of the conch and shows the dark side in
man.
Specs:
The specs are a symbol for intelligence because without intelligence
(specs) they wouldn’t be able to light a fire. For Jack Piggy’s
glasses strengthen his power because from the moment he has stolen them he
confirms his leadership.
Message:
The devil is inside of all human beings. Man makes progress in all sciences
but no progress in mind. They have never learned to live together peacefully.
Evil can destroy every community, no matter how unified they are.
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