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Select one chapter from Lord of the Flies and assess its importance to the novel as a whole. ? Lord of the Flies? is about what happens to a group of schoolboys when they are abandoned on an island following a plane crash. Chapter eight?
Gift for the Darkness? has much significance in the novel, as it is here that Simon converses with? The Lord of the Flies? . Jack separates himself from Ralph? s group, showing that Jack has now been consumed by evil.
The signal fire is moved and now there are two marked rival groups on the island, one belonging to Jack and the other Ralph. Chapter eight, ? Gift for the Darkness? , has many themes, one of the most prominent being the Beast, which is the boys? greatest fear. In chapter seven they had come across a dead parachutist and had believed it to be a beast. The beast represents the evil residing within everyone.
The Beast is used as a scapegoat by the boys to avoid self-knowledge. Golding uses the boys? daydreams to show their fears and desires. The Beast gives the boys? fear something to focus on.
Golding expresses various types of fears in the book and many are apparent in chapter eight. There is fear that all is not known concerning the Beast. ? The beast had teeth? and big black eyes. ? The boys did not actually see the Beast and are making this up. This only causes their fear to escalate except for Piggy?
s. He is by far the most intellectual and skeptical of the boys. He knows that the adult world and books would not abide by the legend of the? beastie? . Just after the only kill in chapter eight, the boys?
gradual degeneration into savages is obvious by their actions: ? Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands? then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks. ? This is almost a tribal ritual making a mask. The boys use masks to cover their identity and this allows them to kill. ?
He was safe from the shame or self-consciousness behind the mask? ? This illustrates that the mask somehow gives the boys a sense of security. ? Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green rushed out howling? ? From this quote it can be seen that the boys have totally lost their individuality and become like animals, almost indistinguishable from the other. Jack is also an example of the boys? need for civilisation.
They start off well; however, they degenerate into savages and lose all conscience and morals. The following quote illustrates this: ? Right up her ass! ? ? Did you hear? ? ? Did you hear what he said? ? ? Yeah, right up her ass! ?
The boys have lost the ability to decide between right and wrong. ? ? the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood. ? This quote shows that the boys feel excited and natural about hunting a pig whereas before they may have recoiled in horror at the thought. Golding sees evil as existing but undeveloped in human kind, this is the beast Simon comes to terms with.
Golding implies that it is not society that is evil and man that is good but it is the society that is good and man that is evil. Society with its rules and order is required to subdue man? s more evil and destructive nature. Jack represents a dictatorial and aggressive leader.
He constantly challenges Ralph? s leadership and takes advantage of Ralph? s democracy. ? I? ve called an assembly? , here Jack takes the initiative to call an assembly, and in this assembly he openly challenges Ralph for the second time. ? Who thinks Ralph ought?
t to be chief? ? and even after he has his own tribe he still tries to turn the boys against Ralph. Thus he shows his disapproval for democracy and love for dictatorship. Jack harbours emotions of anger and savagery.
He is first the leader of the choir, then the hunters and finally in chapter eight, the savages. There are some parts of the novel that show us they are, however savage and bloodthirsty, still very inexperienced and mentally immature. A good example to illustrate this is when Jack kills the sow that was supporting her piglets, if he carries on doing that there will be few pigs left on the island. His lack of foresight shows he is a boy playing a man? s game. ?
I? m not going to play any longer. Not with you. ? This shows that Jack regards the whole affair as a game whereas it has turned into a hysterical ritual and a fight for survival.
The long stay at the island has had an effect on Ralph as well as Jack: ? Ralph was puzzled by the shutter that flickered in his brain. There was something he wanted to say; then the shutter had come down. ? Ralph is suffering from amnesia, as he has been on the island for so long that his ordered thoughts have become entangled, he has to rely on Piggy to prompt him. Another important character in the novel is Simon.
He is the? mystic? and sees and understands things as they truly are. He is grossly undervalued by the boys, they think he is strange. However he displays abnormal sensitivity, as this quote shows, ? ?
maybe there is a beast? maybe it? s only us. ? The boys scorn this comment but Simon has touched the truth. Simon is saying that the beast is only made alive by them and by their toying of the idea. The boys are scared of what they do not know rather than what they do.
As the Beast represents something within them, they do not want to recognise it. The Lord of the Flies is another name for Beelzebub; the pig? s head symbolizes this. It is implied that the Devil has direct play in the boys? circumstances: ? And now that thing squats by the fire as though it didn?
t want us to be rescued-? This insinuates the Devil does not want the boys to leave the island. Beelzebub has a conversation with Simon: ? Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! ? This indicates the Beast is not a physical being. ?
You knew, didn? t you? I? m part of you? ? This suggests the problem the boys are facing is in their heads as oppose to it being physically around them. Golding uses imagery when the boys move the fire from the mountain to the beach.
This portrays the moving of the boys? loyalty from Ralph to Jack. Many objects also carry symbolism for example; Piggy? s glasses which represent clear sightedness and intelligence. When they are smashed it shows the boys crushing and rejecting logic and rationalisation. When Ralph said, ?
The beast had teeth? and big black eyes. ? Piggy takes off his glasses and cleans them. Piggy? s frequent cleaning of his glasses shows his desire for truth and knowledge. The island is a microcosm.
A microcosm is a miniature of the world. The? littles? represent ordinary people. The Scar represents man? s destruction.
Simon represents the? Christ? ? like figure and when he goes up the mountain it is almost Jesus? trip into the wilderness. Roger represents pure evil whereas Jack represents savagery and anarchy.
Roger gradually turns throughout the novel into a sadistic terrorist who revels on the pain of others. Where Jack acts in fury, Roger performs his treacheries with cool detachment. He appears to fully comprehend the evil of his actions. In contrast Ralph and his conch represent democracy and order. Even when the two rival tribes have separated the conch is still regarded in awe by members of both tribes: ? The group of boys looked at the white shell with affectionate respect. ?
When Jack raids Ralph and his tribe for fire, Piggy is sure Jack would go for the conch. The importance of chapter eight in the novel on a whole is vital. A lot of the events take place in the chapter hold great importance to the understanding of the characters in the novel. A good example would be when Jack is clearly breaking away from Ralph and his democracy and tribe. Some of the themes are developed in this chapter in particular the themes regarding the need for civilisation and fear of the Beast. In this chapter Simon has a very important conversation with the Lord of the Flies.
Golding uses this interview as an eerie way to unveil the theme of the novel, which is that the Beast is really? inside? everyone. However people would rather have fun than worry about anything else: ?
You know perfectly well you? ll only meet me down there so don? t try to escape! ? Golding expresses his opinion throughout the novel is that defects exist in any human society usually caused by flawed human nature. ? Lord of the Flies? , is a good story but apart from this it gives the reader new ideas and views to contemplate.
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