Lord of the Flies

Chapters 10-12

Chapter 10

• Reaction to Simon’s death – Ralph

• “”’That was murder.’” (156).– Honest and realistic – Self-hatred and excitement about what happened

» Realization of murder verses the feeling of uninhibited savagery

• “’I’m frightened. Of us’” (157).– Realizes the downfall of humanity and what they

have become

Chapter 10

• Reaction to Simon’s death – Piggy

• Denies the reality – “’It was dark. There was that- that bloody dance.

There was lightening and thunder and rain. We was scared!’” (156).

– Tries to rationalize their savage instincts – Simon asked for it crawling out of the forest

Chapter 10• Reaction to Simon’s death

– Jack

• “’- and then, the beast might try to come in. You remember how he crawled-…He came- disguised. He may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat. So watch; and be careful’” (160).

–No logic or common sense in regards to what happened

»Becomes paranoid »Uses fear of beast to enhance power and

control

Chapter 10

• Jack

– Power and influence shift to him • “The chief was sitting there, naked to the

waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him. The newly beaten and untied Wilfred was sniffing noisily in the background” (160).

Chapter 10

• Jack –Idol or god-like –Beats and tortures for no reason –The true nature of the beast

Chapter 10

• Ralph – “Ralph climbed on to the platform carefully.

The coarse grass was still worn away where the assembly used to sit; the fragile white conch still gleamed by the polished seat. Ralph sat down in the grass facing the chief’s seat and the conch” (155).

Chapter 10

• Ralph – Holds onto symbol of order and civilization

• Useless

– Signal fire doesn’t hold importance anymore – Once glasses gone, hope for rescue

completely lost – He is the outcast and enemy of Jack’s tribe

Chapter 10

• Preservation of Civilization– “Ralph tried indignantly to remember. There

was something good about a fire. Something overwhelmingly good” (163).

• Ralph not connected to civilization• Piggy still holds hope and advises Ralph why the

fire is important • Losing glasses is the last piece of civilization they

have

Chapter 11

• Civility & Ralph’s Tribe – “’Supposing we go, looking like we used to,

washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game’” (170).

• Remind them of their humanity and rescue

– “’But they’ll be painted! You know how it is. The others nodded. They understood only to well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought”(172).

• Will aggravate them- become violent

Chapter 11

• Conch

–Tool of authority or action, ineffective

–Tool of communication

»“’I say! You voted for me for chief. Didn’t you hear the conch?’” (176).

–Savages have lost that ability, respond with violence

Chapter 11

• Savagery • “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment,

leaned all his weight on the leaver…The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist…Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed. Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone” (180-181).

Chapter 11

• Savagery – Roger

• Single-handedly and calmly kills Piggy • Not erratic like Simon

– “The hangman’s horror clung round him”(182). » Roger has instinct for torture» Able to in Jack’s primitive, savage tribe

Chapter 11

• Ralph & Jack – First physical encounter

• Reluctant to fight to the death – Jack and the pig from chapter 1 – Love/hate relationship

• Ralph focuses on civility and rescue, overlooks the desire for food and the hunt

• He cannot understand Jack’s desire to connect with his animal side

– Ralph ceases to be human and becomes prey

Chapter 11

• Savagery – Evil has triumphed

• Spiritual and religious with death of Simon• Intellect and reason with death of Piggy • Rules and order with the conch

Chapter 12

• God verses evil– “He walked slowly into the middle of the

clearing and looked steadily at the skull that gleamed white as ever the conch had done and seemed to jeer at him cynically” (185).

• Universal struggle between good and evil • Skull has knowledge of the evil within us all • We must struggle to not let it dominate us

Chapter 12

• Savagery – “He squatted back on his heels and showed

his teeth at the wall of branches. He raised his spear, snarled a little, and waited” (194).

• Reverts to primitive self • Becoming the prey brings out his animal instincts • His violent actions are out of need for survival

– Retains his common sense• “The fire must be almost at the fruit trees- what

would they eat tomorrow” (198).

Chapter 12

• Rescue – Sees tribal signs of the officer

• Cap, buttons, anchor, gold leaves• His war paint

– Sees boys as “A semicircle of little boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands, were standing in the beach making no noise at all” (200).

• “’Fun and games’” (200)– Mirrors what the Lord of the Flies said to Simon – “’We are going to have fun on this island. Understand? We

are going to have fun on this island!’” (144).

Chapter 12

• Rescue – “A little boy who wore the remains of an

extraordinary black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his mind and stood still” (201).

• No dispute over who is “chief”• What he really is: little boy• What he is capable of: murder

Chapter 12

• Rescue – “’I should have thought that a pack of British

boys- would have been able to put up a better show than that…” (202).

• Officer ignorant as to the enormity and truth of the statement

• All humans and societies possess and display to varying degrees their deadly impulses

Chapter 12

• Rescue – Navel ship

• At its own larger scale war– Violence and evil within all humans