|
READ THIS
The chapter begins with a long description of life amongst the littluns, a carefree life of pleasure but
nevertheless where the mental anguish of being separated from the adult world is beginning to show.
Jack reveals a new plan: to use war paint to camouflage his hunters when they hunt the pigs.
In the meantime, Ralph discovers to his horror that a ship is in sight on the horizon but that their fire has
gone out.
Into that scene of anguish comes Jack, excited by his first killing of a pig. In the ensuing argument, a
scuffle breaks out in which Jack breaks Piggy's glasses.
ON MASKS AND WAR-PAINT
Most savages were masks and war paint. Both serve similar functions.
Jack feels the need for war-paint because, he says, it camouflages him so that the pigs won't see him.
He believes that it isn't so much his smell but the sight of his pink skin and red hair that causes the pigs
to spot him and run.
Perhaps. But in the greater tapestry of the story, war-paint would serve another purpose. It enables
someone to hide behind a mask of many colours so that his emotions and his very person would be
hidden.
Basically, it would enable him to do things which he could otherwise not do.
We know, for instance, that initially Jack found it difficult to kill a pig. There was a sensitivity in him that
was admirable. It kept him almost human.
Immediately he dons his mask of war-paint, however, this sensitivity disappears. He kills his first pig, cuts
her throat and has her blood spill all over his hands. Afterwards he shows some sensitivity but it is now
just a slender veneer.
The mask will later allow him to stand up against Ralph, to stand up as a dictatorial leader. It will allow
him to cast aside all inhibitions and torture his victims, even murder them if need be.
It is also very difficult for the others to stand up against a masked figure, one whose face has all but
disappeared.
It is the muscles of the face that we all recognise. By watching these muscles, we can judge the emotions
of the person. But as soon as the muscles are hidden behind a mask of paint . . .
The donning of the mask, therefore, is a serious departure in the story. Things will never be the same
again.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
What is the purpose of the long introduction to this chapter, in which the humdrum activities of the children
are described? (4)
[Need help?]
The story so far has centred upon the activities of Ralph and Jack.
Each has his own passions: Ralph for rescue, Jack to kill a pig.
Nevertheless, there is another side to the story, i.e. the other children whose entire life is focussed on
playing and who do not care about the passions of the two leaders.
For these boys, there is just a slow cycle of life from day to day, where memories of the old world still
impinge but which are slowly disappearing as a factor in their lives.
|
The author refers continually to the mirage.
- What is the purpose of the mirage in the greater imagery of the story? (4)
[Need help?]
In one sense, the boy's entire existence has become a mirage. The world that they knew still exists but
only in taboos and hidden restrictions to which they still adhere.
That adult world is fading, however, and, like the mirage that appears in the heat of the day, fuzzes their
world so that no-one really knows what is real and what is fake.
|
The littlun Percival had early crawled into a shelter and stayed there for two days, talking, singing, and
crying, till they thought him batty and were faintly amused. Ever since then he had been peaked,
red-eyed, and miserable; a littlun who played little and cried often.
- Who are the "littluns"? Why is this name used for them? (4)
[Need help?]
The "littluns" are the little boys aged six and younger. They are the hangers-on who do nothing but
play and do not participate in the growing struggle all around them.
The name "littluns" is a contraction of "little one" and denotes an amorphous group of beings
who have no other names.
Their lack of identity is another way of indicating that they have no real meaning to the bigger boys.
|
- Why was Percival "peaked, red-eyed, and miserable"? (4)
[Need help?]
Percival is clearly the first of the boys to show the mental torture of being abandoned on this island.
He is "peaked", i.e. he has become sickly-looking, is red-eyed from crying a lot, and is no longer
happy.
In short, he is showing the early stages of mental withdrawal.
|
- Percival is the first hint that all is not well with the boys on the island. Explain. (4)
[Need help?]
The other boys all tend to laugh at Percival's withdrawal from their company, and his talking to himself and
his continual crying.
Nevertheless Percival is indeed showing signs that not all is well with the boys on the island. One can now
expect other things to start happening amongst the bigger boys too, such as a complete breakdown in
accepted norms of civilized behaviour.
The author, by looking at what is happening with the "littluns", is preparing us for bigger events
amongst the "bigguns".
|
The early part of the chapter speaks about things that have changed and things that have not changed
amongst the boys. Explain each. (6)
[Need help?]
The "littluns" still build sandcastles on the beach and play as if they are on holiday.
The bigger, bullying boys still hesitate to hurl stones directly at each other or injure the other because of
the adult taboos.
On the other hand, the "littluns" have come to accept chronic diarrhoea as a part of their daily lives.
And cleanliness is no longer a part of their lives. Indeed, they are now "filthily dirty".
|
Percival was mouse-coloured and had not been very attractive even to his mother.
- Explain what the author means by this. (3)
[Need help?]
A mother always thinks her own children are the best. If Percival was not very attractive "even to his
mother", it means he is pretty darn ugly!
|
|
