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READ THIS
A pilot from a stricken fighter-jet bails out high in the night sky and parachutes onto the island. His
parachute strings become entangled in the bush, preventing his limp body from being blown out to sea.
At dawn, Sam and Eric on fire duty wake up to see the parachute bulging in the morning light. Believing
it is the beast, they scamper back to the shelters to announce their terrifying news.
After a brief meeting, Ralph, Simon, Jack and some of his hunters go in search of the beast, scouring that
part of the island which they had never before explored.
In doing so, they arrived at the furthest point which Jack and his hunters decide would make a magnificent
fort.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE
A sliver of moon rose over the horizon, hardly large enough to make a path of light even when it sat right
down on the water; but there were other lights in the sky, that moved fast, winked, or went out, though
not even a faint popping came down from the battle fought at ten miles' height. But a sign came down
from the world of grown-ups, though at the time there was no child awake to read it. There was a sudden
bright explosion and a corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars. There was a speck
above the island, a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that hung with dangling limbs.
The changing winds of various altitudes took the figure where they would. Then, three miles up, the wind
steadied and bore it in a descending curve round the sky and swept it in a great slant across the reef and
the lagoon towards the mountain. The figure fell and crumpled among the blue flowers of the
mountain-side, but now there was a gentle breeze at this height too and the parachute flopped and banged
and pulled. So the figure, with feet that dragged behind it, slid up the mountain. Yard by yard, puff by puff,
the breeze hauled the figure through the blue flowers, over the boulders and red stones, till it lay huddled
among the shattered rocks of the mountain-top. Here the breeze was fitful and allowed the strings of the
parachute to tangle and festoon; and the figure sat, its helmeted head between its knees, held by a
complication of lines. When the breeze blew the lines would strain taut and some accident of this pull
lifted the head and chest upright so that the figure seemed to peer across the brow of the mountain.
Then, each time the wind dropped, the lines would slacken and the figure bow forward again, sinking its
head between its knees. So as the stars moved across the sky, the figure sat on the mountain-top and
bowed and sank and bowed again.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Not even a faint popping came down from the battle fought at ten miles' height.
- How high is ten miles? (2)
[Need help?]
Ten miles is about 53,000 feet -- or 16,000 metres -- which is approximately the height at which modern
long-haul passenger planes fly when travelling between continent and continent.
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But a sign came down from the world of grown-ups, though at the time there was no child awake to
read it."
- Why does the author speak of "a sign"? (6)
[Need help?]
The previous evening, catastrophe had overcome the boys. Jack and his hunters had allowed the signal
fire to go out. A ship had passed the island and, of course, could have rescued them.
The ensuing meeting had only increased tensions between Jack and Ralph, and renewed fears amongst
the boys that perhaps there was a beast on the island.
It seemed to Ralph, Simon and Piggy that their unity was collapsing. They longed for adult guidance,
believing that adults would know how to act in this situation.
They wished that the adults would send them a sign to guide them.
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- What is the significance of this particular sign? (4)
[Need help?]
The irony is that the adults do indeed send them a sign.
High overhead in the night sky, an aerial dog-fight takes place and a fighter plane is shot down.
The sign is therefore that the adult world itself is in turmoil, that the adults are busy killing each other.
It is certainly not a sign which will help the boys in any way but will in fact only cause further turmoil in their
already embroiled society.
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There was a sudden bright explosion and a corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and
stars. There was a speck above the island, a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that
hung with dangling limbs.
- Explain the "sudden bright explosion", the "corkscrew trail across the sky" and the
"figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute". (4)
[Need help?]
There has been an aerial dog-fight in the night sky ten miles high.
One of the fighter planes explodes, presumably hit by a rocket. Its flaming remains are out of control,
corkscrewing across the darkness.
The pilot has managed to press the eject button and he now falls earthward, hanging from the ropes of
a parachute.
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- Is the figure hanging from the parachute dead or alive? How do you know? (6)
[Need help?]
The parachutist is quite dead.
The author speaks of his hanging "with dangling limbs". The figure has no control over the
parachute, and falls crumpled onto the island.
He is then pulled by the wind, again making no resistance. Although he apparently sits up, this is merely
a trick of being pulled into a sitting position by the wind in the parachute.
When the wind ceases, the body flops down again, "sinking its head between its knees".
When the wind blows and the figure sits up, it "seemed to peer across the brow of the mountain".
Note that it only "seemed" to peer -- it did not actually peer.
Specific proof is the fact that the author refers to the pilot as "it" and not he or she. The parachutist
is nothing more than a corpse and is no longer a living being.
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The figure fell and crumpled among the blue flowers of the mountain-side.
- Explain the author's contrasting the image of the falling figure with the blue flowers. (6)
[Need help?]
From the very beginning of the story, the author has presented the island to us as a paradise, a Garden
of Eden. The flowers and the myriads of butterflies symbolise this.
Now the parachutist crumples into the blue flowers. This action destroys the paradise. Evil has entered
the picture.
The boys had asked for a sign and the response to their prayers is the sign of death, not only the death
of the parachutist but the death of their paradise.
Notice that the parachutist is pulled "through" the flowers, destroying them, crushing them,
destroying the paradise.
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Is there any reason why the somewhat lengthy passage describing the arrival of the pilot should have been
written as a single paragraph? (4)
[Need help?]
This, of course, is pure surmise but make sure you have a reasonable answer.
It is possible that the boys, having asked for a sign, get their answer. The sign appears in the night sky
and falls down onto their island.
It is a single sign and the action which constitutes this sign is therefore confined to a single paragraph.
Can you think of any other good reason?
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