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READ THIS
Ralph and Simon, together with Jack and his hunters, are scouring the island looking for some place in
which the beast could be hiding. They arrive at the place where the fire had been.
It is beginning to get dark. Jack goes forward to see if there's anything there and he sees . . .
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE
Roger and Ralph moved on, this time leaving Jack in the rear, for all his brave words. They came to the
flat top where the rock was hard to hands and knees.
A creature that bulged.
Ralph put his hand in the cold, soft ashes of the fire and smothered a cry. His hand and shoulder were
twitching from the unlooked-for contact. Green lights of nausea appeared for a moment and ate into the
darkness. Roger lay behind him and Jack's mouth was at his ear.
"Over there, where there used to be a gap in the rock. A sort of hump -- see?"
Ashes blew into Ralph's face from the dead fire. He could not see the gap or anything else, because the
green lights were opening again and growing, and the top of the mountain was sliding sideways.
Once more, from a distance, he heard Jack's whisper.
"Scared?"
Not scared so much as paralysed; hung up here immovable on the top of a diminishing, moving
mountain. Jack slid away from him, Roger bumped, fumbled with a hiss of breath, and passed onwards.
He heard them whispering.
"Can you see anything?"
"There -- "
In front of them, only three or four yards away, was a rock-like hump where no rock should be. Ralph
could hear a tiny chattering noise coming from somewhere -- perhaps from his own mouth. He bound
himself together with his will, fused his fear and loathing into a hatred, and stood up. He took two leaden
steps forward.
Behind them the sliver of moon had drawn clear of the horizon. Before them, something like a great ape
was sitting asleep with its head between its knees.
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:
Roger and Ralph moved on, this time leaving Jack in the rear, for all his brave words.
- Where are the boys when this scene unfolds? Why are they there? (4)
[Need help?]
The boys have climbed the mountain in search of the beast which they believe lives somewhere on the
island. Having visited Castle Rock and found it empty, they returned to the mountain where their signal
fire was always lit.
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- Comment on the irony in "for all his brave words". (4)
[Need help?]
During the entire day, there had been friction between Jack and Ralph. Jack believed that he and not
Ralph should have been leader, and so was continually attempting to find fault with Ralph by suggesting
that he was scared of the beast.
The irony is that, when they at last come to where the beast might be hiding, it is Jack who holds back and
allows Ralph and Roger to lead the way.
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A creature that bulged.
- What was this creature? Why did it bulge? (4)
[Need help?]
The creature was the body of the fighter pilot who had ejected from his aeroplane ten miles up and had
parachuted to safety.
He had landed on the island where the wind had pulled his parachute till the lines became entangled in
the bushes near the top of the mountain.
Now, as evening settled on the island, the wind gently puffed the parachute, causing it to bulge.
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Ashes blew into Ralph's face from the dead fire.
- What was the purpose of the fire on top of the mountain? Why was it now dead? (5)
[Need help?]
This is, of course, reference to the rescue fire which was supposed to have been kept burning on the top
of the mountain as a signal to any passing ship.
The twins had re-lit the fire at dawn, had then seen what they thought was the beast and had fled. The
fire had therefore been allowed to go out.
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Once more, from a distance, he heard Jack's whisper. "Scared?"
- Comment on the significance of Jack's question to Ralph. (4)
[Need help?]
During the entire day, there had been friction between Jack and Ralph. Jack believed that he and not
Ralph should have been leader, and so was continually attempting to find fault with Ralph by suggesting
that he was scared of the beast.
Now, as they reached the place where the beast might be hidden, Jack again asks Ralph if he is scared.
The truth, of course, is that Jack himself is also pretty scared -- possibly even more so.
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Behind them the sliver of moon had drawn clear of the horizon. Before them, something like a great
ape was sitting asleep with its head between its knees.
- Comment of the significance of the sliver of moon in the sky. (4)
[Need help?]
The moon is often associated with the creation of magical spells. The sliver of moon has an alchemist
property, allowing the magician to change substances from one thing to another, like changing common
salt into gold.
Here, under the magic of the moon, the mountain becomes transformed into the home of the beast, and
the dead body of the parachutist suddenly becomes a beast.
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- Why does the author describe the "beast" as "like a great ape" which was "sitting
asleep with its head between its knees"? (4)
[Need help?]
The beast was of course the corpse of the pilot, tangled up in his parachute lines. By now his flesh is
decaying, and his face is taking the appearance of a skull and no longer looking like a human being. It
could therefore appear to be "a great ape".
He has landed in a sitting position but, being dead, his head has slumped so that it rests between his
knees. When the wind blows and pulls the parachute, the body will be lifted into an upright position once
more.
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