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READ THIS
A thunderstorm is brewing. Ralph and Piggy, finding themselves isolated, decide to join Jack's group in
order to participate in their feast.
The storm terrifies the boys. Jack calls them to form a circle and do their hunter dance. Into this circle
stumbles Simon . . .
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
There was a blink of bright light beyond the forest and the thunder exploded again so that a littlun started
to whine. Big drops of rain fell among them making individual sounds when they struck.
"Going to be a storm," said Ralph, "and you'll have rain like when we dropped here. Who's clever now?
Where are your shelters? What are you going to do about that?"
The hunters were looking uneasily at the sky, flinching from the stroke of the drops. A wave of
restlessness set the boys swaying and moving aimlessly. The flickering light became brighter and the
blows of the thunder were only just bearable. The littluns began to run about, screaming.
Jack leapt on to the sand.
"Do our dance! Come on! Dance!"
He ran stumbling through the thick sand to the open space of rock beyond the fire. Between the flashes
of lightning the air was dark and terrible; and the boys followed him, clamorously. Roger became the pig,
grunting and charging at Jack, who side-stepped. The hunters took their spears, the cooks took spits, and
the rest clubs of fire-wood. A circling movement developed and a chant. While Roger mimed the terror
of the pig, the littluns ran and jumped on the outside of the circle. Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of
the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were
glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable.
"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"
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:
There was a blink of bright light beyond the forest and the thunder exploded again so that a littlun
started to whine.
[Need help?]
A metaphor is a way of comparing one thing to another by saying that the one thing is the other.
For example, if one were to compare a person's anger to a storm, one could say something like this:
"His face was thunderous and dark, his eyes ready to fork lightning."
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- In what way is the appearance of this storm a useful metaphor to the events about to
unfold? (4)
[Need help?]
The storm is literally a thunder storm. On the other hand, the bizarre and evil events which are about to
happen are being compared to that storm.
The thunder storm therefore becomes the metaphor for the upheaval that is about to break out in the boys'
lives. And so, while a real storm is happening, a metaphorical storm erupts at the same time.
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- Why do all the littluns begin to whine? (2)
[Need help?]
The littluns are truly frightened by the storm. This is only the second storm since their arrival and they are
all outside. They have nowhere to go to seek shelter from the lightning. So they whimper and whine and
cry in fear.
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"Going to be a storm," said Ralph, "and you'll have rain like when we dropped here. Who's clever now?
Where are your shelters? What are you going to do about that?"
- What does Ralph mean when he asks the question, "Where are your
shelters?" (4)
[Need help?]
Back at the platform where they had originally set up camp, the boys had built shelters.
But that was the place where Ralph was chief. Jack won't go back there because, in doing so, he would
again have to relinquish leadership of the tribe to Ralph.
Down here on the beach, Jack was recognised as chief but he had no shelters to protect the boys.
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- There is a degree of irony in this question of Ralph's. Can you explain why? (4)
[Need help?]
We have come to understand that the shelters were not in fact very good at all. All the boys had built the
first one, then just a handful the second. The last shelter was in fact very rickety.
Indeed, Ralph had warned them at the time that it would be a disaster if another storm were to occur as
had happened on the night of their arrival.
Ralph was therefore very aware that his shelters would also not provide much protection from this storm.
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- Ralph is embarking on a bit of one-upmanship -- a little bit of tit for tat -- when he asks Jack,
"Who's clever now?". How is this so? (4)
[Need help?]
Jack appears to have successfully usurped the title of chief. His providing meat for everyone to eat is very
clever because it has united the tribe behind him.
On the other hand, he has lured everyone away from the safety of the shelters. If it rains, they will now
all get soaked.
Ralph can therefore not resist the temptation of bringing Jack down a peg or two. Jack might look clever
but everyone is going to suffer discomfort as a result.
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Jack leapt on to the sand. "Do our dance! Come on! Dance!"
- Why does Jack call on everyone to dance? (4)
[Need help?]
Dancing is a wonderful way of unifying everyone and making them forget their problems. It involves
everyone in the same activity and so brings about a sense of unity, safety and well-being.
The dance is also Jack's response to Ralph's jeering about not having shelters. By dancing, the boys will
forget about the rain and therefore will have no need for shelters.
It has been shown that such tribal dancing can do truly amazing things for the participants. Vigorous tribal
dancing can indeed lead to altered states of consciousness, in much the same way as a person who has
imbibed hallucinogenic drugs.
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- What is the purpose of the dance in the context of the tribe? (4)
[Need help?]
Jack's hunters had initially introduced the dance as a ritual for their group, a symbol of their togetherness.
With the struggle for leadership and the threat of the storm, however, the dance becomes a vital way of
cementing Jack's authority over the whole tribe.
In other words, the entire tribe will now become an extension of Jack's hunting group. The dance will
therefore instill a feeling of belonging amongst all the boys.
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Roger became the pig, grunting and charging at Jack, who side-stepped.
- What is the purpose of Roger acting the part of the pig? (4)
[Need help?]
This is a form of role-play, is it not? As the boys dance in celebration of killing a pig, Roger plays the role
of that pig.
It is, of course, a dangerous role to play. Role-play has the danger of seeming real and thereupon
becoming real.
Roger is therefore in serious danger of the boys believing that he is truly a pig and thereby getting himself
seriously hurt.
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- This action would soon have devastating consequences. How? (4)
[Need help?]
Very soon Simon would come out of the forest to tell them of his discovery of the identity of the beast.
In the dark, he would blunder into the centre of the dancing circle and would be mistaken for the beast.
The boys would thereupon beat him to death, thinking they were killing the beast.
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