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READ THIS
Ralph, Piggy, Sam and Eric decided to go to Castle Rock to plead with Jack and his tribe to return Piggy's
specs which they had stolen.
The meeting, however, ended in chaos. Instead of a civilized debate, Ralph and Jack became involved
in a fight, during which Sam and Eric were captured.
In a final act of sheer barbarism, Roger levered a massive rock on top of Piggy, knocking him off the cliff
and causing his body to smash onto the flat rock in the sea below.
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
"I'm trying to think. 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 -- "
He opened the flap of his cheek and looked at the twins.
"We could smarten up a bit and then go -- "
"We ought to take spears," said Sam. "Even Piggy."
" -- because we may need them."
"You haven't got the conch!"
Piggy held up the shell.
"You can take spears if you want but I shan't. What's the good? I'll have to be led like a dog, anyhow.
Yes, laugh. Go on, laugh. There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened?
What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered. And there was that other kid what had
a mark on his face. Who's seen him since we first come here?"
"Piggy! Stop a minute!"
"I got the conch. I'm going to that Jack Merridew an' tell him, I am."
"You'll get hurt."
"What can he do more than he has? I'll tell him what's what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I'll show
him the one thing he hasn't got."
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:
"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 -- "
- What is the purpose behind Ralph's decision to neaten up? (4)
[Need help?]
Ralph is of the belief that, if they were to look civilized, then they would be treated in a civilized way.
If only they could look neat again as they were when they arrived on the island, then perhaps Jack might
respond in like fashion and do the civilized thing of returning Piggy's specs.
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- Comment on the irony of Ralph's words, "After all we aren't savages really and being rescued isn't
a game -- " (2)
[Need help?]
Irony is when the exact opposite thing happens to the one expected.
Ralph claims that they are not savages and that being rescued isn't a game. The irony is that Jack and
his tribe are indeed savages and they far prefer playing a game than attempting to be rescued.
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He opened the flap of his cheek and looked at the twins.
- Why does Ralph open the flap on his cheek? What had happened for him to have the
flap? (4)
[Need help?]
Their camp had been attacked during the night when Jack and his thugs raided them to steal Piggy's
specs.
The irony is that Ralph became involved in a fight with Sam or Eric and it was one of them who gave him
a black eye, causing his eye to close over.
Now he needs to lift the swollen flap of skin so that he can see out of that eye.
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"You can take spears if you want but I shan't. What's the good? I'll have to be led like a dog,
anyhow."
- It was Sam who suggested that they needed to take spears. Was this idea a good
one? (4)
[Need help?]
Sam's logic was good: they might be attacked and they would therefore need spears with which to defend
themselves.
On the other hand, because they arrived with spears, Jack and his tribe believed they had arrived ready
for a fight.
One could, however, argue that either way there would have been a fight. It was quite possible that, if they
had arrived without spears, they would simply have been captured -- which seemed to have been Jack's
predominant idea.
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- What is the TONE of Piggy's words about being treated like a dog? (4)
[Need help?]
Piggy was being very sarcastic, sarcasm being the making of a statement which is essentially true but
which is said in a cutting tone.
It was perfectly true that Piggy was treated like a dog. What he said therefore was the truth. But there
was anger and hatred in his voice when he expressed this feeling. That is called sarcasm.
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- What was it that made the boys laugh at Piggy's description of himself as a dog? (4)
[Need help?]
Piggy had always been seen as the buffoon, the clown of the party. On the other hand, he always took
himself so seriously. Indeed, if he had been lighthearted, he might have been accepted and then his
wisdom might also have been accepted.
Now once again he was taking himself so seriously, and so his reference to himself as a dog made
everyone laugh and joke about him once more.
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"Young Simon was murdered. And there was that other kid what had a mark on his face. Who's seen
him since we first come here?"
- This is an important truth which Piggy announces. In what way is this so? (4)
[Need help?]
Up until now, the boys had attempted to repress the idea that the young kid with the mark on his face had
been burnt to death in the fire which their carelessness allowed to get out of control.
They had also been denying that any of them was in any way responsible for Simon's death -- even to
the extent of denying that Simon had even been there the previous night.
At last, however, Piggy admits it openly. The little boy had indeed died in the fire and it was also Simon
and not the beast whom they had killed the previous night.
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"What can he do more than he has? I'll tell him what's what. You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I'll
show him the one thing he hasn't got."
- What is meant by dramatic irony? (2)
[Need help?]
Dramatic irony occurs in a novel or a play when a character states a certain belief but where the reader
or the audience knows that the exact opposite would happen.
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- In what way is this statement of Piggy's an example of dramatic irony? (2)
[Need help?]
Piggy asks what could Jack do more than he had already done. The reality is that Jack could go much
further and kill Piggy.
The reader suspects that this will indeed happen, which makes Piggy's statement an example of dramatic
irony.
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Piggy wanted to carry the conch. "I'll show him the one thing he hasn't got," he said.
- What does Piggy mean by this? (4)
[Need help?]
Piggy still believes that the conch will be recognised as the symbol of authority. If he carries the conch,
then Jack will be forced to listen to him.
The reality, of course, is that Jack has long since given up recognising the conch as a symbol of anything.
He will certainly not listen to Piggy simply because he is carrying the shell.
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