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READ THIS
Jack decided to hunt down and even kill Ralph, his only known opposition. Ralph, however, was so well
concealed inside a thicket that there was just no way to reach him. Jack therefore chose to smoke him
out.
The fire went hopelessly out of control and destroyed the entire island. Ironically, however, it sent up a
vast smoke signal into the heavens, causing a British naval cutter to investigate and come to the boys'
rescue.
FIRE ON THE ISLAND
Fire served several purposes on the island.
Originally the boys made a fire on the mountain as a signal to passing ships in the hope that they would
be rescued. They also used this fire for cooking purposes.
Because it was inconvenient to traipse all the way to the top of the mountain to cook crab and shell fish,
however, many of the boys also made fires on the beaches, something that Ralph tried to stop because
it was too dangerous.
Fire also served as a comfort, especially after it was discovered that a beast dwelt on the island.
On the other hand, the fire could be destructive. When they made the very first fire on the mountain, the
boys put on far too much wood and the flames leapt out of control.
Although it did not destroy the entire island, it did nevertheless wipe out a massive swath through the bush
and, in doing so, killed a littlun. No sign of him was ever found.
The fire also served to be a divisive element. Ralph was hell bent on keeping the rescue fire going.
Unfortunately, however, the task of supervising it was left in the incapable hands of Jack and his hunters
who had other things on their minds.
Jack particularly believed himself to be losing face with the boys because of his inability to kill a pig.
Several months passed and still he had not brought home the promised meat.
His obsession to kill a pig therefore caused him to neglect the fire and he allowed it to go out at the very
moment that a ship passed by.
Jack's euphoria at killing his first pig was dampened by Ralph's accusations of neglect. As a result, an
ever deepening rift developed between the two boys which culminated with Jack's mutiny and establishing
his own tribe.
It was also the celebration of the fire and roasted pig which led to Simon's unfortunate slaying when he
was mistaken for the beast in the midst of mass hysteria during a thunder storm.
The irony, however, was that it was the very division associated with the fire which brought them rescue.
Jack attempted to smoke Ralph out prior to killing him and, in doing so, set the entire island on fire.
This turned out to be a rescue fire deluxe and caught the attention of a passing naval cutter. The boys
were therefore saved from utter disaster by this runaway fire designed purely to capture and kill Ralph.
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:
Ralph argued unconvincingly that they would let him alone; perhaps even make an outlaw of him. But
then the fatal unreasoning knowledge came to him again. The breaking of the conch and the deaths of
Piggy and Simon lay over the island like a vapour. These painted savages would go further and further.
Then there was that indefinable connection between himself and Jack; who therefore would never let him
alone; never.
- Would it have served Ralph to have been declared an outlaw? (4)
[Need help?]
Ralph had clearly been a good reader back at school and had read many adventure books.
He probably had in mind, therefore, adventure stories of outlaws in the Wild Wild West. Somehow these
outlaws never seemed to be captured and killed. Ralph's concept of the outlaw was therefore probably
just innocent fantasy.
In reality, Jack had declared him an outlaw and was determined to track him down and kill him. Being an
outlaw would certainly not have saved him.
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- What does the author mean when he says that "the fatal unreasoning knowledge came to him
again"? (4)
[Need help?]
The author probably had in mind the "unreasoning knowledge" which is called instinct. With
instinct, one does not have to reason things out. One simply knows. One simply has knowledge.
Instinctively Ralph knew that any attempt to reason with Jack would fail. Jack was so filled with bitterness
and hatred that he would always act on impulse and would act irrationally.
On the other hand, the author is probably also playing with the idea that Ralph found it difficult to think
rationally. Piggy had had that ability and Ralph had relied upon him. Now that Piggy was dead, Ralph felt
unutterably lost.
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- What is the significance of the breaking of the conch? (4)
[Need help?]
The conch had been the symbol of order. One had to hold the conch before one was even allowed to
speak at an assembly.
It also stood for Ralph's authority. It was Ralph who had found the conch, who had used it to call the very
first assembly. The boys had thereupon elected Ralph to be their chief because it had been he who had
held the conch.
The shattering of the conch therefore represented the destruction of Ralph's authority. More than this,
however, was that it represented the destruction of order and of the last vestige of civilization.
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- Why would Jack "never let him alone" ? (4)
[Need help?]
There was too much enmity between Jack and Ralph. Right at the beginning, Jack had thought he would
be elected chief because he had been the choir leader and therefore probably a prefect. Ralph's election
clearly caused indignant rage.
On several occasions Jack had attempted to persuade the boys to hold a new election and choose him,
but each time he had failed. Eventually Jack had simply mutinied and gone his own way.
He knew, however, that his following was based more on the boys' desire for fun and meat than upon
personal loyalty to him. Ralph was still regarded as owning the moral high ground.
Ralph therefore represented civilization and honour. Jack represented brute ambition and thuggery. And
for this, he hated Ralph. For this, he had to kill Ralph.
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But then he saw that the white face was bone and that the pig's skull grinned at him from the top of a
stick. He walked slowly into the middle of the clearing and looked steadily at the skull that gleamed as
white as ever the conch had done and seemed to jeer at him cynically. An inquisitive ant was busy in one
of the eye sockets but otherwise the thing was lifeless.
- What did the pig's skull symbolise in contrast to the conch? (4)
[Need help?]
The skull had originally been placed there as a sacrificial offering to the beast. It therefore represented
a bowing to the forces of evil, an honouring of the cult of Beelzebub -- the Lord of the Flies.
The conch, on the other hand, represented order and authority. One had to hold the conch before being
allowed to speak at an assembly. And, because Ralph was the designated holder of the conch, the conch
also represented Ralph's position of authority.
The skull therefore stood for chaos over order.
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- In what way has the skull usurped the conch? (4)
[Need help?]
The conch had now been destroyed, shattered into a thousand pieces with the death of Piggy. This
represented a destruction of civilized order.
On the other hand, it also represented the triumph of evil, and the conquest of might over reason.
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- There would appear to be an almost cynical replacement of the white conch with the white pig's skull.
Would you agree? (4)
[Need help?]
It would indeed appear to be somewhat cynical. Ralph and the conch stood for reason and order, of
things being done properly and in a civilized fashion.
The pig's skull represented the exact opposite: the loss of reason and the triumph of thuggery.
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- Is there any purpose in the comment, "An inquisitive ant was busy in one of the eye sockets but
otherwise the thing was lifeless"? (4)
[Need help?]
In many ways, the ant places the skull within its context.
The ant was totally indifferent to the boys and their petty squabbles. It merely scurried around looking for
food. The skull therefore represented only food. Nothing more and nothing less.
When the skull was found to have already been picked clean, the ant lost interest and scurried away
again. The skull was just a lifeless object which, for the ant, had been good for only one thing: food.
The boys, on the other hand, saw the skull as an object of worship which would hold the beast at bay.
The ant therefore stood for logic and reason, whereas the skull to the boys stood for some insane religious
belief.
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