Chapter 12: Cry of the Hunters

"The island was scorched up like dead wood- Simon was dead- and Jack had... The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body... Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy." (p.202)

The reader is introduced at the beginning of the chapter to the fact that there is a hunting that is about to take place. Ralph has become an outcast and Jack's tribe intends to defeat him. Ralph hides himself in some ferns where he hopes the boys will not find him, but of course they do. First they throw boulders at him but ultimately resort to setting the island on fire, destroying their home. Ironically the fire does not lead to their demise but instead triumph.

Surprisingly this tragic story of how fast the sense of civilization can be lost has a positive outcome. In the midst of a full blown battle between Jack's tribe and Ralph, a naval officer arrives to rescue them. There had been a feeling of organization and rules at the beginning of the story as a result of the conch but overtime all order was lost as the boys began to give way to savage ideas. The boys had been very proper, but soon friends were lost and chaos pursued. Ralph is hinting at this towards the end of the story when he breaks down in sobs. When "civilization" arrives in the form of the boat there is a unanimous realization that things have clearly gotten out of hand and what the boys were "playing" was not a game but rather reality. Being put in a bad situation caused the evil to surface and and the boys to attack their friends without consequence. We realize that they are just kids and being put on this island is what caused them to act so horribly.

Ch. 11: Castle Rock (by Ben)

This chapter shows the valiant last stance of civilization trying to overcome savagery. After jack and his tribe raid the shelters with samneric and piggy and Ralph he took piggy’s glasses so that he could now have the power to make fire. Though through their best effort of trying to restore the fire, they fail,  Everything seems hopeless but then piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch for the final time and tells Ralph and samneric  that they should go up to the castle rock and demand jack that they give piggy his glasses back for they are rightfully his. Ralph decides to take the conch up to the rock in a desperate attempt to remind him what they once had, a civilized world.

 When they finally go up to the castle rock samneric go ahead of the rest of them  and end up captured. When Ralph and piggy go there jacks gang wont let them in. suddenly jack appears out of the forest and starts to immidietley fight with Ralph. The two duel for a long time then piggy comes in between them with the conch. He tries to tell both of them that they should stick to civilization and continue on with rules because it has now turned into pure savagery.

 While piggy was talking roger decides to end his rant and heaves a massive boulder striking piggy thus killing him and shatters the conch, at that one moment in the story all of the meanings of civilization have been crushed, piggy was the last connection with that way of life and the conch was the last symbol of that way of life.
- Ben M.

Chapter 11

“What d’you mean by it, eh?” Said the chief fiercely. “What d’you mean by coming with spears? What d’you mean by not joining my tribe” The prodding became rhythmic. (p. 182)

This quote is Jack talking to Sam and Eric about joining his tribe. After Ralph’s tribe confronted Jacks tribe about getting Piggy’s glasses back and fire. This confrontation turned into violence and eventually Piggy’s death. At this point in the book Jack is in full control of the island. He has almost all the boys who are stuck on the island in his tribe and is therefore respected by all of them. Jack has much control over his tribe and can easily make them do anything he asks promptly. As Jack realized the boys would do what he says he began to abuse this power. All of the young innocent boys have been turned into bloodthirsty savages. Since the boys have all seen what Jack is capable of they are scared of him and know that if they do not obey him their life is in jeopardy. As Jack recruits more boys to his tribe its is seen that he believes he can do anything he pleases including stealing Piggy’s glasses and Ralph’s fire. Jack becomes carried away by the fact that he can control everyone and shares that sense of power with his tribe leading to excessive violence started by his tribe. When Roger launches the large boulder over the cliff its out of shear anger and the feeling of great power. At the end of this chapter the author refers to Jack as “chief”. This further shows the complete power shift from Ralph to Jack. Throughout the book he slowly gains this control until he has received full recognition as chief of the islands.

In chapter 11 Ralph’s tribe is furious with Jack and his tribe. Jack has stolen the tribes fire and Piggy’s glasses and Ralph wants it all back because it was not the right thing for them to do. Ralph gathers his tribe and tells them to bring spears because of Jacks reputation with violence. When they arrive Jack and his tribe refuse to return what they have taken and Ralph and Jack get into a fight. As this occurs roger launches a boulder onto Piggy, who can barely see, ultimately killing him. Soon after Ralph, furious, leaves and Jack captures Sam and Eric trying to force them to come to his tribe.

Ch. 11 (by Brandi)

"The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (Chapter 11, pg. 164)

This quote occurs when Piggy is being beaten and killed with the conch. This was the point in the book I knew would end everything for everyone because that conch was important to everyone and with out it every thing and everyone would go down hill from there. Having that conch shell to me brought everyone together and let everyone know that they were all equal and that they all had a chance to get off the island alive. In this chapter Piggy called a meeting even though there is not that many people left on the island. The four boys talk about the problems on the island and how they should all be blamed on Jack. Ralph immediately stood up for Jack very defensively and attacked Piggy with the conch shell. Striking Piggy with the conch to me was unnecessary because all Piggy wanted to do was help everyone out and he was nothing but kind to everyone no matter how bad they treated him, talked about him and took advantage of him. Killing Piggy to me ruined the books plot because Piggy was someone who I thought could be a leader and would continue to stay a live and because of hate he was killed.

LOTF Chapter 10

The Shell and the Glasses

The death of Simon, especially the murder of Simon causes Piggy to be in such denial about how "it was an accident- coming in the dark he hadn't no business crawling like that out of the dark.". Piggy can't accept or believe for that matter that he participated in the murder of Simon. Chapter 10 is the chapter that comes right after Simon is killed and Piggy and Ralph feel grief because of it. Chapter 10 also highlites instances where evil is starting to emerge in the book. Jack, has finally become leader of his own tribe and he gets too much power. Jack orders for Wilfred to be tied to a tree for no reason some of his uncontrollable evil started showing when he beats him for no reason. I could also see evil starting to develop in the littl'uns and big'uns in Jack's tribe because they didn't think twice when they noticed what Jack was doing. Roger says "'He's [Wilfred] been' he giggled excitedly ' he's been tied up for hours'". When Roger talks to Ralph, it's almost in joy or pleasure thinking about Wilfred being beaten up. Jack has gotten authority, or power which he overuses when trying to get people to obey him. Also in the chapter, Jack realizes that he is in need of fire if he wants to survive. So he uses his new authority and power to set a new evil on Ralph, Samneric and especially Piggy, by steeling his glasses. Jack and his group invade Ralph's shelter and hurt them until they get the glasses and running off in rejoice. The tension between the two 'tribes' is made in this chapter, and is essentially the turning point to the evilness that is shown in this story.

L.O.T.F. Chapter 10

"At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering.

'Piggy'

'Uh?'

'That was Simon'

'You said that before'

'Piggy'

'Uh?'

'That was a murder'

'You stop it!' said Piggy, shrilly. 'What good're you doing talking like that?'" (Golding, 156)

This quote is Ralph and Piggy talking the morning after Simon was murdered. Piggy finds it impossible to accept any guilt for what happened. He tries to convince himself and Ralph that he was not a part of it whatsoever. Ralph does not accept Piggy's easy rationalization with the subject and insists that the death was in fact a murder. This reminds the reader how far the boys have come since their first day on the island. They went from proper English gentlemen (kind of) to bloodthirsty savages. Jack and Roger are leading the whole tribe and Simons death was mostly both of their faults.

The Chapter starts with Piggy and Ralph down by the beach talking. They both feel very guilty and ashamed about what happened the night before. Piggy tries to deny that anything ever happened because he doesn't know how to handle the guilt, but Ralph says it was a murder. Jack ruling at castle rock with absolute power. He beats kids for no reason at all except to make examples out of them. Jack warns his boys about Ralph and his tribe, saying they are danger to his tribe. Jack's tribe believed that Simon was the beast and that they should continue to guard their fort against the beast because the beast is never really dead. Maurice and Roger steal fire from Ralph and Piggy's camp. The next night, Jack and his tribe come to their camp during the night and raid it. They attack and steal Piggy's glasses, while they were fighting with San, Eric and Ralph. Ralph and the last of his tribe are badly beaten and assaulted.

Chapter 9- A View to a Death

"The beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore...Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea.'

Chapter 9 displayed the growing brutality of the boys on the island, and the power of the mob. After feasting on the boar, the boys decide to do their dance, yelling and thumping their feet. "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" they chant. They are so blinded by the dance even Piggy and Ralph join in, and eventually kill Simon. When a creature crawls out of the woods, they didn't notice it was Simon, and they quickly attack and kill him.

William Golding clearly voiced his opinion that human nature is terribly brutal and evil. that the boys even enjoy pretending to kill an animal is disturbing, and goes against the grain of society. That they actually murder one of their own is horrendous. All Simon was trying to do was to tell them that there was no beast, and that it was actually just a dead pilot on the mountain. Simon was the one to think: What else is there to do other than go see if the beast on the mountain is real, while Ralph and Piggy go swimming when they have free time. And Jack? He runs around killing mother pigs and offering their heads to the "Beast". Simon was the one true hero in this story, and he is brutally murdered by the mob of children. By this time in the story one realizes that the events on the island are progressing from bad to worse. In my opinion, this chapter is when the actions of the children hit rock bottom.

LOTF Ch.9

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 9 (A View to a Death)
The chapter starts out with Simon in his hidden fort in the woods, hallucinating the the Lord of the Flies. He stumbles wearily through the forest until he reaches the base of the mountain. Part way up, the wind filled the fallen man's parachute, bringing it into Simon's sight. Here Simon realizes that there really is no "beast", just the dead man. Staggering with weakness he starts down the mountain to tell the other boys of his discovery. Ralph and Piggy eventually make their way to Jack's party. Just before their dance around the fire, Jack essentially takes over the group for good, saying his tribe will have food, drink, fun and be protected from the beast. They continue to the dance where the hunters act out the killing of a pig, including their creepy chant. They were so hyped up from the feast and dancing that when Simon appeared, screaming about the dead man on the hill, they mistook him for the beast. All the boys jumped at him, tearing him apart. On top of the mountain, the wind blew and captured the parachute again. The dead man was carried away, out to sea. A little later, the tides came in, sweeping Simon's dead body out to sea as well.
This whole chapter is proof of how savage and out of control the boys have become. Jack is almost blackmailing the other boys to join his tribe (I fed you, now will you join my tribe??) and they all play a part in killing one of the most valuable people on the island, even Piggy and Ralph. Jack's tribe has a dance and chant about murdering pigs and beasts and Simon is hallucinating a huge fly on a stick. It honestly seems like they have all completely lost their minds, or at least their humanity.

Chapter 8: Gift for the Darkness

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This chapter starts off after the group of big ‘uns went to visit the beast. Jack takes the conch shell from Ralph and declares a meeting and calling Ralph an unfit ruler since he was afraid to face the Beast. Jack holds it up to a vote among the people to see who wants him to be the chief, “He held the conch against his chest with one hand and stabbed the air with his index finger. ‘Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief?’” (127). Jack asserts himself as chief when he grabs the conch from Ralph and decides to put the leader of the group up to a vote. After all but the hunters decide to keep Ralph in power, Jack makes his own group and switches their number one priority to hunting. Still afraid of the beast, Jack’s group offers u the head of the mother pig on a stick sharpened on both ends so that the Beast will take this as a sign of peace and so it won’t be tempted to kill Jack and the other hunters. This passage is so important to the story because it shows the beginnings of religion and the beginning of everything based off fear-belief systems. Also, during the time the pig’s head is being put on a stick, Simon is hallucinating and seeing the Beast talk through the dead pig’s head. One of the most important parts because it is the title of the book. Simon talks to the pig’s head for a while until he realizes he’s talking to the Lord of the Flies. When the Lord of the Flies starts to taunt Simon, a very important message comes across, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! … you knew didn’t you? I’m part of you?” (143). This explains Golding thinks that the Beast is a part of each human being and in certain situations, the Beast comes out and takes control of us.

Ch. 8: Gift For The Darkness ~ by Nikki

Jack blows the conch and explains how there is a monster among them, and Ralph should lose his power. “He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t a prefect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey him for nothing“(126). Jack puts up a hard argument and after getting so aggravated with Ralph, he states “I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too”(127).

This is going to lead to a lot of catastrophe and affliction for the other boys. Which side to take, where could I be more safe? Having two separate leaders in two separate group with ideas that just contradict the other… should not end well. Jack is all about hunting and catching food, meanwhile Ralph just cares about the safety of everyone.

Throughout the night of which the whole group separated, many of the English boys sneaked into Jack’s group because they are hungry and yearn to be safe. Meanwhile, Jack’s group had a sacred ceremony in which they honored peace with the beast so the beast wouldn’t hurt anyone. To do so, they killed a sow, and stuck its head on top of a stake. “The head is for the beast. It’s a gift…”(137).

 "Simon is talking to the "Lord of the Flies" Page 143+144"

This was sort of the beginning of evil after the groups separated. Jack somehow became possessed and got his group to go along with whatever he thought was right. This doesn’t end up as good as expected because there are a couple of great boys that eventually get killed.

Simon later stumbles upon a beautiful place to which he thought he was the only one to know about it. He sees the sow’s head swarming with flies, and it starts talking to it! The sow claims he’s the “Lord of the Flies” and Simon and the others will never be able to escape because he lies within all human beings. “I’m the reason why its no go? Why things are the way they are?… so don’t try to escape!”(143). Simon fantasizes that the head is blowing up, and later faints.

I think that this Sow talking was just Simon fantasizing. Dead animals don't talk, and the so-called beasts turns up being a dead guy in a parachute. Simon probably got too dehydrated that he started hallucinating.

Chapter 7: Shadows and Tall Trees

"'You want a real pig,' said Robert, still caressing his rump, 'because you'vegot to kill him'
'Use a littleun,' said Jack, and everybody laughed"

In chapter seven the boys on the island first see "the beast". We all know the beast here is just really a dead skydiver on top of the mountain. Before Jack, Roger and Ralph go up to the mountain, a hunt takes place. The boys together kill a pig. Even Ralph becomes excited when he stabs the pig in the face. What was once a savage act at the beggining of their time here, now becomes a source of excitement. After the boys kill the pig they begin to chant. They repeat the phrase. "Kill the Pig! Cut his throat! Kill the Pig! Bash him in!". The boys have now become very uncivilized. It gets even worse after that. Now part of their ritual is them renacting them killing the pig. The group of boys would gather in a circle with one boy in the middle. A boy named Robert goes into the middle first. All the other boys stab him with sticks, nearly killing him. The young boys get so exited about violence that they almost kill a human. But they have not gotten to that stage of barbarism yet. One quote that stands out to me was said by Jack. This is the quote I put on the top of the post. Jack says this after they stop beating Robert. Robert brings up that they should actually kill a real pig for the ritual. Jack takes that idea one step further and suggests that they kill one of the little kids. The little ones are never really identified in this book. We never even know how many there are on the island. What Jack says is one of the major signs that this civilization is not going to work out. Jack is not the only person at fault in this quote. After he says that, the book tells us that everyone laughed about it. Someone could have said something that may have changed Jack's outlook on the island, but everyone just stood as bystanders. People positively reacting to Jack's cruel joke may have been what fueled Jack to act more cruel. If someone stood up to him he would not have been such an issue on the island. Since Jack was only getting positive feedback from his meaness, this made Jack think that it was okay to be awful to people, that the others really enjoyed it.
This chapter marks one of the red flags coming up in this society. The people on this island are starting to think that it is okay to be violent and savage to others.

Lord of the Flies Chapter 5

"'The rules!' shouted Ralph. 'You're breaking the rules!'

'Who cares?'"

That quote is said by Ralph and then by Jack. It is said during an assembly in which Ralph is yelling at everyone for not following the rules. Jack is mad that he is not allowed to talk without the Conch. Jack is also upset that Ralph is defending Piggy from Jack's taunting. Afterwards Jack leads many boys away to hunt with him.

This scene helps represent the breaking down of society. As the boys, led by Jack, begin to break the rules and realize they aren't needed, the most fundamental society trait falls. The most basic things we learn are beginning to lose their effect. Very young we learn to follow rules because they are needed. On the island, that is breaking down after a while. This also shows the beginning of the end of Ralph's rule. Ralph's control over Jack is beginning to break and in the end when Jack leads people away, although they come back, it shows that Ralph no longer has total control. This gradual deminishing of Ralph's power eventually leads to his fall from power. Jack's demonstration of power shows he is a real threat to Ralph's rule.

This Chapter deals with the power struggle on the island. It starts by showing how Ralph is losing control of the kids. They don't listen to him, and go to the bathroom where the want, not where he told them. Plus, the hunters ignored his words and left the fire, letting it go out. The chapter then transitions into Jack's gaining power. Jack was able to have people ignore Ralph's authority and leave the fire to hunt with him. Later Jack is able to get most of the kids to go off hunting with him. Jack is able to gain power through the beast. He says he will kill the beast. That apeals to the kids and so they follow him. Jack's gaining power and Ralph's losing it shows how the island is about to change from one ruler to another.

Chapter Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair

Observations: "Piggy was a bore; his fat, his ass-mar, and his matter-of-fact ideas were dull, but there was always a little pleasure to be got out of pulling his leg, even if one did it by accident" (65). In my opinion, the group is definitely starting to fall apart and show signs of weakness. In the beginning, they developed a sort of social hierarchy, and that has turned into a social tyranny. This has gone as far as social groups being formed all the way to being mean to the littluns. The littluns are young, and not very helpful to group, but they are also the future of this civilization. Just because they are weaker then some of the boys is no reason to pick on them. While some members of the group like Ralph and Simon have been particularly nice to them, members like Jack, Roger are Maurice are cruel to the little boys, stomping on a sand castle and throwing rocks at a littlun. Along with being mean to the littluns, there is also a rivalry between Jack and Ralph starting to form. Ralph, the more reasonable side of the argument keeps complaining to Jack about his carelessness to things like keeping his signal fire going; their only chance of being rescued. There are signs that the boys are trying to resolve this rivalry but all efforts end in failure. Being alone obviously is something knew to them considering their excitement when realizing no parents were around. With no rules to control them they control themselves. With them controlling themselves they make unreasonable decisions for survival. With that, chaos is just waiting to be let loose. Through all the fighting there is one man keeping their logical side in tact: Piggy. Piggy is the only one not only still thinking about the long-term survival of group, but the overall fate of the island. When arriving on the island Piggy is the only one who thought to start thinking ahead when the others thought about doing whatever they wanted to do. Unfortunately, because of his fat and geeky appearance, Piggy is rejected and made fun of. Even when his ideas seem to be the only intellectual thing said all day, his is ignored and laughed at by even relatively nice people like Ralph. If after a few days of living freely there is some pretty serious fighting, then after a few weeks, even months, who knows how much it will escalate. If these boys don't start listening to Piggy, their not going to be able to live free much longer.

Chapter four: Painted Faces and Long Hair

I think that this chapter becomes the turning point in the book where the boys lose their civilization and become animals. Living on the island becomes routine as they adjust. However, they do not adjust to make their lives on the island just like their former lives. Instead, they begin a downward spiral of sanitation and health. The smaller children are not seen as equals to the older boys, so they separate and stay together in a group. They are also dehumanized by surrendering their names, and are referred to as “littleuns”. Eventually, the Littluns are thought of a species of animal, instead of human beings. An example of this discrimination occurs on the beach where three of the littluns are playing with their sandcastles. “Roger and Maurice came out of the forest. They were relieved from duty at the fire and had come down for a swim. Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. Maurice followed, laughing, and added to the destruction.” (60). Although the older boys are being mean, they are still not cruel enough to physically harm the boys. When Roger throws the stones at Henry, he “threw it to miss”, for there “was the taboo of the old life.” (62). As the title of the chapter suggests, some of the older boys paint their faces for hunting. Under this mask of anonymity, Jack swings around like an animal, compelled by the mask, not his mind.

There is a chaotic situation when the boys see a ship, but with sinking hearts they see that the fire has gone out, so they cannot use it as a signal. The boys become bitter towards Jack and his hunters when they realize that they were in charge of this fire. Jack brings a pig for them to eat, but it doesn’t compare to being rescued. As usual, piggy is made fun of and put on the spot as an effort to lighten the mood. It only works for a minute though, before the attention is put on Jack again. Only when he apologizes does Ralph agree to put the situation behind them.

At dinner, piggy is excluded again when Jack refuses to give him meat. Everybody knows that this is completely unfair, but they decide not to argue against Jack’s authority. In a way, this is similar to the Milgram experiment also, because they look the other way when somebody with a higher ranking than them does something mean. Only Simon decides to be a good person, and gives piggy his meat. Furious, Jack cuts a piece off for Simon and tells him to eat. He is angry that he lost his power.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter Three: Harry Koumjian

"'I was working too-'

'But you like it!' shouted Ralph. 'You want to hunt! While I'"

In chapter three, Jack and his hunters are yet to find meat for the stranded children, and they are quickly growing tired of this lifestyle. Meanwhile, Ralph and Simon are working on shelters for the "littluns" to sleep in so that they don't have nightmares about the "beasties" on the island and they can sleep well. Also, all of the survivors are badly sunburnt from being out in the sun too much without sunscreen and the shelters would protect them from that.

Ralph is sick of doing so much work with only Simon helping him and feels like Jack is not doing nearly enough to help the group. He complains that Jack has done nothing to help them, whilst he and Simon have been working hard for a long time for others. He also declares that Jack likes hunting and so he chose to be the hunter, and therefore is enjoying his work while he and Simon have spent hours on their shelter project which they are receiving no help with. Towards the end of the chapter Simon decides he is fed up with this immature behavior from Ralph and Jack, Simon wanders into the woods and helps the smaller ones reach fruit from high up trees. He then walks further into the woods and finds a dense jungle where he sits for a while to take in the sight. This ends the chapter.

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 2 - Liz Day

The author of the story had many metaphors in chapter 2. In chapter 2, the boys decide that they need to create a fire to signal ships. Fire could easily be a metaphor for responsibility. In order to be able to use something as powerful as fire, a person needs to be responsible. The boys were not responsible with the power they possessed, and ended up killing another little boy. Another thing that the author uses as a metaphor is Piggy's glasses. When we think of people with glasses, we instantly think of that person as smart. The author uses Piggy's glasses to show that he is very smart and could be a great leader, but instead, a boy who is better looking and more outgoing takes the position from him.

I observed in chapter two that the children were being completely irresponsible and in return, had bad consequences. Instead of listening to each other calm and rationally as they should, once Ralph suggests that they build a fire on top of the mountain, all of the boys run up without listening to Piggy who wants them to think about what they should do next. The boys create a fire which spreads into the surrounding trees. Piggy calls the young boys attention and says, “That little 'un that had a mark on his face - where is - he now? I tell you I don't see him” (46). Piggy tries to get the boys to realize that they have been placed with a large responsibility, they must look out for each other and think matters through. A connection that comes to mind when I read this is when I once was playing tag with my friends while it was raining. We were all having so much fun running around in the rain that we did not stop to think that we could so easily catch a cold by what we were doing. Sure enough, the next day, all of us had colds and could not play together. Had we thought about how are decision might have affected us, we would have decided that playing in the rain was not a very good idea. The children in the story also should have been thinking ahead. Instead of counting everyone and making sure they stayed together as a group, they all ran up the mountain and killed a young boy. Having a fun time making a fire and not thinking about the risks they were taking, the boys made a fatal error. I think that in the end of the book, Piggy is going to be killed. The society the boys have created so far is one where the strong a cherished and thrive and where the weak are tormented and killed. Ralph in the story is taken very well to the boys because he is handsome, strong and well spoken. Piggy, on the other hand is fat and weak. Even though Piggy is very smart, he will be killed because of the idea survival of the fittest, meaning that those who are strong will live whereas those who are weak will be killed.

Chapter One: The Sound of the Shell - Brett Halperin

Chapter One: The Sound of the Shell

Brett Halperin

"'I don't care what you call me so long as...it's not what they used to call me in school...They used to call me Piggy!'" (11)

As chapter one kicks off the book I notice Golding demonstrating the natural cruelty in humans right away. When Piggy clearly says not to call him Piggy Ralph gets a good laugh out of it and from then on is his permanent name while on the island. None of the children including Ralph even have the decency to ask him his real name. Golding certainly had this event take place to show the immediate bullying. Without evening giving Piggy a chance to show off what he has to offer Ralph just makes fun of him and treats him like he's nothing. Golding's belief is that humans are naturally evil so this surely proves his point by portraying verbal abuse so early on in the book. Since Piggy is different from the other characters due to the fact that he wears glasses, is overweight and nerdy, he is an easy target for the other children. Since they know he will not hurt them back they all continue to harass him. Golding shows the other characters laughing at Piggy and treating him like he's worthless. The reader really has the impression that almost all the children on the island except for Piggy are brutal. Golding wants us to think about how strangers at times are so rude to someone they do not even know just because they can be.

Situations with bullying and evilness for no valid reasons are very frequent in literature and real life experiences. The boys are on the island make fun of piggy purely for amusement and humor because he is different. The Zimbardo Experiment significantly relates. The jail guards mistreated the prisoners and tortured them just because they could. They abused the prisoners and harmed them because they were different and lacked the authority that they had. Golding's theory that people are naturally evil is proved accurate based on Lord of the Flies and the Zimbardo Experiment which both show how humans act cruel for no credible reasons.

Chapter One: The Sound of the Shell

Observations:   
“Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead. . . Nobody don’t know we’re here. Your dad don’t know, nobody don’t know” (14). 

To me Piggy and Ralph's interactions show a lot about their different natures and abilities. Ralph is a bit of a dim bulb compared to Piggy. He didn't seem to realize what had happened to land this plane on the island or to be thinking realistically about what was going on in the world. But Piggy, he gets it, and he gets the implications of their situation. Ralph stood on his head when he realized there were no adults, no parents, then he told Piggy his dad (the navy commander) would come and rescue all of them soon enough. Piggy knows that this isn't so likely after all. Just a taste of information in his line here, but so important:  There is a war on, a nuclear war. The world outside of this world has probably changed completely. Maybe this plane full of just kids was attempting to find a safe place in the aftermath of London being bombed, or all of England. Whatever is going on out there, it's not good. Ralph may be a dim bulb in some ways, but he is a natural leader in others. I noticed that Piggy was trying very hard to make a connection with Ralph, but Ralph didn't even ask his name. What is his real name anyway? Ralph is athletic (unlike Piggy), good looking (unlike Piggy), healthy (unlike Piggy), and, perhaps most importantly, he happens to have the conch shell. None of these are very good reasons to have Ralph be the leader and not, say, Piggy, but there you go. Observers might notice, though, that it was Piggy who knew how to make the sound with that shell! I see some symbolism going on here already -- bet you do too. That shell, the one that calls everybody to a meeting, to organization, one that gives some order and rules to the chaos of this island -- it's not just a shell. And those snakes that the littl'un saw in the jungle (imagined?), that the boys also saw writhing in the flames at the end of the chapter (or were theyburning vines), those seem pretty weighty too. Where else have we seen snakes in literature? What should they be associated with?