Polis,Piley

Journal 1: Beelzebub “Maybe…maybe there is a beast…What I mean is…maybe it’s only us” (Golding 89) Through this quote its revealed to the writer that the hidden savage in all of the children has come out and this is also shown through Jack “He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger” (Golding 63) Jack sees another part of himself that he had never seen and he is intrigued by it and in awe. This is definitely foreshadowing to the way he will act and help represent meaning behind his actions. I think this shows that humans are controlling selfish creatures that will put themselves above anything and even other people to succeed. This is especially when a situation is bad and this is shown through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph when being the chief should be the least important thing the only thing that should matter is survival and helping everyone else survive.

The materialization of evil is extremely prominent with anything that involves a fight for power among leaders such as Jack and Ralph. When a person has absolute power problems will occur and they are very small examples of the things people will do in times of desperation and this can be compared to Hitler or Joseph Stalin. They made drastic decisions to keep their power such as killing massive amounts of people. This applies because when their power became challenged they killed anybody who opposed him or was even suspected of challenging them. Hitler became so paranoid he had the Hitler Youth that would tell authorities if they suspected their parents or teachers of opposing the Nazi Regime. The formation of evil comes from times of desperation.

Journal 2: Civilization “They’re hopeless. The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.” (Golding 50) This quote shows the beginning of the civilization falling off and Ralph’s power diminishing. This shows failure because none of the boys are acknowledging Ralph’s power. This basically shows the end of his reign over the boys and the beginning of chaos.

I would say the modern civilization is successful because of the advances we’ve made in society. We have done a good amount of damage and seen many powers fall but still the human race thrives and isn’t in chaos. We have leaders that can control populations and keep its people safe so I would say that’s pretty successful.

Journal 3: Nyctophobia “He scrambled round the fire, squatted by Eric, and looked to see. They became motionless, gripped in each other’s arms, four unwinking eyes aimed and two mouths open” (Golding 98) This quote where Sam n’ Erik are so frightened they basically fall into a paralysis and can no longer move and or function. They just stare into the abyss of darkness and have no idea what to do so they run. This is a natural reaction of humans to just run when they don’t know what to do instead of defending themselves or figuring out what the issue is.

I am afraid of helicopters because they are strange and foreign to me and I don’t understand the physics behind them. The movement is strange to me and they are just weird to me. I have a general fear of flying and helicopters just heighten that fear. Also seeing them in movies spinning out over like weird wind movements freaked me out as a child.

Journal 4: Good and Evil “”you wouldn’t care to help with the shelters, I suppose?” “we want meat-“(Golding 51) This shows the struggle between good and evil in a very undertone sort of way. Ralph is focused on the shelters which would be used to help the rest of the children on the island and help them survive. While he asks for help from Jack, Jack is too preoccupied with killing. He has become completely obsessed with the idea of killing something and refuses to think of anything else. So this is a very small example of a mind being infested with evil ideas and the refusal to see through it.

I determine what is good and evil by the intentions behind it. If the person is doing an action for self-benefit or for the good of a community or the world is what separates good and evil actions. Also it depends if the person did the action as to hurt another person intentionally for self-gain or out of jealousy or if it was an accident is another example of good and evil.

Journal 5: Groupthink “He gave a wild whoop and leapt down to the pale sand. At once the platform was full of noise and excitement, scramblings, screams, and laughter.” (Golding 92) This was a very negative effect of groupthink and it shows that the boys no longer respect Ralph because they enjoy the world of anarchy and no rules that Jack is the epitome of. So when Jack bursts out and disrespects Ralph’s power and rule all the boys follow because he seems to overpower Ralph thus making him the stronger leader. Only the people of reason stay behind with Ralph which is Piggy and Simon.

Groupthink effects a teenager the same way it is portrayed in the media through activities such as peer pressure and other things. The mindset of a teenager in a group that may be doing something wrong is to just go along with it because that is what their friends are doing. I think everyone is a victim of this I know I am. This comes into play with a party too you may be surrounded by people that want to smoke so you end up smoking with them or the same thing with drinking. I guess it can also be a good thing if you’re in a group of people who are all making good decisions. But mostly I have only been a witness to the bad things.

Chapter 7: Today on our search for the beastie as a group we found boar droppings. Jack suggested that we search for it so we can have some food but also I think he just enjoys hunting. My name is Robert and I really don’t know what is going on I just want to play but there seems to be no time for it. Ralph is our leader but Jack and he don’t get along. Ralph just wants us to work when we want to play Jack is more fun. But after we found the boar I realized Ralph was enjoying the hunt the most of anyone “I hit him! The spear stuck in” (Golding 113) he said. But the boar got away and we began to play I started pretending to be the boar and the boys pretended to jab at me then Ralph came in and was actually jabbing at me and trying to hurt me and everyone just yelled “Kill Him! Kill Him!” (Golding 114). Ralph was not Ralph he just seemed like a monster and had this evil look in his eyes. It makes me scared to be around him now.

 Chapter 8:

So the older boys Ralph, Simon, and Jack all went up to the mountain to search for the beast and came back running and screaming claiming they had seen the beast. Jack blew the conch and called for a meeting so we all assembled. He instantly started yelling and being mean to Ralph for no reason. He said Ralph was a coward and that he shouldn’t be our leader anymore. “He’s not a hunter. He’d never have got us meat. He isn’t perfect and we don’t know anything about him. He just gives orders and expects people to obey for nothing.” (Golding 126) But I’m not really sure who I like more. But Jack wanted us to revote for who should be leader and nobody voted for him and he left. It really seems like our whole group is falling apart. After that Ralph just got depressed. Oh yeah and Simon seemed to just go off by himself we thought he was just taking a different direction to come to Jack’s side. I’m pretty scared because we don’t really have a set leader and the beast is still out there but I think Jack is tough enough to fight him and protect us from being hurt on this island that is now home.

Chapter 9 & 10:

We all got very hungry and Ralph and Piggy were talking for a while and then they told us we were going to Jack’s side of the island for food since they had killed a pig. Once we got there we were all instantly fed until we were full which was great it was a great welcoming for us. Then Jack offered that we could all join his group after seeing how we were treated and the food most of us joined but Jack and Ralph continued to argue. Ralph really has begun to look like a weak leader to us. But then after the arguing we all got into a frenzy of chanting that Jack loved to do. “Do our dance! Come on! Dance!” (Golding 151) Even Ralph and Piggy joined in but then we saw this figure come out of the forest and we thought it was the beast and attacked it. After we killed it we all suddenly realized what we had done. We killed Simon. Why was he coming out in the dark like that? We ran. But after we returned to castle rock we woke in the morning to a new kind of leader. Jack had become horrid. He tied up and beat a boy named Wilfred and told us that Ralph was a threat and threatened us that we would be hurt if we went back to Ralph. Then after a long day with a new Jack the hunters left to steal from Ralph and Piggy to get Piggy’s glasses so we could have fire like they do. I really don’t think we are going to be rescued because there is too much fighting. I’m so scared of Jack I feel like I might get killed like Simon.

Chapter 11:

When I woke up in the morning I learned that the hunters were able to steal Piggy’s glasses to start a fire. This made me think maybe Jack’s camp would be ok and we might get rescued because now we would have smoke. But then Ralph and Piggy showed up and started arguing with the guards and then Jack showed up. Jack and Ralph started to actually fight and I looked up the mountain and saw Roger pushing a big rock and when it rolled it was going towards the boys. Jack and Ralph avoided the rock but it hit piggy and pushed him off the side of the mountain. “Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went.” (Golding 181) Then they tried to kill Ralph but he ran. I didn’t know what to do I just saw one of my old leaders die. I just cried because I was so scared. Now I know I can’t cross Jack at all or he will just kill me and my friends. I’m truly not safe on this island anymore. I have to trust Jack as a leader now in order to survive.

Chapter 12:

On this day everything got better but started out violent and scary because Jack was on the hunt for Ralph. He also learned that Ralph was hiding out nearby trying to hurt Jack. We found him hiding in a thicket but it is so thick that we couldn’t break through it. Then Jack starts a fire in hopes of smoking Ralph out of his hiding spot but ends up setting the island on fire. Ralph ends up fighting through the hunters and running through the forest while we all chased after him after a long chase we ended up on the beach and Ralph had collapsed when we all looked up to see a naval officer standing over Ralph. We all assembled behind Ralph and didn’t know what to do. The officer began to ask Ralph questions and the officer though we were all just playing until he realized that two boys had been killed on this island by a bunch of young kids. We all wept at the beauty of civilization and the escape from savagery. Except for Jack he stayed staring with a serious face at the downfall of his civilization of beautiful savagery. I guess it was obvious what his outcome would be. He became a military general a great one at that. I became a college professor to help teach life lessons to the younger generation so that past mistakes would not be repeated. Roger ended up in jail for murder he ended up falling with a bad crowd after we all returned and got himself into some serious trouble. Everybody else went on to live pretty normal lives. I don’t really speak to any of the people that I was on that island anymore. I know Samneric stayed close though. But the only one that I don’t know what happened to is Ralph. After we returned to England on the ship was the last time I heard from or about him. He completely fell off the face of the map. Who knows he could be a millionaire or in some shack just living life being the lord of some flies or something like that.