Markus,+S

Chapter 1: Civilization The group of boys that has recently been evacuated from England is aimlessly wandering around the island as the story begins. Ralph blows a conch shell and the boys automatically come over to him. “Where’s the man with the trumpet?” asks Jack Merridew (Golding, 20). All of their lives, the boys have been taught to come running when they hear a trumpet, a whistle, a bell, a buzzer, or any other similar sound. Ralph tells the group that there should be a leader of the boys (Golding, 22). They agree, and have an election where they choose Ralph as their leader (Golding, 23). The older boys decide to form a group to explore the island, while the others remain behind in their meeting place (Golding, 24). At the beginning of the story, the boys behave as if they were back in school in England. They come when called, raise their hands to elect a leader, and agree who will explore the island and who will stay behind. They also discuss the desire to be rescued and brought back to the society from which they came. They display “civilized” behavior, and re-create a system of law and order. I think that the boys are successful in establishing “Civilization” among themselves on the island in Chapter 1. As for our civilization, we live in a world where some people enjoy a system of law and order, and others do not. For example, in the suburbs of Philadelphia we go to schools where the students mostly get along with each other. Most of us go to college after we graduate. We expect to get a good job when we are finished with our education. We are not afraid to walk around our neighborhoods after dark. Life is mostly peaceful and “civilized.” However, in certain parts of Philadelphia life is not civilized at all. There is a lot of violence in the schools. Half of the students in the school system never graduate from high school. Every night people are afraid to walk on the streets because of gun violence. Having a good job means selling drugs on a street corner until the police arrest you. People don’t trust the police to enforce law and order. Inner-city Philadelphia isn’t “civilized” at all. It is interesting that these two models have existed for years side-by-side.

Chapter 2, Groupthink  From the very beginning it is clear that not everybody is accepted by the group as a whole. Piggy is the first boy who is rejected. He is very fat, wears glasses, and suffers from asthma. He differs from the group physically. He understands many things that other members of the group do not, but nobody listens to him. Jack calls him “Fatty” (Golding, 45), and interrupts him whenever he speaks. In the middle of the Assembly, Jack decides to run off to find firewood. He shouts, “Come on! Follow me!” (Golding, 38), and just about everybody does. Golding describes the scene: “All at once the crowd swayed toward the island and was gone – following Jack. Even the tiny children went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches. Ralph was left, holding the conch, with no one but Piggy” (Golding, 38). Ralph understands Groupthink. He immediately follows the group. He realizes that if he is left behind, he will no longer be the leader. Groupthink can be very negative. People follow others, even when it makes no sense to do so, or even when it is ethically and morally the wrong thing to do. With Groupthink there is no individual thought or reasoning required. People follow others in order to be accepted socially.  In high school there is a lot of pressure to be cool. Students do things that are not legal and not safe. Some high school students smoke, even though smoking is addictive and leads to lung cancer. Some students get drunk, even though they will probably get very sick afterwards. Some students spend more time on Facebook or on texting with friends than they do studying. One way to deal with this is to choose friends very carefully. If a student is serious about doing well in school, it is better to stay away from activities on school nights that do not involve studying. Groupthink can be very dangerous. It is better sometimes to not be part of the group. Chapters 3 and 4: Good and Evil  Roger threw rocks at Henry while Henry was observing and playing with small sea creatures called transparencies on the beach. However, Roger purposely missed hitting him. For example “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry –threw it to miss” (Golding 62) Roger continued to throw stones around Henry. He missed hitting Henry because of the continuing influence of the rules of civilization. There was a part of him that still followed the rules. For example “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.” (Golding 62) Roger was able to throw stones at Henry because there were no grownups around to stop him. Roger could do anything he wanted. Yet, there was still some good within Roger that stopped him from injuring or killing Henry. In Roger you can see that the evil impulse of throwing stones to injure or to kill was present. He did not let himself hurt Henry, but the potential was there.  The good in this world is having rules and regulations that make sense and maintain order. Without rules there is chaos and destruction. Under the good leadership of Ralph, there is a plan for preserving the lives of all of the boys and a plan for rescue. He builds shelters to protect the boys from storms. He gathers drinking water. He starts a fire so that passing ships will see the smoke and realize that there are people on the island. He hopes that all of the boys will be rescued by the crew of a ship and will eventually return to their former lives in England. The evil of this world is the anarchy that develops when the boys begin to ignore Ralph and follow Jack. Jack is not interested in being rescued. He does not care about keeping the fire lit. He enjoys hunting and killing. At first, Jack kills a pig. However, gradually, the targets shift from animals to the boys themselves. The episode in which Roger throws stones at Henry shows the beginning of the anarchy. The evil of this world leads to destruction, not preservation of life.

Chapter 5: Beelzebub  Fear is a powerful emotion. The littluns have bad dreams at night and wake up screaming (Golding, 82-83). Jack points out, “Now they talk – not only the littluns, but my hunters sometimes – talk of a thing, a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal” (Golding, 83). At the assembly, there is much talk about whether or not a “beast” is on the island. Simon finally says about the beast, “…maybe it’s only us” (Golding, 89). Shortly afterward, Jack and Piggy fight over the conch, and Jack challenges Ralph’s authority. At one moment, Jack shouts, “If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat -! (Golding, 91). Jack then “gave a wild whoop” (Golding, 91) and began a wild dance with the littuns. Jack has become the beast, Beelzebub, and he has drawn out the beast in many of the boys. Ralph tells Jack, “The rules! You’re breaking the rules! (Golding, 91). Jack answers, “Who cares? (Golding, 91). The civilization that Ralph tried hard to build has now been abandoned for the wickedness of Beelzebub.

 Examples of the materialization of evil can be found in the history of the Jewish people. Many tyrants and dictators have tried to kill the Jews and destroy everything they stand for: Haman, the Romans who burned the Second Temple, Hitler, and now, Ahmadjinidad, to name a few. At first, just like in //Lord of the Flies//, the Jews are made out to be “the beasts.” They are blamed for everything that is evil by their enemies. In fact, it is their enemies that are beasts. It starts with evil words, but the result of those words is to allow society to “break the rules” of civilization. Evil words lead eventually to murder. The Beelzebub in human nature must be stopped by civilization (the rule of law). This is the important lesson of history.

Chapter 6: Nyctophobia

 Nyctophobia is fear of the night, fear of darkness. All of us have experienced it, especially when we were little. At first, in //Lord of the Flies//, it is the littluns who cry out in the night. But soon, the darkness shrouds the understanding of all of the boys on the island. They have no electricity, no generators, no flashlights, no batteries. The only sources of light are the stars, and the fire the boys have made. It is difficult for the boys to keep the fire burning. In the dark of night, the identical twins Sam and Eric see the dead soldier with the parachute that landed on the island. This figure moves with the breeze: “So as the stars moved across the sky, the figure sat on the mountaintop and bowed and sank and bowed again” (Golding, 96). The twins cannot clearly see the figure. They connect the moving figure with the “beast” that has frightened the littluns: “Neither of the boys screamed but the grip of their arms tightened and their mouths grew peaked. For perhaps ten seconds they crouched like that while the flailing fire sent smoke and sparks and waves of inconstant light over the top of the mountain. Then as though they had but one terrified mind between them they scrambled away over the rocks and fled” (Golding, 98). Sam and Eric run back to the shelters and tell Ralph and Piggy what they saw. Now Ralph and Piggy are infected with fear of darkness: “Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the awful unknown and menace” (Golding, 99). In the morning a group of the older boys, headed by Jack, decides to hunt down the beast. They refuse to build the fire that will shed light on the unknown, and, with luck, will get them rescued from the island. I think that Golding is trying to tell us that humans want to eliminate anything that is mysterious and foreign to them. Their desire to do that is stronger than the desire to shed light on the mystery.

 All of us have fears. I am afraid of thunderstorms. I am afraid that I, or the building I am in, will be struck by lightning. Thunderstorms crop up quickly, and catch us by surprise. There is no good place to hide from the noise of the thunder and the bright flashes of the lightning. We have no control over the storm. We are helpless. I think that the feeling of helplessness is the most frightening thing of all.

My name is Mikey and I am 10 years old. At first I didn’t miss my mom or dad, or my ugly, mean sister, Sandy. Being on the island was scary but fun. I got to eat, sleep, swim, and play whenever I wanted. No grown-ups bothered me. It was great. Now I’m not so sure I like it here. Today we hunted a pig. Afterwards, we played a game where Robert pretended to be the pig and we were the hunters. It got out of control. Everyone began to chant, “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” (Golding, 114). It was scary how, after a while, nobody could tell the difference between Robert and a real pig. I am afraid that what happened to Robert could also happen to me. I thought it was a great idea to follow Jack rather than Ralph, but when Robert told Jack, “You want a real pig because you’ve got to kill him,” Jack then said, “Use a littlun” (Golding, 115). I laughed along with everyone else, but I found that remark frightening. Jack likes to kill, and I don’t think he cares if it’s a pig or a boy. I think I’ll be dead before we’re ever rescued. When Jack gets the group all worked up, anything can happen. I am afraid of Jack’s power over the others.

Chapter 8

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Today Jack became our leader. He called us to an assembly and told us that Ralph is like Piggy and isn’t a real leader, isn’t a hunter, doesn’t give us meat, and that all he does is order us around (Golding, 126). He asked us to raise our hands if we thought Ralph shouldn’t be the chief. I didn’t, and nobody else did, either. Then he told us that he wasn’t going to be a part of our group anymore. He went off by himself. At first Piggy was so happy that Jack was gone. We decided to build a fire down on the beach. Nobody wanted to build it on the mountain, near the beast. Simon told us we should go back up there, but nobody listened to him. While we were busy building the fire, a lot of the biguns left our group to join Jack. But after we had the fire going, Jack and the others, looking like savages, suddenly came back to steal part of our fire. They said they had killed a pig, and invited us to eat with them. At first, by the way Jack acted, we thought he was the beast. After he left, we quieted down. Ralph, for the hundredth time, talked about the importance of keeping the fire going: “I’d like to put on war-paint and be a savage. But we must keep the fire burning” (Golding, 142). I heard Ralph, but the thought of eating freshly roasted pig tempted me. At this point, I rarely think of the possibility of being rescued. A good, hot meal of meat rather than fruit is all that matters.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Chapters 9 and 10

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I broke down and went to get some roasted pig to eat. We had such a party, sitting around the fire where the pig had been roasted. Then Ralph and Piggy showed up. All of us stopped talking and stared at them. When one of the boys bumped Piggy and burned him with the hot meat, Piggy yelled. That caused everyone to lighten up and laugh. But then Jack asked us several times who wanted to join his tribe. Little by little, some of the boys joined up. At that moment a frightening thunderstorm passed over the island. The littluns were terrified. To distract us, Jack had everyone do the same dance that we did the other day. Now we chanted, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” At first, Roger played the pig, then he left the circle. Suddenly, something came out of the forest and crept into our circle. Was it the beast? Was it Simon? We didn’t hesitate to use our sticks to beat him. He kept saying something about a dead man on the mountain, but we never stopped to consider his words. We killed the beast, I mean, I think we killed Simon. To my great surprise, I did not have any reaction to the killing. I was used to it. It was no big deal. The next morning I went back to the shelter. I overheard Ralph and Piggy talking. Ralph said that they had murdered Simon. Piggy, however, insisted the whole thing was an accident. “Coming in the dark – he hadn’t no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it,” (Golding, 157). I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Plus they told Sam and Eric that they weren’t really involved in any of it. That night, some of the biguns snuck into the shelter and beat up Ralph and Piggy. They stole Piggy’s glasses. I am so scared. There are no more rules. Jack and his hunters have terrorized the entire group. Jack does whatever he wants, and other members of his tribe obey him. I feel that I will be dead before we are rescued.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 11

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Ralph has no fire, and Piggy cannot see. Together with Sam and Eric, they marched with spears to the Castle Rock where Jack and his tribe were staying. At the entrance Ralph blew the conch. He found everyone in the tribe painted as savages. When Jack, who had been hunting, returned from the forest, Ralph said to him, “You could have had fire whenever you wanted. But you didn’t. You came sneaking up like a thief and stole Piggy’s glasses!” (Golding, 176). Jack became angry because Ralph had called him a thief, and the two boys began to fight. Jack ordered the tribe to tie up Sam and Eric and take them away. He was proud that the tribe did whatever he wanted. Ralph called Jack a beast, and the two boys began to fight again. Piggy, holding the conch, asked the group, “Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?” (Golding, 180). At that point, Roger catapulted a great rock off of the Castle. It hit Piggy. First the conch broke into little pieces. Then Piggy fell off of the cliff. I saw Piggy’s head split open. I got sick. Piggy died just like the pigs that Jack hunted. His body was swept out to sea. Ralph was alone. He ran away into the forest. Law and rescue is only a faint memory now. There is only one leader, and he is pure evil.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chapter 12

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Today I woke up aboard a British naval ship. I was sleeping in a real bed. The man in charge asked if I wanted some tea. I began to cry, just like I did when I first saw the naval officer on the beach. At first we were silent as we came on the ship. Everyone except Ralph was afraid to talk, and even he answered questions with just a “yes” or a “no.” After breakfast the captain of the ship called us into his office one by one. When it was my turn, I told the captain about what Jack had done, and how the whole group except for Ralph had been under his control. The captain could not believe that Jack set the entire island on fire. I think that everyone told the same story about Jack. Before lunch, some sailors took Jack to a special room. We did not see him for the rest of the time that we were on the ship. The following day we arrived on another tropical island. It was a British naval base. All of us were given haircuts, and we were able to take long showers. The doctor examined us and we were given bandages and ointment for our wounds. We slept in our own barracks. Everyone was together with the exception of Jack. At first only the littluns played with each other. Most of us sat silently on our beds and stared at each other without saying a word. That night many of us had nightmares. Ralph cried out the worst. He had the shakes. It was horrible. The next day a special doctor came to see us. He talked to us one-by-one. After lunch the special doctor took Roger somewhere else. When it was my turn to see the doctor, he asked me how I felt about what had happened on the island. It was strange. I had no words that could clearly express how I felt. I felt heavy. Even though the sun was shining and it was very hot and humid, everything looked grey to me, and I was shivering. The doctor said it would take me a long time to heal. I heard his words, but I don’t believe him. I still can smell the fire and hear the cries of the former savages around me. I still see Piggy lying on the ground with his head split open. When the officer who found us on the island first asked us if we were having a war, I think he was kidding. But it //was// war. My body has survived, but I don’t think I will ever look at any of the other kids with me, or perhaps any other kid anywhere, the same way again. I don’t want to play with them. I don’t want anything to do with them. I used to think that grown-ups were crazy for arguing over this or that; but I now know that kids are crazier. Today something incredible happened. Ralph’s father flew to the island and came to get him. Together the two of them got on a plane and flew away. Ralph looked pale, and he didn’t speak. I actually think he was crying. He didn’t even tell us goodbye. An hour later I saw Jack for the first time since he was taken away from us. He was walking around the naval base with a nurse. He was smiling and joking, and he greeted me warmly as he walked past. I could not believe my eyes! Of all of us boys he was the only one who seemed “normal.” Days passed and we remained on the base. Two teachers came: one for the littluns and one for the bigguns. They talked with us about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I told them that I wanted to be a doctor. Jack told them that he would be a famous actor someday. I looked at him sitting there relaxed, smiling, and confident. All that had taken place on the island was just another movie to him. Yet, I knew deep down, that one day Jack would kill again. Maybe it wouldn’t happen for twenty years or so. But there is no doubt in my mind that Jack will kill again.