Lord of the Flies; Chapter by Chapter

Chapter One | The Sound of the Shell

Golding is explaining that the nature of these boys are still humane. When Jack hesitates to kill the pig we see his remorse and fear and human dignity, we are all conditioned to be weary of others lives, and not to waste them. We are not born cold, killers, or unafraid. He may also be suggesting that we should have the instinctual fear of destruction, and that we should treat life as a precious thing, even amidst chaos. The way Jack responds to his hesitation, is replicating the way many other men may have during the war. Killing a stranger is a horrifying feat for a moral man, and it should remain that way, even though the instigator may wish to redeem themselves as Jack does. Golding is suggesting the idea of a mask overall in this chapter. However idyllic the island may be, however lush and green, there is mystery and scars, just as there is in war. War had been over-glamourized, the propaganda the government had been pushing made war seem like a great thing that supplied jobs and economic growth. The war really turned out to be a deceitful, immoral attempt at eugenics of the human race, covered up by what they claimed to be “Social Darwinism.” A visible scar has been left in the land that has never been repaired, and in the people that fought for what they believed was moral and just.

Chapter Two | Fire on the Mountain

Golding is suggesting that without a stable governing force, and an equal say in the development of a society, the society become of balanced. People’s opinions and fears must be heard, and they cannot be dismissed like they have been historically. Piggy cannot be cut out of having rights because of the way he looks, or that he is afraid. There is serious xenophobia in the society that Ralph has established, and this may relate to the way that it was for Golding during wartime. Humans tend to extinguish fears, probabilities and worries in order to live comfortably in while in fear. Golding tells us that humans are every bit unstable and irrational in times of deprivation, fear, and chaos.

Chapter Three | Huts on the Beach

Golding in this chapter may be telling us about the lack of sense the boys have, and symbolically, humans in a war like setting. Jack and Ralph, distinct leaders in the group neglect the fear the children have of the “beastie”, and they go on with their own agenda, claiming to be of higher purpose. Ralph and Jack have conflicting theories of what is important in the society. Agenda pushing and the exile of fear also happened in war. One must be manly and determined to survive, and exhibit no fear or remorse like Piggy does. Golding may also be suggesting that there can be a feeling of peace, even in darkness. Simon has found a sense of home in the scariest part of the island. Humanity cannot function without a certain order, and it is up to the people of individual societies to find this order that accompanies the life, culture, and beliefs of all. The reason Ralph is starting to loose power and respect is because he speaks for his highest interest, like a dictatorship, and doesn’t conduct votes like a democracy.

Chapter Four | Painted Faces and Long Hair

Golding is demonstrating the idea of a mask covers up the original identity, and also gives a new persona to the wearer, in which he/she may be able to unthinkable things compared to the real wearers identity. Jack may be exemplifying this characteristic with his “hunting mask” made of various clays and charcoals. Jack takes on a darker part of himself and leave behind his morality to his other identity. This may be defined as ‘split personalities.’ Jack may also exemplify a shell shocked man after war (shell shock was the pre-conceived term for PTSD in wartime) Because it appears he is hallucinating in his own separate reality. Even Roger, a belligerent guy, is unsettled by Jack’s persona. The rest of the boys are equally as horrified with him. Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, suggested that everyday we put on a mask, and it showed the world what they wanted them to see. A large portion of humanity, is identity, without it, the individuals surrounding the unidentified are confused, and often exile the individual. Putting on a mask, is a way of fitting into a social norm, and keeping that mask keeps you safe from being excluded. The mask men must have had to put on during the war must have been thick, and grime covered, as the world at the time desperately needed fearless, obedient strong men.

Chapter Five | Beast From Water

Golding may be suggesting that each human in the world has an impact on another or more than one person. The adult world is forced upon a bunch of very young/adolescent boys, which have no idea how to run it. The boys assume that if the adults were here to help them and encourage them, they would fare better. This concept, that adults are trustworthy, my have been a detrimental one, as after the war, the product of these people may have impacted the way their children grew up and the way, by extension, we all grow up. Humanity may act like a chain of reactions that span over decades, the generation before, none like the last. Golding is saying here that the world depends on rules and one another to function, and for each individual to follow the norms of the society.

Chapter Six | Beast From Air

Golding is telling us that perhaps the belief system of the government in his time was just as corrupt as the belief system on the island. the beast is now an imminent threat, but not until Sam and Eric (older children on the island) spotted it. Before, when the general public of little ones all believed that there was a beast, it was neglected and claimed to be a ‘nightmare.’ the reason why they were not heard is because they were oppressed by their government, which might be an allusion to Hitler’s governing of Germany, in which he used propaganda to sway public opinion on Jewish people. Golding may also later in the Chapter, explain his hope that the government would own up to its mistakes, as Ralph had. Humanity in the second world war was corrupt, people conspiring against other peoples beliefs, and no-one listening to the minorities of society. The minority of World War Two was almost eradicated from human existence, which also shows how evil humans can be towards each other.

Chapter Seven | Shadows and Tall Trees

Golding is addressing the challenge between styles of power and economics. Jack is asserting his power by harassing Ralph, and calling into question his manhood. A major part of being in the war was being a ‘man.’ The man had to fit into the gender role of being a strong, independent, bread-winner who was prepared for the horrors of war, and that to be weak would be to destroy your reputation and use as a man. Ralph feels oppression from Jack’s dictator-like leadership approach, and retaliates by using his ego, (Freudian theory) and leaves the situation. Throughout the whole book Jack and Ralph have been in a power struggle for the population on the island, similar to the conflict between Hitler’s Germany and the western society. This chapter targets the tactics (like propaganda) used in war to win.

Chapter Eight | Gift for the Darkness

Golding Is referring to the divide of the world after the war had happened. Jack separates himself from Ralphs control/ influence, and he proclaims that if any were to join him, they may be excepted. (This is purely to get the population’s attention, and stimulate their id, a part of the brain based on the pleasure principle.) Simon, as a character boasts the idea of a spiritual, neutral force on the island. This may be Golding’s way of trying to show what he wanted to happen in the war. The murder of the sow that occurs in Simon’s sanctuary, is a desecration of serenity and good. Jack rapes and murders the pig, which is his way of asserting his power, but it also completely separates ‘Choir Jack’ and ‘Chief.’

Chapter Nine | A View to a Death

Golding is suggesting that information can kill you. In the world, knowing things that go against social norms, or what is expected of you by the government can get you in serious trouble. A current worldly example of this is North Korea, a fierce dictatorship, where they only have one channel that plays propaganda reels from their dictator Kim Jong Un. The Lord of the Flies, (represented by the bloody head of a sow on a stake) personifies the idea of a dictatorship. In North Korea, You can be publicly executed for watching a hollywood film. Before the Korean War, (it’s inception in the 50’s) Korea was known to be a peaceful, serene part of Asia. After the war, and the division of the Korean people, the Koreas became a polluted, destroyed mess. Golding may have taken this concept of war and inserted it into chapter nine, as we see young simon watch the rape and murder of a pig in the middle of his beautiful canopy, and then is met by the Lord of the Flies, who warns him not to tell the others about the true horrors of the island or he will be killed. In this chapter specifically, he finds out that the ‘beast’ is a dead parachutist, and now he exposed to the knowledge that the Lord told him was forbidden to be spoken. Lord of the Flies, was published in 1952, right at the beginning point of the Korean war, which, I believe he used as secondary allusion to the horrors of war. Knowing the forbidden knowledge, (similar to the story of Eden) will get you severe punishment.

Chapter Ten | The Shell and the Glasses

Golding is personifying traits of humanity in the people and the objects in the island. Jack steals Piggy’s glasses which is the symbolic of clarity and intelligence, however for Jack it is a tool to use for his own purposes. Golding may be suggesting that certain traits can be reaped from one another. Without Piggy’s clarity, he can no longer see the values of the people around him. Piggy believed that Jack wanted the conch, a symbol of Ralph’s leadership style, however it was the glasses that Jack stole. Golding is stating that different people in society have different belief systems and values. An example would be the Nazis, whom had firmly believed in the values Hitler instilled. In western society, the thought of eugenics or social darwinism, (tactics of creating a perfect race) was something to be appalled at. We consider to find genocide a horrible, facist kind of idea, and it wouldn’t be permitted to happen. Because there are two different standards of what is moral based on cultural influence, one society may uphold norms that are immoral to the other. This could be described as the division of humanities, and what is really the logical and right thing to do.

Chapter Eleven | Castle Rock

Golding demonstrates how easily humanity may be broken. It only takes a small driving force, to tip leaders to their downfall, and to let the intelligence of society fall with it however unclear or unsupported that intelligence may be. Chapter eleven in the chapter where Humanity is lost completely, and ethics and morals disappear from the boys entirely. In a war setting, it can be assumed that one would have to abandon old beliefs and rituals in order to protect the host society. Golding, in an interview had the fear that all men could become as evil as Nazis, in they were forced into a situation or succumbed to the savagery of war. He demonstrates how the boys turn evil, especially Jack, who ends up senselessly torturing and murdering other boys. The way that Jack has overpowered the boys reflects how Hitler ruled Germany throughout the war. Having such a evil perspective as the focus in leading a country, will lead to structural damage in the society, what will cause it to topple or lean towards evil itself. Hitler, before his rule, was a regular man, who painted for a living. He became enraged when the First World War started, and thats what instigated his interest in rulership and dictatorship.

Chapter Twelve | Cry of the Hunters

Golding is showing the final part of war. The rescue. A rescue is usually interpreted as good, that the people involved in that rescue have been saved and can return to their old reality.

The most problematic part about war is that no matter if you leave the physical environment (which is sheer horror and blood in terms of war) the behaviours learned in that environment may never revert, or disappear completely. Soldiers coming back from war had what was described as shell shock, which in reality, and after many mental health studies, was affirmed to be what is called PTSD. (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) I imagine that these boys will never be the same again because of the way they had been torn from their old world, with little knowledge themselves on how to structure a society. The differing opinions in style of government, a reflection of dictatorship versus democracy in the early 1900’s, was lead by Jack and Ralph. Jack showed traits similar to Hitler and his beliefs, while the western society leaders had similar, rationalizations as Ralph. Though Hitler may have thought of himself as a perfect example of a human, and a great leader and oriter, it was the western society whom was able to abolish his ways of ruling because it was not ethical or moral. Golding is still saying that learned behaviours are not easily reverted, but learned behaviours enforced by government will lead to catastrophic events.

Lee, Rae. Lord of the Flies. Chapter by Chapter. Bracebridge: Rae Lee, 2015, Print.