The Lord of the Flies

1. The Lord of the Flies Chapters 1-3

2. Chapter 1 • Civilization versus nature • Civilized instinct • Order, morals, law • Savage instincts • Anarchy, lust for blood, desire for power • Evil is a destructive force in man

3. Chapter 1 • Characterization • “Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of the boys could have found good reason for this; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy, while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart” (22).

4. Chapter 1 • Characterization • Ralph • Protagonist • Fair faired, tall, thin • Morality, leadership, civilization, selfishness • Jack • Military • Savage, desire for power • “Animals” • Piggy • Fat, short, glasses • Represents order of adult world, reality and intelligence • Tries to instill adult principles and ideals

5. Chapter 1 • Setting • “The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air. The ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar” (9-10).

6. Chapter 1 • Contrast of the jungle versus the beach • Beach represents civilized order and control • Jungle represents darkness and evil within • Island society • Between childhood (savagery) and adult world (civilization) • Stress that societal behaviors are learned not innate • Start of savage instincts: teasing Piggy and Jack wanting power

7. Chapter 1 • Symbols • Piggy • Intelligence • Glasses • Rationality and intellect • Conch Shell • Law, order

8. Chapter 2 • Try to recreate the aspects of civilization • Elect leader • Divide jobs • Explore their surroundings • Create fire for rescue

9. Chapter 2 • Leadership & Conch • Ralph when he holds the conch • Piggy has to yell at the others to listen to Ralph • Jack when he takes responsibility for hunting and fire • “This generosity brought a smatter of applause from the boys, so that Jack grinned at them, then waved the conch for silence” (43). • Desire for power

10. Chapter 2 • Leadership & Conch • ““How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t . . . act proper?” “You’ll break the conch!” (45-46) • Piggy relies on the order of the conch to survive • His intelligence is overlooked and not needed • Society beginning to break down

11. Chapter 2 • Beastie • Represents fear, aggression • Allusion to Bible (snakes) • Lack of civilization that protected them at home • Young ones fear- realize threat of island • Older reject fear • Ralph: “Something he had not known was there rose in him and compelled him to make the point, loudly and again. ‘But there isn’t a beast’” (37)

12. Chapter 2 • Fire • “Life became a race with the fire…” (41). • Hope • Savagery • “On one side the air was cool, but on the other the fire thrust out a savage arm of heat that crinkled on the instant” (41). • One can possess both • Hot, cold • Good, evil • Civility, savagery

13. Chapter 2 • Piggy • Group bans together to overwhelm Piggy • Savagery over intellect • Children over the adult

14. Chapter 3 • Civilization Vs. Savagery • Ralph vs. Jack • Unable to effectively communicate with each other • “’If it rains like when we dropped in we’ll need shelters all right…They talk and scream. The littleuns’” (52). • For good of everyone • “’There’s nothing in it of course. Just a feeling. But you can feel as if you’re not hunting, but- being hunted, as if something’s behind you all the time in the jungle” (53). • For bloodlust

15. Chapter 3 • Simon • “He squatted down, parted leaves, and looked out into the clearing… Holding his breath he cocked a critical ear at the sounds of the island” (57). • Represents generosity and kindness • A mystic, visionary “To the endless outstretched hands” (56). • Contrast to Ralph and Jack