NOVEL IILECTURE 16

SYNOPSIS

Chapter by chapter critical Analysis continues

Lord of the Flies Chapter 5 Ralph sounds the conch shell and the boys

gather for a meeting. A serious meeting.We get a description of the meeting place: we know it's on a sort of platform, and now we're told it's shaped like a triangle. Ralph, as the chief, sits on a huge log, which lies parallel to the beach below. To his right is another not-so-chiefly log, and on the left four smaller logs, all of which make for seats for the boys.

Chapter 5

Ralph gets rather philosophical here before the big meeting, pondering such relevant matters as, "If faces [are] different when lit from above or below—what [is] a face? What [is] anything?" It seems the wilderness has made Ralph question the very foundations of his knowledge. If this seems weird to you, we suggest you live on an uninhabited island for a month or two.

Chapter 5

After all this pondering, Ralph gets around to blowing the conch.He reminds the boys of some rules: (1) (as you might have guessed) KEEP THE SIGNAL FIRE GOING, (2) don't build any other fires, and (3) do their toilet business by the rocks near the bathing pool instead of all over the island, as they have been doing (the boys snigger and laugh at this last item).

Chapter 5

When he sets down the conch, Jack grabs it up and tells all the little children to stop acting like children. He says there is no beast (he's been all over the island), and if they're afraid they should suck it up. There's this great moment where someone asks what a beast would eat, someone else says "pig," and yet another someone said "We eat pig."

Chapter 5

Piggy, in a moment of astounding and unprecedented perception, states that there is no beast, and no fear, either—unless they get frightened of people. So there's nothing to fear but … themselves.We're thinking particularly Jack. One of the littluns (Phil) tries to declare that the beast comes out at night.

Chapter 5

When they tell him it was a dream, he says quite adamantly no, he was dreaming that the creepers were snakes, and then after he woke up he saw something big moving in the dark.Ralph insists it was a dream, until Simon admits he was the one mucking about in the dark.Simon grabs the conch and explains that sometimes he likes to go hang out in this "place" in the jungle.

Chapter 5

They keep talking about "getting taken short," which is refined British for "needing to poo." Supposedly, this is why Simon was out, but we all know that's not true.Another littlun comes forward, and again Piggy has to hold the conch for him and coax some words out of him. This little guy is none other than Percival.

Chapter 5

Percival gets a little nutty; he yammers off his street address, he cries, then he yawns, then he staggers, and finally he just lies down in the grass and goes to sleep, but not before telling Jack that the beast "comes out of the sea."Simon makes a comment on "mankind's essential illness" and states that the beast is "only us."Is it just us, or is Simon basically the smartest 12-year-old ever?Simon tries to further his point by asking, "what's the dirtiest thing there is?"

Chapter 5

Jack's answer, "one crude expressive syllable" (yes, you know what it is) causes the other boys to scream with delight (remember, essentially, these are proper, well-educated British boys—swearing was a big thrill for them).As the boys laugh, Simon gives up on his effort to make them think about themselves and sits down in defeat.Maybe the beast is a ghost?

Chapter 5

Someone yells at Piggy to "shut up, you fat slug!" and the whole meeting begins to disintegrate.Ralph shouts that the rules are the only thing they've got holding them together, but Jack is louder and leads a pack of boys off to search for the beast and hunt him down.Piggy, Ralph and Simon are left in despair. Piggy wants to blow the conch, but Ralph makes the third amazing comment of the chapter, stating that, if he blows it now and no one comes back, the conch will have lost its power completely. And then, they will all "be like animals."

Chapter 5

He wants to give up being chief, but Piggy asks desperately what would happen then. Simon tries to convince Ralph to go on with his duties. There's some talk of how, if only the grown-ups were there, they'd know what to do. They would have rules and they would meet and discuss. Apparently, the boys have never seen the British parliament in action. Anyway, they really wish they had a "sign" from the adults. As the boys stand there in the darkness, a thin wail arises. It's one of the littluns, Percival, crying out from his spot on the grass.

Lord of the Flies Beast from Air As if that weren't scary enough, Chapter

6 opens with a "sign" from the adults: it's a parachuting dead body drifting down to the ground from a battle being fought by airplanes above the island.Sam and Eric are tending the signal fire when they see the freaky-looking body. Screaming and running away follows.

Beast from Air

Ralph is dreaming of home when the twins wake him up screaming that they saw the beast and that it was furry, had wings, teeth, and claws, there was something moving behind its head, and it followed them by "slinking behind the trees."By now, other boys have gathered around to listen, including our favorite troublemaker, Jack.

Beast from Air

Naturally Jack wants to hunt the thing down.Jack, Ralph, and an assortment of biguns head off to do so.When Piggy asks who's going to look after the littluns while everyone else is off hunting for the beast, Jack says, "Sucks to the littluns." On that charming note, they let the hunt begin.

Beast from Air

They decide to head for the tail end of the island, where the rocks make a sort of bridge that they call "the castle."Simon is doubtful that there's really a beast. He imagines "a picture of a human, at once heroic and sick."When they get to the rocks, Ralph declares that, since he's the chief, he'll look for the beast.Several heart-pounding moments later, he sees that Jack has followed him.

Beast from Air

Not surprisingly, there is no beast inside. They have some fun exploring. And then they decide to climb to the top of the mountain to look for this beast thing.The other boys start swarming into the rocks, having a grand old time, until Ralph realizes the signal fire has gone out again.With much grumbling and muttering, the boys follow Jack and Ralph to the top of the mountain.

Lord of the Flies Shadows and Tall Trees The boys stop to rest and eat some fruit

they’ve found.Almost immediately, some of the boys steal off to “do their business.” Ralph, by now quite dirty, wishes that he could take a bath. Oh, and cut his hair (still).But then he looks around at the other boys and realizes that he’s become used to the conditions of filthiness – it has become normal. He sighs, knowing that this isn’t really a good thing.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Ralph stares out at the ocean – he’s now on the other side of the island, no longer shielded by the lagoon. This, of course, is hugely meaningful to him. Right about this time, Ralph realizes Simon is speaking right into his ear. Simon actually does say, “You’ll get back all right.”

Shadows and Tall Trees

Ralph thinks Simon is batty and says so – yet he is still somehow comforted. Simon seems to have some knowledge of things that the other boys don’t. For a moment, they even smile at each other.But before you start feeling all comforted, notice that Simon says “you’ll get back all right.”

Shadows and Tall Trees

Roger calls out that he’s found some fresh (steaming) pig poo. The boys start on up the mountain again as Ralph thinks fondly of home: his bedroom, books, his mother and father and “good-humored and friendly” feelings.

Right about now, a huge boar (that’s a male pig with tusks) comes crashing out of the bushes.Ralph flings his spear, which sticks in the boar’s snout for about a second before falling out.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Ralph proudly shouts that he hit the boar, and then decides that maybe hunting is a good thing after all.Jack takes off after the boar, which eventually gets away, but not before wounding Jack’s arm.And yet – the excitement doesn’t end there; the boys reenact the scene with some poor boy (Robert) voluntarily playing the boar.Things get a little out of hand as the boys “play” at jabbing Robert with their spears.

Shadows and Tall Trees

They start the chant again: “Kill the pig! Cut his throat,” etc., etc.Ralph can’t help joining in (!) as they finish the game with Robert screaming in true terror as they pin him down.

When it’s all over, Robert isn’t really hurt and Ralph says it was “just a game,” but even he knows that he is shamelessly lying to himself. Everyone (except Robert, we assume) wishes they could do it again.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Jack playfully suggests they could use a littlun. By this time, the sun is starting to go down; the boys discuss whether to go on up on the mountain and risk facing the beast in the dark, or whether to go back to Piggy, who was left behind with the littluns.

Finally, Simon goes off through the jungle to tell Piggy that they won’t be back until after dark. The rest of the boys head fearfully up the darkening mountain. As the group chickens out one by one, only Ralph, Jack, and Roger are left.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Jack goes ahead and sees the “beast” (the parachute man) bowing and lifting in the wind. He can’t tell what it is and runs back to the other two. Then, bravely, the trio goes together to investigate.

Ralph is so afraid he thinks he might pass out. They finally get a look at what they think is a giant ape sitting there, asleep, with his head between his knees. As the wind roars through the trees, the creature lifts his head, “holding toward them the ruin of a face.”For the second time, much running and screaming follows.

Lord of the Flies Chapter 8-SummaryGift for the Darkness Cut to the next morning. The boys tell

Piggy about the beast.Ralph pushes back his mop of hair (Ralph's hair seems to have taken on a life of its own) and says they're beaten; if everyone is too scared to go to the top of the mountain, they can't keep the signal fire going.Jack, trying to take control of the situation, calls an assembly by blowing the conch.

Shadows and Tall Trees

He tells the group about the beast and then argues that Ralph shouldn't be chief because (1) he likes Piggy, (2) he doesn't hunt, and (3) he was scared on the mountain.

When no one is willing to impeach Ralph, Jack storms off. Ralph is just going to have to catch his own pigs from now on.BUT, before his grand exit, Jack invites anyone who wants to come with him.

Shadows and Tall Trees

No one knows quite what to do, but Ralph says Jack will come back once it gets dark.Piggy is not happy with this beast situation, since he can no longer convince himself it's all been imagined.Meanwhile, Simon says that they should go up the mountain and face the beast, because it's not like they have anything else to do.No one agrees with Simon.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Piggy finally comes up with the brilliant idea to build a new signal fire down by the beach instead of depending on the one up on the mountain.

The boys do so. Piggy wants to run experiments to see which of the green leaves make the most smoke when they burn.

After they get it going, Piggy and Ralph look around and realize that many of the biguns—Maurice, Bill, and Roger and Robert—have disappeared. The only ones left besides Piggy and Ralph are "Samneric" and Simon.

Shadows and Tall Trees

o, wait, Simon seems to be gone, too. They wonder if that crazy loon has climbed up the mountain by himself. Cut to Simon. He's in his little meditation spot in the jungle, to sit behind the great woven mat of creepers. Meanwhile, far off along the beach, Jack and his band of brothers make pig-killing plans. They decide that if they leave part of the pig for the beast, the beast won't bother them—you know, like an offering.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Conveniently, they find a bunch of sleeping pigs. They set their sights on the biggest, fattest, mother pig, who is adorably nursing a row of piglets.What follows is a bloody and horrific scene in which the boys drive their knives into this screaming pig.The boys stare at the dead mother pig. What now?They laugh and rub her blood over their faces—obviously

Shadows and Tall Trees

"Right up her ass," says one of the boys (referring to where he put his spear) and they act out the whole thing all over again.Oops. In order to cook the pig, they're going to need fire—which they'll steal from Ralph's group later on.Jack tells Roger to "sharpen a stick at both ends." Then he bends over the pig with his knife and cuts off her head.They ram a pointed stick into the crack of a rock and jam the pig's severed head onto the other end.

Shadows and Tall Trees

They leave the head as a gift for the beast and carry off the remains of the pig.Now get ready for some heavy, thought-provoking, killer lines in the next ten pages or so. We suggest you go read those ten pages and then come back here when you're done. (Or get immersed and don't come back until you finish the book.)

Shadows and Tall Trees

Simon is hiding behind his mat of creepers, where, unbeknownst to the other boys, he has been watching them slaughter the pig. He now stares at the head's half-closed eyes, which assure him that "everything [is] a bad business."Simon responds—out loud—that he already knows that.We start off the scene with the head "seeming" to say things to Simon.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Simon stares at the black blob of bloody guts that the boys have piled on the ground. It's covered with buzzing flies. The flies start gathering on Simon's hot, sweaty face, but he does nothing. As the flies crawl over him, Simon stares at the impaled head, the "Lord of the Flies.“

He watches it "grinning" back at him, and we're going to go out on a limb and say that he might be hallucinating just a little bit. Okay, we're getting pretty nervous for Simon.

Shadows and Tall Trees

But now we return to Piggy and Ralph, who are lying on the sand, gazing at the fire. Samneric have wandered off. Simon is gone. They realize it is going to rain and don't know how to keep a fire going, especially with so few people now. Ralph asks Piggy what makes things "break up as they do."Piggy thinks it's Jack, and he's also honored that Ralph is talking to him like an equal. The two of them lie there contemplating how not to die and hopefully get off the island, too, when "demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green [rush] out howling."

Shadows and Tall Trees

Oh, wait, it's only Jack, Maurice, and Robert with painted faces. They run up to the fire and grab some of the burning sticks .It's pig roast time! Jack invites everyone to come eat. Two of the "savages" say, "The chief has spoken" (sounds like Jack is declaring himself the new chief), and then they all run off again. Hm, says Ralph. Looks like they're having fun, and wouldn't it be nice to join them…But then he reminds everyone that they must tend the fire, because…because…Uh, rescue? says Piggy. It seems like Ralph might be starting to lose it here.Samneric and Bill speak up. As much as they like Ralph and all, they would really prefer eating some food to starving to death. They all head off to the feast.

Shadows and Tall Trees

Maybe Ralph's gang could hunt their own pig? No one seems interested, and he accepts momentary defeat. We're back to Simon again. The Lord of the Flies now tells Simon, with dialogue quotes and everything, that he's an "ignorant, silly little boy."The Lord of the Flies asks if Simon is afraid of him, and Simon shakes. The poor guy is having a hard time. His tongue is swollen (might have something to do with how thirsty he felt earlier), and he's now clearly hallucinating that he's having a conversation with the impaled pig's head The pig's head says there's no one there to help poor Simon. "Only me," the pig's head says. "And I'm the Beast

Shadows and Tall Trees

The Lord of the Flies rolls his eyes at the notion that the beast was something that you could hunt and kill. He says that he's part of Simon, that he's close, and that he's the reason "why things are what they are" (the answer to Ralph's question of several paragraphs ago).Simon feels that "one of his times is coming on," like maybe he's about to have a seizure.The pig threatens that "we are going to have fun on this island," and that everyone—and here he lists off the names of the boys—are going to "do" Simon.We're getting a really bad feeling about this. As the Lord of the Flies continues to talk, Simon feels that he's falling into a "vast mouth." He faints.

Lord of the Flies A View to a Death Now it's evening. The unconscious Simon

gets a bloody nose. When he wakes, The Lord of the Flies is still hanging on his stick "like a black ball."Simon wakes and asks (as he did before): "What else is there to do?" We know what that means.Covered in dried blood, Simon staggers out of his hiding place and begins making his way up the mountain, still intending to face the beast like a man. Or, like a young boy who just happens to be very brave and wise.

A View to a Death

When he gets to the top, he of course sees that the beast is just a dead body on a parachute, all tangled up in the rocks.Simon pukes (the dead body is a rather hideous and smelly sight) and then frees the parachute line from the rocks.He staggers downward to tell everyone that the "beast" is harmless, almost collapsing with each step.Meanwhile, Ralph and Piggy join everyone at Jack's party, "to make sure nothing happens."

A View to a Death

When they get to the party, they see that everyone is having a grand old time. Jack is sitting on a great log, "painted and garlanded" like an idol. He graciously offers Piggy and Ralph some food, which they take, and then bosses everyone to get him a drink and tell him he's the fairest one of all and so forth.After everyone eats, Jack demands to know who is going to join his tribe. His seriousness and bossiness is a real downer, and the party stops feeling like a party.

A View to a Death

In response, Ralph says he's the chief, but his voice trembles as he speaks and no one really believes him.There's some rather ominous thunder.Ralph offers to blow the conch and call an assembly, but Jack says no one will hear it.Everyone knows Jack is right about this.Piggy suggests quietly to Ralph that this would probably be a good time for them to get the heck out of there.

A View to a Death

Lightning flashes and they all decide to (what else) reenact the pig's death scene for the umpteenth time.Only this time, instead of chanting about the pig, they shout: "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"As they dance wildly, something crawls toward them from the forest and stumbles into the circle of boys.

A View to a Death

It is Simon, who cries out something about a "dead man on a hill."The boys, who are in some kind of a fury of wild chanting and blood lust, aren't really in a listening kind of mood. In fact, they decide that Simon is the beast. Pouncing on him, they scream, strike, bite, and tear. "There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws."Rain pours down, suddenly, and the boys straggle away, leaving the pitiful heap that is Simon lying in the dirt, his blood "staining the sand."

A View to a Death

As the wind blows, it picks up the other "beast" (the dead man in the parachute) and carries him out to sea—the boys "rush screaming into the darkness." In case you can't tell, this is an amazing paragraph—you should take a look at it.Eventually the rain stops, and as the water rises under the moon, "Simon's dead body [moves] out toward the open sea." Yep, they've actually killed him—even Ralph and Piggy helped.

Lord of the Flies The Shell and the Glasses

Piggy and Ralph try to keep the fire going and talk about what happened. (We're thinking they must have realized it was Simon sometime in between "Kill that thing!" and waking up the next morning.)Ralph shouts that it was murder and Piggy shrieks that it was not, it was just an accident.Samneric show up, and all four of them try to convince each other that they didn't really participate like the others had.

The Shell and the Glasses The four of them continue to rationalize

until they've decided that they never even attended the dance, that they had left early before anything bad happened. Denial: not just a river in Egypt.Now we're with Roger, who is climbing up Castle Rock. Someone calls for him to halt, and Roger isn't surprised as he thinks of people hiding from "the horrors" of the previous night.

The Shell and the Glasses It's Robert; he and Roger talk about how

Jack is a real chief.They look at a log that's been jammed under a huge rock. When Robert leans on the protruding end of the log, the rock groans. Roger thinks this is super-nifty.They then discuss the fact that Jack has tied up Wilfred (a character we haven't seen until now) and is going to beat him up for some reason.

The Shell and the Glasses When they get back to the cave, Jack is

sitting, naked from the waist up with his face painted in white and red. Wilfred, untied but "newly beaten," is crying. Jack—excuse us, "the chief"—announces that they'll hunt again tomorrow. He explains away the whole last-night's-murder thing by saying that the beast came disguised, and may come again. Oh, and they're still going to have to steal fire to roast the meat. Back at the shelter on the beach, Piggy yammers on about building a radio.

The Shell and the Glasses Sam and Eric wonder if they'll be

captured by "The Reds," but think that would be better than you-know-who.Ralph gets a little nutty. He can't remember why he wants to make a fire, he gives up on it for the night, and then he's dancing around as he thinks of a bus station and how wonderful it would be to go home.He is interrupted by shouts as Sam and Eric start fighting with each other.

The Shell and the Glasses They've never acted like this before, and

Piggy whispers desperately to Ralph that they've got to get out of this somehow before they go "barmy," or "bomb happy," as he puts it.Ralph pushes the "damp tendrils of hair out of his eyes" (there's that hair again) and suggests sarcastically to Piggy that he write a letter to his auntie to come rescue them.Well, sure, says Piggy—but he has no envelope and no stamp.Nighttime. There's definitely something moving outside—it must be the beast.

The Shell and the Glasses (Um, that didn't work out so well last time,

guys. Just sayin'.)Ralph and Piggy cling desperately to each other inside the shelter. Ralph, in a not-so-noble moment, prays that the beast will prefer littluns to him.Tension builds until something crashes into their shelter and pounces on them, beating them viciously. The shelter collapses.After the attackers leave, Samneric come in to see if they are all right.They aren't.

Lord of the Flies Castle Rock

Piggy wants to go to Jack and the others and insist that they give his glasses back, because it's the right and reasonable thing to do.Ralph thinks this is going to work just about as well as we do, but he agrees to try.The pair decides to bring the conch shell with them to give an impression of authority, and maybe clean themselves up a little, too.

Castle Rock

Ralph and Piggy argue a little about the smoking fire, and then they set off along the beach with Sam and Eric—leading Piggy, who's practically blind now.

When they get there, the boys in Jack's group are "painted out of recognition."Ralph announces that he's calling an assembly and wishes he'd had the bright idea to tie his hair back like the "savages." Roger throws a small stone at Sam and Eric, and then Jack and Ralph argue about Piggy's glasses.

Castle Rock

Piggy screams, afraid to be left by himself when he can't see.This is going well. Not. "'You pinched Piggy's specs,' said Ralph, breathlessly. 'You've got to give them back.'"Jack is not convinced.Once Ralph calls Jack a dirty thief, the boys begin to fight, swinging at each other with their spears.

Castle Rock

But Golding is careful to tell us that they use their spears "as sabers," not jabbing at each other with the "lethal points," possibly because everyone is still a little bit traumatized over Simon's death.Piggy tries to defuse the sitch by telling Ralph to remember what they came for—the fire, the specs.And then Ralph says something interesting: he tells Jack, "You aren't playing the game—" and then he cuts himself off.

Castle Rock

He sure isn't. Jack's next move is to tell the savages to tie up Sam and Eric.There is some hesitation as everyone in the crowd thinks (roughly speaking): "Seriously?"Seriously. The twins get tied up and Jack revels in his ability to boss the others around.As the fighting between Jack and Ralph worsens, Piggy yells at them to let him speak and holds up the conch.Surprisingly, everyone quiets down.

Castle Rock

Piggy tries to reason with them, telling them to cut out all this painted savage nonsense. He suggests that law and rescue are better than hunting and breaking things up.Jack's tribe isn't convinced. Remember that lever catapult from Chapter 6? High above them on the cliff, Roger leans on the lever "with a sense of delirious abandonment."Piggy is still holding the conch when the boulder strikes him. The conch shatters into thousands of pieces, and Piggy falls forty feet toward the sea.

Castle Rock

He lands on the rocks below, the contents of his skull oozing out.We are told that his body twitches a bit, "like a pig's after it has been killed."The boys watch in horror as the waves suck Piggy's body into the sea.Apparently, this is the sign Jack needed: he screams that he really is chief now because the conch is gone, and then throws his spear at Ralph.

Castle Rock

Jabbed in the ribs, Ralph turns and runs, with the savages (ineffectively) hurling spears after them.Jack returns to home base, standing with Roger in front of Sam and Eric and demanding they join his tribe.There's an interesting Jack-Roger moment here; Roger edges past Jack, "only just avoiding pushing him with his shoulder." Jack shouts and pokes at the twins, but we end the chapter with Roger advancing towards them menacingly—"wielding a nameless authority."

Lord of the Flies Cry of the Hunters

Ralph is completely alone now—no Piggy, no Simon, no Samneric.He hides in the thick underbrush, wondering what to do about the rather serious wound on his ribs.He can't wash himself without risking capture, so he just lies there, trying to think.

Cry of the Hunters

At one point, peering out from his hiding spot, he sees a painted face—Bill. But no; this wasn't Bill. It was a savage who had nothing to do with Bill.Finally, as the sunlight starts to fade, he sneaks over to the edge of the thicket so he can see what Jack and his group are doing.The smoke is rising and he can smell the pig they are roasting. Ralph is hungry.

Cry of the Hunters

He tries to convince himself that they will leave him alone, that everything was an accident and that "they're not as bad as that." It doesn't work.He makes his way back to the beach and on the way comes to a clearing in the forest.Yes, it is the same clearing we saw before, the one with the Lord of the Flies, now checking out Ralph "like one who knows all the answers and won't tell."

Cry of the Hunters

Ralph smashes the skull with his fists, bruising his knuckles in the process, but even afterwards still thinks the head is grinning (its smile is just wider now that it's been split open). He grabs the spear on which the head had been impaled and makes off. As night falls, Ralph goes back to Castle Rock to stare at the savages and Jack.He is completely isolated and lonely. He wonders if he can't just wander into the fort, as though it were a game, say "I've got pax" and laugh about it. After all, aren't these the same boys who said "Sir" and wore caps?

Cry of the Hunters

Not so much. The tribe—including Sam and Eric—is dancing and chanting, "Kill the beast. Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"Ralph is at the end of his rope—Piggy is dead, Samneric are savages. There is no signal fire. The conch is smashed to powder. The whole situation sucks unbelievably.Eventually, Ralph sneaks down and calls out softly to Sam and Eric. They come over, but they don't want to—they tell Ralph to go away.

Cry of the Hunters

Ralph begins to say "If it were light–" and the narration tells us that, if it were light, the boys would burn in shame.Sam and Eric say "they hurt us," and reveal that Jack is planning to hunt him (Ralph) tomorrow, starting early in the morning. And by hunt, they mean kill.

Cry of the Hunters

Ralph begs them to come with him, but they are obviously too scared: Roger and the chief are both terrors, but Roger… But Roger what? We don't find out, but we're guessing it's pretty bad.Also bad: Jack has sharpened a stick on both ends.Weird. Hearing footsteps approaching, Samneric quickly hand Ralph a hunk of meat and then run off.

Cry of the Hunters

Ralph eats and falls asleep in the thicket near the camp, still wondering what this sharpened stick business means.(Do you get it? It means Ralph is going to get a little Lord of the Flies treatment himself.)When he wakes up, he realizes that Jack is just feet away, right outside the thicket where he's hiding.Ralph gets ready to fight, and sees the boys throwing great rocks (à la the killing-Piggy method) toward the dense thicket he's hiding in. The red rocks go past him and roll towards the sea.

Cry of the Hunters

That doesn't work, so the boys try to smoke him out with a fire. Ralph worms his way back through the thicket (away from the smoke) and toward the forest.A small savage is waiting for him as he emerges, but the poor little guy is rubbing the smoke out of his eyes.No time for sympathy! Ralph stabs the little boy and runs away.Now what? Climb a tree? Just keep running? Sit down and cry? Piggy was the brains of this operation.Finally, Ralph decides to hide again, lunging into the deepest tangle of creepers he can find.As he lies there, he realizes the fire that the savages set to smoke him out has spread, once again much like wildfire.

Cry of the Hunters

While under the vines, Ralph suddenly sees the legs of a savage moving toward him.The savage is holding a stick that is… sharpened on both ends. Dun dun dun.Ralph tells himself not to scream and tries to hold still—when the savage's face peers underneath the vines.Ralph screams and plunges out, snarling and bloody. He swings at the savage until the guy falls, but there are others coming.

Cry of the Hunters

He runs away as a spear flies past him. What follows is one of the best, heart-pounding

chase scenes ever, as Ralph runs desperately through the forest, trying to evade the savages.

He hears them all crashing through the underbrush as they give chase. Ralph stumbles over a root and falls, just as he sees one of their shelters burst into flame. As he rolls down the hill, he realizes he's close to the water's edge.

Well, this is it. Ralph covers himself with his arms and cries for mercy. When he finally opens his eyes and staggers to his feet, he's staring up at a white-topped cap with a gold anchor on the brim.

Cry of the Hunters

Whoa! A naval officer! They're both pretty surprised to see each other.Behind him, Ralph can see a ship in the water, its "bows hauled up and held by two ratings." And, in the "stern-sheets another rating [holds] a sub-machine gun."The officer says "hello" and Ralph suddenly realizes how filthy he is.Any adults on the island? Nope. Just a semicircle of boys, their bodies "streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands."

Cry of the Hunters

The officer assumes they've been playing a game and asks jokingly if anyone was killed.Ralph answers, "Only two" and makes it clear the bodies are gone.The officer finally catches on that he is serious and whistles softly.The whole island is "shuddering with flame," and other boys appear, coming out of the jungle, brown and with distended bellies. Little Percival comes running—he tries to start his incantation (name and address, which comforted him so much before) but he can't remember it.

Cry of the Hunters

The officer asks who's boss and Ralph says loudly, "I am."Jack starts to protest but thinks better of it. Remember how he was described as a freaky, painted idol? Now he's just "a little boy who wore the remains of a […] black cap on his red hair." Irony alert: instead of Ralph's precious signal fire, it is the smoke that Jack created—in an attempt to kill Ralph—that the rescuers saw.

Cry of the Hunters

The adult gives them a little lecture, saying that a group of British boys should have put up a better show than this.Ralph tries to explain that it was good at first, and the officer nods, adding that it was "like the Coral Island," another book about boys stranded on an island. Now that he's finished running for his life, Ralph has time to think about what's happened. He begins to cry, sobbing for the first time about "the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."

Cry of the Hunters

The officer is a little embarrassed and turns away to give the boys time to pull themselves together, letting his eyes rest on the "trim cruiser in the distance."Oh, and that trim cruiser? It's involved in an equally violent and bloody war—so maybe that officer shouldn't be giving anyone any lectures.

Review Lecture 16

Chapter by chapter critical Analysis continues