Chapter 5 "Beast from Water"
Ralph has called an emergency assembly by blowing the conch in order to discuss the current crisis he sees afflicting the group. This is the latest a meeting has been held so far--it is already after nightfall. At last, Ralph recognizes and adopts Piggy's pattern of thinking, respecting him now as an equal or even as a superior, contrary to his previous impressions. "Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains. Ralph was a specialist in thought now, and could recognize thought in another." Chapter 5, pg. 71. Ralph lapses into a long serious monologue intended to convey his intense worries and fears about what was happening to the group's dynamics. The coconut shells laid out to be drunk from are no longer filled; the shelters were finished by himself and Simon alone; the assigned place for lavatory use near a certain area of rocks is no longer used and the children defecate just about anywhere including near the fruit trees they eat from. He says again that the signal fire must stay lit and that fire shall burn only on the mountain, recalling Piggy's earlier reprimand when part of the island had been burnt due to their carelessness. The signal fire takes priority over the hunting and killing pigs, he says. Many of the children laugh, hardly taking his words to heart.
Topic Tracking: Intellectual 4
However, the boys quickly become solemn when talk of the beast is brought up again. One littlun, Phil, speaks of nightmares he has of "something big and horrid" in the trees. As it turns out, he had been walking in his sleep in the woods and the creature moving was actually Simon, mistaken to be the beast. Percival Wemys Madison speaks next declaring that the beast comes out of the sea, quickly followed by more assurance not to worry from Ralph and Jack as well. Piggy even chimes in, "'Life...is scientific....I know there isn't no beast...but I know there isn't no fear, either....Unless we get frightened of people.'" Chapter 5, pg. 76. Here is the first suggestion that the presence of the beast as is derived from fear within their own minds. Once more Piggy's insight gives a certain clarity to the group's thoughts. Jack gives his bit next saying, "'[F]ear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!'" Chapter 5, pg. 75. His coldness and insensitivity have become even more intense after donning his painted tribal mask.
Simon ends the beast discussion in an attempt to offer what he felt was an explanation: "'Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us.'" Chapter 5, pg. 80. This again hits closer to home than even Piggy's comment, about the fear and paranoia they boys have for each other. Taking it one step further, instead of each other person becoming a beast and an object to be potentially feared, Simon suggests that they are themselves the beast rather than it being everyone else. It is not without but a thing from within. Regretfully, no one understands him and his attempt at explaining this is a failure.
Topic Tracking: Intellectual 5
Topic Tracking: Beast 3
Topic Tracking: Religion 5
Focused discussion within the assembly at this point breaks down and Ralph is at a loss as the boys talk about the beast of the island. Jack talks out of turn, declaring now that if there is a beast he and his hunters shall track it down and kill it. Ralph realizes at last how much "[t]he world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away." Chapter 5, pg. 82. With all the boys dispersing without warning, he is unable to act. Anarchy and chaos have come to dominate the assembly and the democracy he had tried so hard to establish. Only Simon and Piggy remain to comfort him. He wishes to resign his post as chief and give up but Piggy fears that without Ralph in power as his protector, Jack will harm him. Simon too blurts out another random comment as is his nature, simply: "Go on being chief." The three then try to imagine what grown-ups would do in their position, knowing that they would conduct themselves according to good standards and what is proper. Ralph laments on how "something grown-up" should be sent to them as a sign, to give them hope.
Topic Tracking: Government 6
Chapter 6 "Beasts from Air"
Little does Ralph know that his wish for "something grown-up" is granted that same night, though not exactly in the way he intended. As the boys sleep that night a battle between two planes wages on in the air above the island--one of the planes is destroyed. Drifting down to the island after the explosion is the lifeless body of its pilot, bound tightly in a pilot suit and parachute cables. The chute carries the body to rest at the summit of the mountain where their signal fire burns. The twins Sam and Eric, are tending to the fire as the pilot's body slowly shifts around as the wind courses through the parachute, moving the lifeless body like a puppet with strings, lifting its head to rise and fall. The twins speak as one person, the one finishing the other's sentence, "Sam - give us --" one begins, "--tinder wood," the other finishes. As they go off to find wood, they see the dead pilot and, mistaking the corpse for the beast, they flee back down to the beach to awaken Ralph. Ralph is in the midst of a comfortable dream, as "Even the sounds of nightmare from the other shelters no longer reached him, for he was back to where came from, feeding the ponies with sugar over the garden wall." Chapter 6, pg. 89. He dreams of his own home. However, Ralph is jarred awake to hear the beast story from the twins. Eric's face, cut by creepers as he had fled down the mountain, is thought to be further evidence of an attack by the "beast."
Topic Tracking: Beast 4
Another assembly is called by Ralph as day breaks and again there is discussion and arguing among all the boys and escalating tension between Jack and Ralph. At last a group is sent off, led by Jack and Ralph, in order to track the beast, each with his own reason: Jack, to kill and hunt the beast, and Ralp,h to rekindle the signal fire to preserve hope for a rescue. They decide to explore a section of island they had not been to yet, leaving Piggy behind as before to watch over the littluns. In setting out, Simon thinks to himself of the beast as only "the picture of a human at once heroic and sick....Other people could stand up and speak to an assembly...without...the pressure of personality; could say what they would as though they were speaking to only one person." Chapter 6, pg. 93. He recalls his earlier inability to express what he knew about the nature of the beast as he perceived it. In attempting to warn the other children earlier he stuttered and was met only with ridicule, though he seems perhaps to be the most insightful of them all.
Topic Tracking: Religion 6
Jack sees a pink rock cliff he describes as a "castle", and they decide to try this as a possible location for the beast's hideout. He cries excitedly, forgetting their mission, "'What a place for a fort!'" as Ralph urges them to move on for the sake of rekindling the signal fire on the mountain. The others pay Ralph little mind, including Jack. As if in another world, they roll rocks down the cliff face in glee; one large boulder Jack even fantasizes about using as a catapault-type weapon, "'Shove a palm trunk under that and if an enemy came....'"Chapter 6, pg. 96. Finally Ralph, becomes extremely agitated, punches a rock and orders them harshly, "'I'm chief. We've got to make certain [that there is no beast]....There's no signal showing [on the mountain]. There may be a ship out there.'" Chapter 6, pg. 98.
Increasingly, Ralph and Jack pursue their own desires: Jack wishing to destroy and hunt; Ralph wishing to be rescued, carried back to his home and father and the ponies of which he dreams. Despite their opposite ideals and patterns of behavior, they are similar in personality and motive. Both are dreamers and seem to be distant from the true needs of those they govern; when the littluns have nightmares, Ralph does not care for them but rather is quite selfish, dreaming happy thoughts of home. Jack hardly bothers with the littuns either, referring to them frequently as "crybabies." In any case, once more Jack relents and the group continues on their way, leaving their new-found fortress behind, but surely not forgotten.
Topic Tracking: Government 7
Chapter 7 "Shadows and Tall Trees"
The boys, led by Jack and Ralph, continue their search for the beast sighted by Samneric on the mountain, walking along the pig-run. Ralph reminisces again for his old life, when he was clean and had a proper haircut; where there were ponies back home and books; where he ate cornflakes with sugar, not pig and fruit. He escapes to his thoughts, into the reflection of all the luxuries he is now forced to live without. Comfort comes from Simon who assures him simply, as if reading his thoughts, "'You'll get back to where you came from.'" Chapter 7, pg. 100.
After Roger traces out fresh pig droppings on the ground, Jack convinces Ralph to allow them to hunt as they continue along; he agrees. A boar is soon pursued by all of the boys, including Ralph, who has sticks it with a spear as it makes its escape. In the chase, Jack's arm has been cut by the pig's tusks. Even though the prey has gotten away, the boys relive the thrill of hunting by encircling Robert as if he were the pig, grabbing and pulling at him in a circle, chanting yet again: "'Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!'" Chapter 7, pg. 104 to one another. Even Ralph is compelled to join them, "fighting to get near....The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering." Chapter 7, pg. 104.
Just as earlier rules were established to create Ralph's society with the assembly and conch, so now does this ritual cause the hunters to visualize a new type of society, with this ritual improved by "a fire [and]...a drum...to keep time." Jack adds that someone could dress up like the pig and the others would reenact the battle to slay it. The focus of the group drifts further from that envisioned by Ralph, partly due to his own participation in the hunter's activities. Even he is beginning to lose sight of his purpose by hunting the pig. Finally he remembers his purpose, as if emerging from a trance, and urges them to rekindle the signal fire, after all of their talk of pig rituals and dancing.
Topic Tracking: Pig 5
Topic Tracking: Religion 7
Topic Tracking: Government 8
Simon volunteers to go back to the camp to check up on Piggy and the littluns. Without warning, he disappears into the forest. The rest go on along the pig-run following at last to the mountain where Samneric saw the "beast." Night has fallen and as they climb ash blows through their eyes and hair, remnants of the blaze which was burnt across the island their first night there. Jack continues to cajole Ralph for being so concerned about Piggy, whom Jack has resented from the beginning, perhaps viewing Ralph's concern as betrayal to him. Sarcastically he says, "'We musn't let anything happen to Piggy, mustn't we?'" Chapter 7, pg. 106. Ralph's talent as a leader is also called into question here with the narrator's comment: "Ralph...would treat the day's decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player." Chapter 7, pg. 106. Rather than an ideal leader, Ralph is shown here to be quite the opposite. This is evidenced in his inconsistent behavior, such as that seen earlier when he loses sight of his own mission and allows Jack to take control of the group.
At last, only three go on to reach the summit of the mountain: Roger, Ralph and Jack; the others have stayed behind because of fear. There they see the same bowed figure of the lifeless pilot, swaying in the wind before them. Without warning they cast down their spears and all three run madly back to the security of the beach where the other children are waiting.
Topic Tracking: Government 9
Topic Tracking: Intellectual 6
Chapter 8 "Gift for the Darkness"
Upon returning to the beach, Piggy listens in disbelief to Jack and Ralph, who both say they had seen the beast with their own eyes--Ralph declares that it "had teeth and big black eyes." With the sun rising, for the third day in a row an assembly is called with a blow of the conch. It is to be the last of its kind that includes the entire group. The tension between Jack and Ralph reaches a climax with Ralph insulting Jack's hunters by calling them "boys with sticks." Jack counters by stating that Ralph is a coward who is now "like Piggy....He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.'" Chapter 8, pg. 115.
At this, Jack requests a vote from the group to remove Ralph from power. No one raises their hands and so, lacking support for the motion, he abruptly declares his defection from Ralph's society. Here is the turning point as the group officially splits, although signs of rising tensions between the two have been evident throughout. Jack disappears, inviting all who want to be a hunter to join his new "society".
Topic Tracking: Government 10
Topic Tracking: Intellectual 7
Ralph, feeling his control slip away, turns increasingly to Piggy for support. Simon urges them all to climb the mountain, though his advice is not taken seriously. Instead, Piggy has the idea of building the signal fire on the beach near the shelters. He is in good spirits at the departure of Jack, whom he has always feared as a physical threat (for it was Jack who broke his glasses after slapping his face) and he was "so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society, that he helped to fetch wood." Chapter 8, pg. 118.
It is important to note an almost parasitic relationship which forms between these two; as Ralph learns to think and intellectualize more and more, so too does Piggy learn increasingly to be more aggressive and active in deeds like Ralph. His language becomes less and less an annoyance. Piggy's aunt, whom he would talk endlessly about like a child at the opening of the book, is no longer mentioned at all. Indeed, the boys grow up by learning from one another. To continue to rely on nonexistent adults to guide them would be insensible, so now they rely on themselves for survival, and become responsible.
Among the boys who defect to Jack's society are Bill, Maurice, Roger and others. Even Simon disappears from Ralph's group, though for other reasons--presumably to climb the mountain alone. Samneric, Ralph and Piggy thus happily sit on the beach feasting for the moment on a mountain of fruit, trying to forget their worries.
Topic Tracking: Intellectual 8
Meanwhile, Jack and his hunters slay a female sow disturbed while nursing her piglets. The method in which she is slain is almost violently sexual in nature, as Roger impales her "'Right up her ass!'" Chapter 8, pg. 123 with a spear while Jack cuts her throat, wiping the blood from his hands onto Maurice's cheeks with laughter, as if it were only fingerpaint. In a way, the pig is raped by the boys and defiled, unlike the other pig slayings. Here a boundary has been crossed. It would seem that not only are Ralph and Piggy maturing, but Jack and his hunters are growing up as well, although in a darker way. Roger is ordered to "sharpen a stick at both ends". The sow's head is cut off entirely and left to drip blood and guts onto the ground. "'This head is for the beast. It's a gift.'" Chapter 8, pg. 124 Jack declares boldly, lodging one end of the stick into the ground and placing the sow's head on the other. Picking up the remaining carcass, the boys move onward from the scene.
Topic Tracking: Pig 6
Topic Tracking: Beast 5
The focus returns to Piggy and Ralph, tending the fire on the beach. Piggy blames Jack for the group's problems and Ralph agrees. No longer a steadfast leader with his decreased following, Ralph is biased and shows disdain for Jack, blaming him for everything that has gone wrong on the island. As Simon pointed out earlier, the beast which fills the boys with such fear is actually a figment in their minds, a piece within themselves. There is further discussion of Samneric doing everything together such as tending the fire, in one turn. Thinking as always in terms of logic, Piggy disagrees with this arrangement suggesting they take separate turns at the fire. Ralph leans ever-increasingly upon Piggy for support, needing to be reminded about the need for the signal fire, even after he was the one who insisted it be kept burning in the beginning.
Abruptly, Jack's hunters burst in upon them, grabbing half-burning branches to light their own pig-roasting fire. All are invited to attend Jack's little "party" to eat more meat. The littluns, Samneric and the rest sit in expectation, even as the sky begins to grow dark with clouds.
Simon sits down to rest near the decapitated sow's head in the forest. His curiousity gets the better of him and he decides to wait to see if a beast will actually come for its gift. Flies have begun to swarm around its blood and guts at the base of the stick and they begin to attack Simon as well, and "[Simon's] eyes were half-closed as though he were imitating the obscene thing on the stick." Chapter 8, pg. 130. Suddenly a voice designated only as The Lord of the Flies speaks from nowhere and mocks him, saying "'You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?'" Chapter 8, pg. 130. The pig's skull is unmoving; the voice comes from inside Simon. As he had stated earlier, the beast is a part of all of them, and so he confronts the beast within himself. The ugly beast externalized upon the stake, that pig's head buzzing with flies, suddenly mirrors Simon, eyes half closed and himself buzzing with flies as well. The outside and inside are at this moment one and the same. The beast then begins to threaten him saying, "'You're not wanted....on this island!... So don't try [to take] it on...or else....we shall do you. See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph.'" Chapter 8, pg. 131. If Simon attempts again to explain to all of the children that there is really no beast but that which is in themselves, he is warned that he shall be thus killed not only by Jack but by Ralph and Piggy too, for the beast, the voice says, is in all of them. With these words spoken from within, Simon falls unconsciousness after being swallowed by "a vast mouth [with] blackness within." (pg. 131)
Topic Tracking: Religion 8
Topic Tracking: Beast 6
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