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Fiction

Notes 9. The landing of the ......... on the mountain is a pivotal event in Lord of the flies.

10. The dead ......... appears to the boys as a supernatural creature.

Simon, wanting to prove that he is accepted, travels with Ralph, who wishes only for solitude.
Soon, they reach a part of the island that they had not yet discovered. It is a thin path that
leads to a series of caves inside a mountain face. While the other boys are afraid to traverse
the walkway and explore the caves, Ralph accomplishes the feat and is encouraged by his own
bravery. He enters one of the caves and is soon joined by Jack. The two experience a brief
reconciliation as they have fun together exploring the new mountain territory.
They continue along a narrow wall of rocks that forms a bridge between parts of the island,
reaching the open sea. At this point, however, some of the boys get distracted and spend time
rolling rocks around the bridge. Ralph again gets frustrated and then asserts that it would be
better to climb the mountain and rekindle the fire. He accuses the boys of losing sight of their
original goal, finding and killing the beast. Contradicting Ralph, Jack states that he wishes to
stay where they are because they can build a fort.

Analysis

The landing of the dead pilot on the mountain is a pivotal event in Lord of the Flies. The pilot
represents an actual manifestation of the beast whose existence the boys had feared but never
confirmed. None of the boys is immune to the implications of the dead pilot’s presence on the
island. Even Piggy, faced with some evidence that a beast actually exists, begins considering
measures the boys should take to protect themselves. In contrast to the “beast from water” of
the previous chapter (alternately figured as a monster, squid, and ghost), the beast from air
is a concrete object toward which the boys can direct their fear. Significantly, however, the
beast from air proves no threat to the boys. The dead body is nothing more than a harmless
object left to be interpreted in vastly different ways by the various boys.

Task Why does Piggy only have “one” eye?

Given his increasingly violent behavior, intensified further by his successful slaughter of a
forest pig, Jack unsurprisingly interprets the appearance of the beast from air as a cause for
war. The possibility of a dangerous presence on the island is key to Jack’s gaining authority
over the other boys, for he affirms their fear and gives them a focus for their violence and
anger. Jack thus continues his authoritarian behavior with a strong emphasis on demagoguery.
Jack requires a concrete enemy in order to assume dictatorial authority, and he finds one in
the dead pilot despite its obvious inability to harm them. This foreshadows later developments
in which Jack will focus his vitriol against other possible enemies. Like many tyrants, Jack
assumes power by directing public fear towards scapegoats, in this case, the body of the dead
pilot.
Chapter Six also confirms the increasing tension between Jack and Ralph, whose opposing
ideas of social organization resurface. While he despises Piggy, Jack’s most threatening enemy
is Ralph, who insists on rules and self-discipline over wild adventures and hunting. Ralph
remains focused on the clear objective of keeping the fire burning to alert possible passing
ships, while Jack is committed to only those pursuits that allow him to behave in a destructive
manner. Previously, Jack was committed to the rules of order that would allow him to punish
others; in this chapter, however, Golding presents Jack as accepting anarchy when it serves his
purposes. His assertion that the boys no longer need the conch shell in meetings signifies

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