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Unit 26: William Golding — Lord of the Flies: Detailed Study of Text-II

himself as the authority and begins his own “tribe.” Two “governments” thus exist on the Notes
island in this chapter. Ralph presides over what resembles a liberal democracy, while Jack
forms a type of military dictatorship. The two systems remain ideologically opposed, an opposition
that Golding highlights by placing the camps on different sides of the island. The structure of
the chapter also evokes the creation of two different governments on the island and foreshadows
the dominance of Jack’s system over Ralph’s. If there is a belligerent culture nearby, a peaceful
culture must militarize in order to survive. The chapter begins with Jack rejecting Ralph’s
conch shell as a symbol of authority conferred by democratic consensus, and it ends with the
creation of the Lord of the Flies, a symbol of the lawlessness and violence that motivates Jack’s
desire for power.
Golding also continues to represent Piggy as the sensible and in some respects the most
essential character for the boys’ survival. The abrasive edge that Piggy demonstrated upon
their arrival now becomes secondary to his practical wisdom, his ability to quickly understand
and adapt to new situations. Among the major characters, Piggy is the only one who does not
have predictable emotions. While Jack and Simon descend into their respective forms of madness
and Ralph remains sensible but increasingly cynical and vulnerable, Piggy confounds the
reader’s expectations by assuming authority over the boys despite his sickly appearance and
aversion to physical labor. In this chapter, even Ralph defers to Piggy’s sound judgment and
resolve. But any hints of Piggy’s heroism in this chapter are undermined by the increasing
subjugation of the island’s pigs to Jack and his hunters. Piggy is linked to the pigs by his
name; as Jack’s group become more focused on and adept at hunting them, Piggy’s own
victimization by the group becomes more likely.

Did u know? In part, the killing of the sow foreshadows Piggy’s tragic fate.

As was foreshadowed in the previous chapter, Jack and his hunters continue to devolve into
savagery in Chapter Eight. They indulge more and more in stereotypical “native” behavior
that emphasizes the use of violence and rituals of song and dance. For these boys the actions
are initially little more than a game; when Jack invites the other boys to join his tribe, he
explains that the point of this new tribe is solely to have fun. The boys continue to see their
behavior as savages as part of an elaborate game, even as the “game” takes on increasingly
dangerous and violent undertones. The mounting brutality and impulsiveness of Jack’s group
in this chapter foreshadows the events of Chapter Nine, in which the boys’ behavior moves
from mere pretending at violence to actual murder.
The scene where Simon confronts the pig’s head, which he calls the Lord of the Flies, remains
the most debated episode among critics of the novel. Many critics have noted that the scene
resembles the New Testament’s telling of Jesus’ confrontation with Satan during his forty days
in the wilderness. Simon, a naturally moral, selfless character, does seem to be a Christ-figure
who, in his knowledge of the true nature of the beast, is the sole bearer of truth at this point
in the novel. In this scene with the pig’s head, represented as evil, he meets and struggles
against his antithesis. His eventual sacrifice, again an allusion to the crucifixion of Jesus, will
mark the triumph of evil over good on the island.

A close reading of Simon’s interaction with the pig’s head can yield additional interpretations.
In ways that complicate the biblical allegory in this scene, Golding also represents the Lord
of the Flies in this chapter as the symbol of the boys’ descent from civilized behavior to
inhuman savagery. In this framework, the pig’s head serves as a corrective for Simon’s naive
view of nature as a peaceful force. For Simon, the pig’s head is a revelation (his final one) that
alerts him to the fact that while nature is beautiful and fascinating, it is also brutal and

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