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Fiction

Notes by this, and Robert changes the subject, telling him that Jack had a boy named Wilfred tied
up for no apparent reason. Roger considers the implications of Jack’s “irresponsible authority”
and makes his way back down to the caves and the other boys in Jack’s tribe. He finds Jack
sitting on a log, nearly naked with a painted face. Jack declares to the group that tomorrow
they will hunt again. He warns them about the beast and about intruders. He promises them
another feast. Reluctantly, Bill asks Jack what they will use to light the fire. Jack blushes. He
finally answers that they shall take fire from the others.
In Ralph’s camp on the beach, Piggy gives Ralph his glasses to start the fire. They wish that
they could make a radio or a boat, but Ralph says that if they do so, they risk being captured
by the Reds. Eric stops himself before he can admit that it would be better than being captured
by Jack’s hunters. Ralph wonders what Simon had been saying about a dead man. The boys
become tired from pulling wood for the fire, but Ralph insists that they must keep it going.
Ralph nearly forgets what their objective is for the fire, and they then realize that two people
are needed to keep the fire burning at all times. Given their small numbers, each member of
Ralph’s group would have to spend twelve hours a day devoted to tending the fire. Exhausted
and discouraged, they give up the fire for the night and return to the shelters, where they drift
off to sleep.

Ralph and Piggy sleep fitfully. They are wakened by sounds within the shelter: Samneric play-
fighting. Aware of his increasing fear, Ralph reminisces about the safety of home, and he and
Piggy conclude that they will go insane. Suddenly, they hear the leaves rustling outside their
shelter and a boy’s voice whispering Piggy’s name. It is Jack with his hunters, who are attacking
the shelter. Ralph’s boys fight them off but suffer considerable injuries. Piggy tells Ralph that
they wanted the conch, but he then realizes that they came for something else: Piggy’s broken
glasses.

Analysis

As the chaos surrounding Simon’s death calms down, Golding focuses on the horror Piggy
and Ralph feel about their involvement in the murder. The two boys attempt to justify their
role in Simon’s death with the ideas that they did not know that it was Simon until it was too
late, they were not among the inner circle of boys beating him to death, and they operated on
instinct rather than on malice. Still, the involvement of Piggy and Ralph makes clear that even
these two, the paragons of rationality and maturity among the children on the island, are
susceptible to the same forces that motivate Jack and his hunters. Golding obscures the once-
clear dichotomy between the “good” Ralph and the “evil” Jack, demonstrating that the compulsion
towards violence and destruction is present inside all individuals. The reverse, a “good” Jack,
is rarely in evidence. The implication of Ralph’s and Piggy’s brief but tragic participation in
the brutal activities of Jack’s tribe is that the natural state of humanity is neither good nor evil
but mixed. Social order and rules, with conscience and reason helping out only on occasion,
are what constrain and limit the “evil” impulses that exist inside us all.
Indeed, Golding does present one major qualification that distinguishes Ralph and Piggy from
Jack. Ralph and Piggy still possess a moral sensibility. They realize that their actions are
wrong and accordingly struggle to find some justification for their parts in the murder. They
are ashamed of the murder, unlike the other boys, who show no qualms about what they have
done. Even if Ralph and Piggy present unsuccessful rationalizations, the fact that they need
to find some reason for their behavior shows that they have an understanding of moral principles
and retain an appreciation for them. Golding thus suggests that while evil may be present
inside all of us, the strength of conscience and reason can positively move one’s morals, for
some more than for others.

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