Page 319 - DENG404_FICTION

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

As the new leader of the boys, Jack maintains his authority by capitalizing on the fears and Notes
suspicions of the others. Even when presented with information that the figure on the mountain
is not harmful, Jack continues to promote fear of the dreaded beast. Like many tyrants, his
rules are based on a strict distinction between insiders and outsiders: the insiders are his tribe,
and the outsiders are their common enemies: the beast and the boys on the island who reject
Jack’s authority. His methods of rule are entirely exclusionary, and they fail to provide that
first role of government, the security and the safety of the group, even while Jack purports to
be able to provide protection from the beast and other enemies. The formal declaration by the
guard that visitors must announce their presence does nothing to improve the boys’ safety.

Even as Golding continues to emphasize the successful rise of Jack as a leader, he suggests
that this rule may be short-lived. The shortsightedness Jack displays as a ruler is clear even
to Jack himself. Intent on pleasing the boys with games and hunting, he does nothing to
address more practical concerns. Faced with the dilemma of providing a feast without a fire,
his solution is to steal from the boys who have maintained a sense of responsibility. Ralph,
Piggy, Sam and Eric are therefore considerably burdened. Without help from the other boys
who are content to play as savages, these four must devote all their energy to maintaining the
signal fire, an almost impossible task. The strain Jack has left the boys with is considerable,
but this does not matter to Jack if he can only secure the glasses for fire for the feasts. Ralph
and Piggy muse, for their part, that they may go insane if they are not rescued soon.
A more immediate danger to Ralph and Piggy comes when Jack and his followers charge the
camp on the beach. The attack on Ralph and Piggy signals yet another stage in the boys’
descent from civilized behavior into pure savagery. The murder of Simon was motivated by
mass hysteria, instinctual fear, and panic. Here the violence used to gain Piggy’s glasses, even
though it is not fatal, is intentional, an act that anticipates the murder of Piggy in the following
chapter. Piggy’s premeditated murder is also foreshadowed by the description of the rock
perched near the fortress. Jack and his soldiers have placed the rock so that it may be tipped
over on another boy. The question remains regarding which boy will suffer this fate.
As in previous chapters, Golding uses symbolism and imagery to call the reader’s attention
to the novel’s tragic arc, which follows the boys as they devolve from civilized, moral human
beings to animal-like savages, motivated only by self-interest and given over to violent impulse.
Piggy’s glasses, throughout the novel a symbol of intellectual reason and pragmatism-they are
used to start the signal fire-come into the hands of the irrational and brutal Jack. Jack, of
course, wants the glasses to start not a signal fire, but a bonfire for a pig roast, a decision that
reflects his shortsightedness and hedonism. We may also notice that Ralph and Piggy are
surprised by the theft of the glasses, since they thought Jack’s intent was to steal the conch
shell. Jack’s disinterest in the conch, a symbol in the novel for democratic authority, reflects
his rejection not only of Ralph’s authority, but also of the entire system of liberal democracy.
The conch is useless if one does not believe in its power. Ralph apparently still thinks that the
conch matters or should matter. The image of Ralph clutching the conch is a powerful reminder
that he is one of only a few boys who still believe in civilized life on the island.
As the conch shell is divested of meaning and Piggy’s glasses fall into the hands of Jack’s
tribe, Ralph and Piggy become desolate and depressed, hopeless that they will ever be rescued.
Golding emphasizes the despair of Ralph’s group to provoke pessimism in the reader. That is,
when Ralph and Piggy no longer have faith in their rescue, we lose hope for them as well.
Rather, it appears that the boys’ future will forever be on and of the island, guided by the
demented but flourishing tribal system of Jack and his hunters. The scene on Ralph’s beach,
with its declining and injured population, dwindling fire, and meaningless cultural symbols
(in particular the conch) stands in sharp contrast to the scene in Jack’s forest, with its army,
enforced borders, and even weaponry (the defense contraption). The implication is less that

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 313