Part 1-1. On page 70, Golding writes that Ralph "...wanted to explain that people were never quite what you thought they were." Write about this, both in the context of the book and its characters as well as your own experiences in life.
In the beginning of the novel, Ralph and the others trusted Jack and his hunters to keep the signal fire going so they could get rescued. Jack let Ralph down when he became obsessed with blood and hunting and thought that was more important then keeping the signal fire going. Jack also became violent and hit Piggy, breaking his glasses. Ralph never thought that Jack would go this crazy and trusted him to help keep this society going, but he was wrong. Ralph thought Jack was someone else but then he learned that Jack wasn't who he thought he was when he became crazy. In life, this can happen between friends. There are times when you trust a friend with a secret or whatever thinking they would keep it between them and they tell other people. That's when we learn that some of those friends we use to trust weren't quite who we thought they were.
2. One of the main points of this book is to look at the effects of authority, or the lack of authority, on people. The "society" that the boys created eventually begins to fall apart; do you think this is because of the leaders they chose (Ralph and Jack), or because of the situation they were in (meaning who their leaders were didn't matter)?
In Lord of the Flies, I think the situation the boys were in is what messed with their minds causing them to act in the horrible way they did. These young boys were all use to adult authority teaching them right from wrong that they were unaware of how to act when it all became their responsibility to look after eachother on this vacant island. They were too young and not ready to be on their own and have the authority that normally adults would have. Characters like Jack and Roger took advantage of being able to get away with whatever they wanted because they knew no one would be able to stop them and help to guide them through the right thing to do instead of acting in a way that put the other boys in danger (like stabbing eachother with spears.) In conclusion, I think it was the situation they were put in is what made the society fall apart.
Part 2-
1. Symbols are everywhere in LotF - pick 2 that really stood out to you and discuss their importance to the story.
In Lord of the Flies, one of the important symbols is the conch shell. This object is what kept the boys together in the beginning of the novel. The conch is what held the power at their meetings because whoever had it was allowed the right to speak. Another important symbol is Piggy's glasses. His glasses were what gave every boy the power to make fire. Keeping a signal fire is something that comforts Ralph and some of the others because it gives the boys that little bit of hope that they will be rescued. Without Piggy's glasses, they probably wouldn't have been able to make fire to cook food or light a signal fire.
2. In the last paragraph, Golding writes "...Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of men's hearts..." Discuss how this relates to the events that happened in the book.
When the boys were finally about to be rescued, you'd think that Ralph would cry for joy, but he was crying because he learned about the evil that is hidden in all human beings and how dark and cruel some situations can turn a person into. Ralph and Piggy had much better control over the evil inside of them then Jack, Roger, and some littluns who's hearts turned very dark and cruel. None of the boys who survived will ever be the same again. Those who murdered will have to live with that the rest of their lives just remembering how cruel they were, and Ralph will have to live with knowing he was almost murdered because of the evil in the other boys.
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