Ishaan Mishra

Mr. Tomihiro

Lord of the Flies Reading Journal

1/5/2023

Conch

“Something creamy lay among the ferny weeds… The shell was interesting

and pretty and a worthy plaything” (Golding 15, 16).

We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they

hear us” (Golding 16).

As Ralph and Piggy were exploring the island, Ralph saw a shell on the

ground. Getting exited, he realized that it could be a plaything and interesting. This

gives depth into his character since this shows that Ralph of acts on impulse. On

the other hand, when Piggy saw the conch, Piggy realized, “We can use this to call

the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us” (Golding 16). This

gives further depth into Piggy’s character, letting us know that Piggy thinks with

his brain, unlike Ralph who thinks on impulse.

 The First Meeting

“Shut up, Fatty. Laughter arose. He’s not fatty, cried Ralph, his real name’s

Piggy!” (Golding 21)

As Ralph was addressing the children, he teased Piggy, exposing his real

name to the group. Ralph made a promise to piggy previously that this would never

happen, however Ralph acted on impulse. This gives further depth into Ralphs

character of acting on impulse.

The Conch as Democracy

“And another thing, we can’t have everybody talking at once… I’ll give the

conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking. And he

won’t be interrupted” (Golding 33).

“Piggy, partly recovered, pointed to the conch in Ralph’s hands, and Jack

and Simon fell silent.” (Golding 34).

“The small boy looked round in panic. Speak up… and the assembly

shouted with laughter, at once he snatched back his hands and started to cry… He

wants to know what you are going to do about the snake thing” (Golding 35).
 When Ralph arrived back to the camp, he asserted that they can’t have

everyone talking at once, since no idea would be heard. Essentially, the conch

promotes democracy since it lets everyone’s ideas be heard. One example of this is

when Ralph was making a speech and Jack and Simon were talking. To help the

group understand what Ralph had to say, Piggy says that Ralph has the conch,

promoting the free circulation of ideas in the group without anyone being

interrupted, promoting democracy. Another example of this is when the small boy

who saw monsters in the wood was too scared to speak. When he had the conch in

his hand, he was able to convey his ideas easier, even though he was not able to

speak to the group. All in all, the conch represents democracy.

From Humans to Animals

Jack’s Second Encounter With the Pig

¨Jack was bent double. He was down like a sprinter, his nose only a few

inches from the humid earth… He closed his eyes, raised his head and breathed in

gently with flared nostrils¨ (Golding 48)

“At length he let out his breath in a long sigh and opened his eyes. They

were bright blue, eyes, that in this frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad”

(Golding 48)
 “Echoes set ringing by a harsh cry that seemed to come out of the abyss of

ages. Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute

became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like, among the tangle of trees”

(Golding 49).

After a while of being at the Island, several changes in the population

commenced. One example of this is Jack. Jack, once a normal boy has seemed to

be slowly being driven insane by his want to get meat, resembling and having

some characteristics of wild animals, like predators. One main example of this is

during his hunt of the wild pigs. As he was trying to track the pig, he sniffed the

ground with flared nostrils, almost like a wild animal. No regular human would do

this. Later on, during the hunt, Golding talked about Jacks blue eyes. Once blue,

they now resembled as being bolting and mad. Jack’s eyes were never like this

before, showing another sign of the transition of the children on the island to

animals. Towards the end of the hunt, Jack hears an echo. He shrank at this cry,

hissed, and Golding describes that for a minute, Jack became less of a hunter and

became a furtive ape-like thing. I believe this transition modeled in Jack will be

resembled in almost all the children. I believe all of them will slowly transition to

more of a wild version of themselves.

 Jack and the Pig

“I let the go. I had to go on. He tried to convey the compulsion to track down

and kill that was swallowing him up… The madness came into his eyes again. I

thought I might kill” (Golding 51)

“I cut the pigs throat, said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it…

There were lashings of blood, Said Jack, laughing and shuddering. You should

have seen it!” (Golding 68, 69)

Jacks experience with the pig gives further depth into his character and the

internal conflict that he is experiencing right now. I believe that Jack has two

conflicting personalities. One personality represents where he came from,

civilization, and the other part of Jack, is the wild animal part. This is represented

in his desire to kill the pig in the beginning stages of the book. Additionally, when

he finally kills the pig, Jack, talk excitedly about the hunt and all of the specific

details, but Golding notes that as Jack said that he slit the pigs throat, he twitched.

This shows that the civilized part of Jack is going against his wild animal like need

to kill. Additionally, this also shows how Jacks wild animal side is slowly taking

control of his body. The first 2 times, Jack was hesitant to kill, therefore the

civilized part of his brain was more in control, however on the third time, Jack
 killed with no mercy, showing Jacks further transition to a wild animal.

Another time Jack was describing the lashings of blood, he was laughing and

shuddering at the same time. This also gives further depth into his character since

half of himself wants to laugh and enjoy the bloodshed, while the other part of

himself is disgusted with what he has done. I believe that this will be shown in all

the children on the island, as their wild side of their brain slowly and surely takes

control of their more logical part of their brain, Jack is just the first to experience

this phenomenon.

Jack and his drive for power

“I gave you food,” said Jack, “and my hunters will protect you from Beast…

Who will join my tribe?” (Golding 216)

Jack represents the innate animal in all humans. As well as this seen in his

animalistic traits, it is also seen in his unrestrained drive for power and dominance

over the group. One example of this was his manipulation of the beast in him

pushing for more power. Jack tries to use the beast as a fear factor to make more

and more of Ralphs members to join his group, further expanding his power. This

evil drive for power, stepping so low to manipulate the group members, is only

seen as an animalistic drive for power, and it is projected in the Lord of the Flies as
inhumane. All in all, Jack represents the innate animal in all humans through his

unrestrained drive for power.

Simon’s Take to the Absence of Civilization

“The creepers and the bushes were so close that he left his sweat on them

and they pulled together behind him. When he was secure in the middle, he was

in a little cabin screened off from the open space by a few leaves. He

squatted down, parted the leaves and looked out into the clearing.” (Golding 56)

We have seen many been affected by the absence of civilization. Ralph tries

to bring back civilization to the Island by introducing laws and rules, Piggy

introduces rational thought to the island, and Jack tries to bring dictatorship and

unity under his rule in the absence of civilization. Out of all of them however, one

character stands out: Simon. Unlike all the others, in the absence of civilization and

rules to follow, Simon does not focus on the group, telling them what to do.

Instead Simon focuses on himself, and spends most of his time in nature. This is

seen when Simon moves away from the group and sleeps in the forest. Essentially

Simon is different from the others, since in the absence of a ruling system, Simon

focuses on himself and his unity with nature.

 The Relationship between the Biguns and the Littluns

“They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and

he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority; and partly

because they enjoyed the entertainment of the assemblies” (Golding 59).

“Assembly after assembly had broken up in laughter when someone had

leaned too far back and the log had whipped and thrown half a dozen boys

backwards into the grass” (Golding 77)

“They ate most of the day, picking fruit where they could reach it and not

particularly about ripeness and quality… they found time for play, aimless and

trivial…. They seldom bothered them with the Biguns and their passionately

emotional and corporate life was their own” (Golding 59)

The relationship between the Biguns and the Littluns can be described as the

relationship between the government and the more unaware members of society.

Firstly this is seen as the littleuns following the Biguns without thinking about

what they believe in. An example of this is when the Littleuns follow the conch

and jacks lead only because he is a link with the adults of civilization, rather than

following jack because of his policy of civilization and rescue. Another example of

how the littleuns follow the government blindly is when they use the assemblies
for their own entertainment, seen when they purposely sit on the logs for it to fall

down and toss all of them off. Another reason why the relationship between the

Biguns and the Littleuns are one of a government and unaware members of the

society is when the Littluns do their own thing, not thinking of the consequences or

what they really need to be doing. For example, instead of building a fire or

shelter, the Littluns decide to play and eat and swim all day. Finally, another

reason why the relationship between the Biguns and the littluns are one of the

government and unaware members of society is seen when the littleuns are

attracted to jacks rule by his promise of meat rather than the more logical side of

rescue and support,

which Ralph offers. With respect to all of this evidence, I believe Golding is trying

to convey a message here. I believe Golding is trying to say and expose how easy

unaware members of society are able to fall prey to the leadership of a charismatic

leader, even if the leader is sick. I believe this connects to the motif of WW2, as

Jack may represent Hitler. Golding pushes this motif out as a warning to ordinary

members of society, warning them to be alert citizens, with their own opinions,

following what they believe.

 The Beast

“Behind them the silver of moon had drawn clear of the horizon. Before

them, something like a great ape was sitting asleep with its head between its knees.

Then the wind roared in the forest, there was confusion in the darkness and the

creature lifted its head, holding toward them the ruin of a face” (Golding 177).

In the Lord of the flies, the beast represents the evil in everyone. Throughout

the book, the boys have been pushing their own fears and associating it with the

beast irrationally. This shows how not using logical thinking can lead to

irrationality.