Lord of the Flies - Chapter summary.

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Chapter 1: The Sound of the Shell
 and  meet up with each other after escaping from their shot-down plane. A large scar was made in the untouched jungle, symbolizing the first of man's destruction on the island. A war is going on in the outside world, and now for the rest of the book, everyone will be isolated from it and put into their own "world."

Piggy spots a conch shell, and tells Ralph how to use it to make a noise. Ralph does so, and calls all of the other boys on the island who crashed down with the plane.  and his Choir, , , and many other characters join in an assembly (including the littl'uns, which are the youngest kids at about 6 or 7 years old). Rules are set down, and Ralph is to be chief. There is no one else on the island but the young boys, so Jack decides to take his choir out to hunt for wild pigs, although he is unsuccessful in killing a small pig with his knife.

Significance: While Jack's first attempt to kill the pig failed, his quote "next time..." foreshadowed his future of savage hunting.

Chapter 2: Fire on the Mountain
Ralph calls another assembly, and reminds everyone that they are completely alone on the island, and there are no adults. Jack recounts his failure in killing the pig, and reiterates the need for skilled hunters. Several rules are made up, such as "whoever holds the conch gets to speak." Unexpectedly, an unnamed littl'un with a birthmark on his face tells about a "beastie" that he saw somewhere on the island. The general consensus from the others is that there is no such thing, and it must be his imagination.

Ralph then suggests making a signal fire, which would be necessary if they hope to get rescued. The boys scramble off to gather wood to build a fire. Unsure of how to light it, they finally grab Piggy's specs and focus the sunlight to ignite their fire. They were not careful, however, and soon the fire is engulfing half the forest near the mountain. The little boy with the birthmark is noticed to be missing, swallowed up by the raging fire.

Significance: Piggy is averse to most of the other boys, who he thinks are acting like little children (they are children, obviously, but Piggy acts like the adult figure). He cites their irresponsibility in dealing with the fire. Jack also shows signs of belligerence when he argues with Ralph about the signal fire, and claims that "The conch doesn't count on the mountain!"

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Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach
Jack is busy tracking a pig at the start of this chapter, when he arrives at the beach where Simon and Ralph are constructing huts. Ralph complains no other boys are helping them with their shelters, but Jack tries to argue that hunting is more important; this expands into yet another argument between Ralph and Jack. When Jack again brings up hunting, Ralph presses that keeping the signal fire is much more important than hunting. Jack disagrees, and they boys continue on their path of mutual dislike.

Ignorant to the fussing of the other boys, Simon ...

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