Lord of the Flies - Themes in Chapter 2

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Lord of the Flies

Themes

Chapter 2

  • Beast:

Fear of a "beastie" on the island is first stemmed from a littlun with a distinctive marking, a "mulberry-coloured birthmark" on his face, who says the beast comes out at night and looks like a snake (this reminds us of the devil who appears in Genesis in the form of a snake, therefore we associate it with evil, even the fact that it was seen in the dark helps us recognise that the beast is evil). Both Ralph and Jack, thinking these to be simply childish nightmares, comfort everyone that there is no beast.   Although they try comforting everyone, they do not have any evidence to confront the small boy and so an element of doubt is introduced in their minds about the existence of the beast,  a doubt which will not be defeated easily because no one can fight rational thinking.

 We know that the beast doesn` t really exist, however in metaphoric and symbolic terms, it exists inside all the boys, especially in Jack.  Golding is trying to show us that you can`t separate the evil inside you from the evil outside, because evil is found everywhere.

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  • Government:

Ralph continues to establish a democratic political foundation by using the conch as a symbol of authority, and the description of the children sitting in organized sections during assembly is reflective of a government meeting. Jack continues to support him offering his choir to protect them against any beast; abiding by Ralph's rules, he addresses the group only when he holds the conch in his hands.

  • Intellectual:

After the boys allow a fire to burn uncontrolled across the island, Piggy reprimands them with his voice of reason and rationality, pointing out the need for having the area ...

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