The ‘witch – like cry’ of a bird, also mentioned in the opening paragraph adds to the sense of negativity of the boy’s arrival, echoing the first sentiments that he is an intruder on this seemingly idyllic, tropical paradise; the mention of a ‘lagoon’ build up this imagery. A second character initially referred to as ‘it’, another negative reference, is introduced in the following paragraphs. In response, the ‘fair boy…stockings… Home Counties’. This once again gives the sense that these humans are intruders by changing the atmosphere of the land they are in, introducing new customs or forms of culture.
The second character, whose real name is never discovered but nevertheless is referred to as Piggy, said by Golding to be a short and ‘very fat’ child. The way in which Piggy ‘removed the thorns carefully’ shows that this particular character has a certain respect for the new environment he finds himself in; in his place, another character may have attacked the flora on which the thorns grew, purely out of spite. This immediately endears Piggy as a defender of the island, as the reader eventually discovers what the place the novel’s characters are on is, suggesting or hinting at a potential conflict between him and others who are not as respectful as he is.
This conflict is also hinted at by the fact that Piggy is clearly low – ranking socially both because of his physical undesirability as well as the sense and pragmatism he displays, both qualities not generally exhibited by young boys, which both he and the ‘fair boy’, Ralph, clearly are. While Ralph seems perfectly content and almost excited with the prospect of being free of adults and on his own in this strange new environment, Piggy, the perpetual voice of the adult world, is terrified by the idea of having no ‘grown-ups’ to take charge. This once again marks Piggy out as the possible centre for conflict as it is more likely that the boys’ social peers, who emerge late r in the chapter will adopt Ralph’s attitude and mindset as opposed to that of Piggy. Golding clearly sets Piggy apart, expressing here his initial concerns of issues he later explores in more detail later in the novel; social ranking and the conflicting ideals of civilisation and savagery - the bespectacled Piggy the symbolic representative for civilisation, law and order.
The idea of the land on which the boys are on being an island quickly arises, brought up by Piggy. This creates a vague sense of foreboding; an island suggests either savage or dangerous inhabitants, as well as a sense of detachedness – if it is an island, the boys are stranded. This suggests later developments in the plot as well as events in the rest of the novel; the reader immediately begins to understand and realise the numerous possibilities that could arise from a group of boys being stranded alone on an island; for a group of boys it is. Piggy soon explains the circumstances that led to the two boys’ arrival on the island; the ‘plane’ in which they were travelling was ‘attacked’ and crashed, causing the ‘scar’. The negative association with the scar is immediately confirmed; an act of terrorism or war brought the two children to the island, which is immediately foreboding in itself. The mood is further sobered with the inevitable mention of death with regards to the plane crash, once again by the ever practical Piggy; ‘It wasn’t half…still in it.’
The first two pages of William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ establish and set the foundations of the books plot in a particularly successful way. The ominous mentions of a ‘scar’ as well as death, war, social hierarchy and savagery, however subtly, give immediate indicators that the plot of the story, which is the arrival of a group of boys on an island, will not be a positive, upbeat adventure as, without the suggestions, the reader may otherwise think. In this way, it prepares them for the novel’s later events; links to the horrific acts of murder, savagery, conflict and general immorality can be traced back to this opening section. The repetitive imagery of the paradise as an island in the opening section is used to strengthen the idea that the characters of the novel are solely to blame for their own actions as there is no outside interference from the rest of the world. Golding emphasises and reiterates this point throughout the novel, which is the focus of the plot, and once again this can be traced back to the opening section; in this way, the opening of ‘Lord of the Flies’ prepares the reader for the rest of the novel, and does it successfully.