“Maurice had received chastisement for filling a
younger eye with sand. Now, though there was no
parent to let fall a heavy hand.”
The older boys have been told what to do by their parents for so long they are now doing the opposite because they are free to rebel against the adults they knew in their past. As they are hurting the littl’uns the reader can see that they are becoming evil and savage.
Roger has been following Henry down the beach and thinking about throwing stones at him but, he is still under the influence of the adult world:
“…picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at
Henry – threw to miss.”
Roger wants to throw the stone at Henry so it hits him but he has been told not to in his life before being on the island. He behaves the way he does because he has been told not to throw stones, and he doesn’t seem to be able to get out of his old ways. His intention to throw stones allows the reader to see his savagery emerging.
Ralph has not fitted in too well with life on the island because being rescued is always on his mind. So when he sees a ship he becomes excited and happy:
“Ralph continued to watch the ship, ravenously.
Colour was coming back to his face.”
Ralph doesn’t want to take his eyes off the ship because it is a connection to the adult world and he doesn’t want to remain on the island. He knows that if they stay on the island he and the boys will become savage and he does not want this to happen.
Ralph sees the fire has burnt out and so they can’t be rescued which makes him angry. He uses the ‘worst’ swear word he can think of, “bloody”. Even though this isn’t the worst swear word ever it is much worse than “wacco” or “wizard” which he had said previously. He used “bloody” to show the boys around him that he was angry and that what he says should be done and so, the fire should never have been allowed to die.
Ralph watches all the other boys playing the ‘game’ and does not like what he sees, but in a way he wanted to join in with them:
“Ralph watched them envious and resentful.”
He wanted to join in with the other boys because he himself is becoming savage just like them but he felt he was the leader and should set a good example. On the other hand he knew what they were doing was wrong and he hated it.
At the feast Jack wanted to test his power over Ralph when he was giving out the half-raw meat, but Piggy distracted him by wanting some meat too:
“Jack had meant to leave him in doubt, as an
assertion of his power; but Piggy…more cruelty
was necessary.”
Jack wants to show Ralph that he wants and is getting power. Jack has become very savage because he enjoys hurting and tormenting Piggy even more than getting power over Ralph.
When wearing his mask that he will use to go hunting Jack does not recognise himself and seems to be proud of his new appearance when he looks at his reflection.
“…no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger”
Jack now prefers the way he looks even though he doesn’t recognise himself. Wearing the mask makes him feel powerful, scary and savage and he likes the feeling.
When Jack and the other boys come back from hunting and killing the pig they seem happy and don’t seem to be affected by killing a live animal. They seem to come back more savage than when they left:
“ ‘I cut the pig’s throat’ said Jack proudly, and yet
twitched as he said it ”
Jack is glad that he has finally killed a pig as he has been trying to for a while and he now feels that he has more power than he did when he hadn’t killed. In his mind he knows that he has gone against what he would have done in his life at home.
Piggy makes suggestions to Ralph about how to make the island more civilised. He suggests that they make a sundial so the boys can know what the time is:
“ ‘about a clock. We could make a sundial.’”
Piggy wants to make the island a bit more like home as he used to know it because he can’t let go of civilisation. He also wants to be friends with Ralph and is trying to please him.
Jack treats Piggy very badly right from their first meeting. So when Piggy starts scolding Jack for leaving the fire, Jack gets furious and takes his anger out on him:
“Jack stood over him. His voice viscous with
humiliation.
‘You would, would you Fatty.’”
Jack doesn’t respect Piggy and so he doesn’t think it is right to be told what to do by him. Jack hits Piggy to show that he is more important. Jack’s cruelty to Piggy shows him becoming more savage and uncivilised.
Piggy is just like all the other boys and wants meat so when he isn’t offered meat like everyone else he is offended:
“Piggy spoke, also dribbling”
The reader can see how important meat is to Piggy when he starts behaving like an animal by dribbling.
Piggy is from a lower class than the other boys and we can see this when he says:
“I got the conch”
By missing out the word ‘have’ in this sentence he makes a very big divide between himself and the others. The reader guesses that Piggy is the only one that doesn’t come from middle to upper class family. This explains why he is left out of things because people don’t consider him to be valuable enough to be included.
Jack hits Piggy and this causes Piggy’s glasses to come off and he starts looking for them.
“…Simon, who got there first found them for him.”
By helping Piggy, Simon is marked out from the other boys because he is being kind and thoughtful. He realised Piggy needed help finding his glasses as he couldn’t see anything without them.
On the mountain-top Simon can see the boys turning savage and he does not like what he sees. The boys are fighting about the fire going out:
“Passions beat about Simon on the mountain-top
with awful wings.”
Simon is showing no signs of savagery, only good thoughts and these are the things that are tormenting him. He has no bad intentions running through his mind.
Simon seems to be the only boy who hasn’t turn savage. Jack seems to have turned totally savage and has forgotten all about his civilised life at home. The mask that he now wears to go hunting makes him feel powerful and scary; he doesn’t even recognise himself. Ralph, one of the most controlled boys has even started to show signs of turning from civilisation. He has started swearing and acting like an animal when he was offered meat. The thought of being rescued is still always on his mind so we know that he is not happy on the island and wants to return to civilisation. Roger we can see is turning savage but his mind still seems trapped by the ways of the adult world and won’t let him do anything wild at the moment but, he is trying to let go of the ways of his old life. On the other hand Piggy is trying to cling onto civilisation and anything that has a link with it. We can see this when he suggests making a sundial. Piggy is also starting to turn savage when he wasn’t offered meat and he began to dribble. Simon has never shown any signs of savagery, but he doesn’t seem to think about civilisation either. He only has good intentions and this is starting to make a divide between him and all the other boys. The littl’uns are following the example of their elders as they would with their parents, so as the older boys are becoming savage the littl’uns are as well.