“Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead. . . Nobody don’t know we’re here. Your dad don’t know, nobody don’t know” (14).
To me Piggy and Ralph's interactions show a lot about their different natures and abilities. Ralph is a bit of a dim bulb compared to Piggy. He didn't seem to realize what had happened to land this plane on the island or to be thinking realistically about what was going on in the world. But Piggy, he gets it, and he gets the implications of their situation. Ralph stood on his head when he realized there were no adults, no parents, then he told Piggy his dad (the navy commander) would come and rescue all of them soon enough. Piggy knows that this isn't so likely after all. Just a taste of information in his line here, but so important: There is a war on, a nuclear war. The world outside of this world has probably changed completely. Maybe this plane full of just kids was attempting to find a safe place in the aftermath of London being bombed, or all of England. Whatever is going on out there, it's not good. Ralph may be a dim bulb in some ways, but he is a natural leader in others. I noticed that Piggy was trying very hard to make a connection with Ralph, but Ralph didn't even ask his name. What is his real name anyway? Ralph is athletic (unlike Piggy), good looking (unlike Piggy), healthy (unlike Piggy), and, perhaps most importantly, he happens to have the conch shell. None of these are very good reasons to have Ralph be the leader and not, say, Piggy, but there you go. Observers might notice, though, that it was Piggy who knew how to make the sound with that shell! I see some symbolism going on here already -- bet you do too. That shell, the one that calls everybody to a meeting, to organization, one that gives some order and rules to the chaos of this island -- it's not just a shell. And those snakes that the littl'un saw in the jungle (imagined?), that the boys also saw writhing in the flames at the end of the chapter (or were theyburning vines), those seem pretty weighty too. Where else have we seen snakes in literature? What should they be associated with?
I think that this is a very thorough analysis of the first chapter. Snakes are definitely seen as symbols of evil, temptation and corruption throughout literature, dating back to Adam and Eve's fall from paradise. The snake also appears in popular culture, such as The Jungle Book and, more recently, Harry Potter. Piggy seems like a more likely leader than Ralph but part of the idea of the book is that human beings start to fall into savagery the second that they laud themselves over others. Piggy is not a leader because of his appearance and background, though neither of these seem like good reasons to stop someone from being a good leader. Also symbolic in this chapter is the image of the scar left on the island by the plane. The scar could represent birth, as the kids do not remember what happened immediately during the crash, as a child cannot recall their first seconds of life. The scar also represents that, although they have not yet fallen into chaos, the group has made an irreversible impact on their surroundings. Also, what does frumious mean?
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