Ch.6: Beast from Air (by Ben)

Chapter 6: Beast from Air

Chapter 6 begins with the two twins, Sam n' Eric, collecting wood in the forest very early in the morning when it is still dark. The boys spot a figure in the trees that they do not recognize. The figure that the boys see, the reader knows, is the dead body of a pilot whose plate was shot down and whose body happened to land right on their island. But these boys are not yet old enough to know that fear comes from ignorance, and since these boys refused to get close enough to the figure to find out that it was just a harmless dead body they immediately run and tell Ralph that they have just seen the beast. Ralph tells the boys to call the rest of the island to an assembly at which the twins let their imaginations run away with them while telling the other boys of their encounter. The other boys then naturally, believe every word said by the twins and decide to set out a hunt to kill the beast. The vague signs of control abuse start to show when Ralph, Jack, Bill, and the litluns have been hunting into the night and approach the time when only the most determined of the group are able to stay awake. Roger and some others say that they should stop for the time being and build a fire and get a little bit of sleep but Ralph wants to keep going. The abuse shows at the way end of the chapter on the last page when Bill and Ralph are disagreeing on whether to stop and continue in the morning, which Bill wants, or to keep on going, which Ralph wants. After a few quick word exchanges Ralph strikes his knuckles and decides to make everybody go with his idea of to keep going on without rest. This part, I feel, is the domino effect for the rest of the book because it shows the first refusal of the boys to work as a team and of one deciding, with no consent or mutuality, that he is the boss and that what he says goes.