When the boys arrived, Ralph blew the conch, which ordered a meeting. They discovered that there were guards protecting the tribe, who threw rocks at them and told them to leave. When Jack and his hunters appeared, they were holding a dead pig and told the boys to leave. The pig represented the devil from within that Simon discovered earlier. Jack holding the pig represents that Jack completely converted to the devil's side. Ralph did not listen and demanded Piggy's glasses from him, trying to advocate the importance of building a fire and trying to get rescued. In response, Jack attacked Ralph which led to a fight between the two of them. Jack showed a complete lack of rationale during this situation, because he became too wrapped up in the reality of the island to see the outside world as a reality. While they were fighting, Piggy attempted to help them remember reason with words, but failed to get them to listen.
Jack then ordered the hunters to tie up Samneric, who were two of the few boys who did not fall under the authority of evil.
While the two were fighting, Roger pushed a large rock over the mountain, similarly to how he threw pebbles at a small boy closer to the beginning of the book. When Roger threw the stones at the small boy, this was probably foreshadowing to this instance. Ralph fortunately heard the large rock rolling and managed to avoid it, but Piggy was hit by the rock and was killed. Along with the death of Piggy was the shattering of the conch shell.
Ralph took off into the woods, while Samneric were tortured into the submission of Jack's tribe.
This chapter is the finalized the defeat of society on the island. Piggy represented logic and the conch represented society, both of which were destroyed.
The book tries to convey that evil defeats good. Logic (Piggy) and Society (the conch) were destroyed, and good intentions (Ralph) were isolated. Meanwhile evil (Jack) had power and control.
I agree with your statement that in this chapter, the small amount of logic and social order that existed on the island have now completely disappeared with Piggy's death and the breaking of the shell. This is is sort of the start of the part of the book where Ralph has no power anymore, even though it has been decreasing rapidly through out the last couple chapters. His power is now completely gone. I also like how you mentioned the symbolism of Piggy and the shell (logic and society) that have now disappeared. Finally, I liked how you mentioned the actions of Roger; how he wanted to throw the pebbles at Henry before, but couldn't quite bring himself to hit him, but in this chapter, he hits and kills Piggy with a huge boulder. I thought this was a good way to show the change in his motives; from having a conscience to being a savage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis of this chapter. I also think that the book conveys the idea that the death of Piggy represented the loss of logic and that the destruction of the conch symbolized the loss of society and civilization. In addition, I agree that the pig Jack was holding represented evil/the devil, like the pig head Simon saw earlier on the stick. Lastly, I also think that when Roger was throwing pebbles at Henry in the beginning of the book, it was foreshadowing further evil actions from him, just as he killed Piggy with a huge boulder. It really shows the way evil has crept onto the island, from having civilization to being cruel and unthinkably evil.
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