Ch. 8: Gift For The Darkness ~ Emily Fiske

The boys had just returned from their brief adventure to the mountain-top and were in a panic about the so-called “beast” that was hiding up there. Piggy seemed to be the most openly worried about their experience and he worries that the beast could be watching them from atop the mountain. I think this story puts a lot of tension on the group because even Ralph seems to be shaken up about it, snapping at Piggy, saying to go look for it and “good riddance”. A meeting is called to discuss what options there are about the “beast” and a little argument breaks out between Ralph and Jack, causing Jack to call a vote for chief. He held the conch to his chest and called for people to vote either for him or for Ralph to be the chief. No one raised their hands. Jack stormed off down the beach crying a bit and said he would hunt on his own, with sharpened sticks as weapons, same as the rest of the group. Then Ralph and Piggy, along with everyone else, decide to build a fire and discuss whether or not they should stay away from the beast or go looking for it to kill it. They realize they could never try to fight something as big as the “beast” was made out to be. Soon the groups realize that Simon has disappeared, that he has wandered off into the fruit trees being surrounded by butterflies. Jack’s group decides that they are going to hunt for pigs. This is one double-meaning. Hunting for pigs for food, pigs as in pink and brown, four-legged animals, hunting for A pig, as in a chubby little boy with glasses. I think this means that Piggy is not seen as a normal member or the group, but that he is seen as prey, someone to make fun of, and possibly someone to take their anger out on. I think the idea of there being an unknown creature on the island really caused things on the island to go downhill, and fast. This animal seems to have caused a lot of stress among the boys and some of them might have survived without some of the fighting and “re-enactments”. Even thought the “beast” was a mental problem, it caused a tremendous amount of emotional and physical harm by playing with the minds of young children.