Important Quotes

"He says he say a beastie, the snake-thing, and will it come back tonight?"
"But there isn't a beastie!"
"He says in the morning it turned into them things like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches. He says will it come back again tonight?"
"But there isn't a beastie!"

-Chapter 2

        The fear of the ''beastie'' started as something childish and imaginary that the little boys fabricated out of their fears. Logic told them that there was in fact no beast but the irrational side convinced them that the beast was real and this put them into hysterics  This was the beginning of the 'beast'. No matter what the 'bigguns' said, they could not control the fear and soon even they were convinced of a beast. It passage shows the transition between hope and fear.

       " Hope is the only thing stronger than fear" from the Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games, this quote is said by President Snow. He uses fear to control the districts but he always allows room for hope. Hope is what keeps the people going but when that hope grows to big, they can no longer be controlled. In Lord of the Flies, it is reversed. The boys started to loose hope so the fear overtook them.

        There is also a biblical connection in this quote. The island can be compared to the Garden of Eden. It seemed so surreal and perfect, the boys were all captivated. They played in the water, and explored the forests. In chapter 2,  the beast is thought to be a snake-like creature.The snake mentioned in the quote is a reference to the bible. The snake which is 'Satan' tried to convince Eve to eat the apple which eventually got Adam and Eve both thrown out of the garden of Eden. The boys are in a similar situation. Then talk of a beast arises and things begin to go South.


"Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law."

-Chapter 4

       This excerpt displays the cruelty in Roger. He seems to feel the need to torture Henry, but he still shows some restrain. Instead, he only frightens him by throwing rocks near enough to startle him not not enough to actually hit him. At this point, Roger still feels bound by rules of society.He thinks that Henry, is protected by authoritative figures such as parents, policemen and law. He does not become completely ruthless because his first instinct is still to follow the rules.

       Later on in the novel, Roger no longer holds back because he discovers that on this island, no one can punish him for his actions. After that, he quickly looses his morals and soon becomes much more violent and even murder begins. This just shows how important laws and morals are. Without them, there would be no order and no one would ever feel safe. In nature, animals will become aggressive in each other when angered and even kill one another over territory So what prevents humans from doing the same? How come we get angry, we don't go on killing sprees? It is because we are brought up with morals that tell us that killing is wrong. We also have laws and law enforcers that make sure that those who break the law do not get away with it.
     


"What I mean is..Maybe, it's only us..."

-Chapter 5

       Ralph calls an emergency assembly to discuss the 'beastie'. The little ones are getting increasingly frightened and things are starting to fall apart. At first everything was well and they were happy but then ''...people started getting frightened...''.  One of the 'littleuns', Phil has a dream of the beastie. He tells everyone of his nightmare and even though Ralph tells him that is was only a dream, not everyone is convinced. The boys are starting to really believe in the beast, confusing their nightmares with reality. Simon tries to explain his theory that perhaps there is no beast at all and that they are all imagining it but all the boys just laugh and scoff at him. None of them truly process what Simon is trying to say. They fail to realize that Simon may actually be right. 

"Ralph went for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy."

-Chapter 12

       This quote is from near the end of chapter 12. It is from when Ralph is finally rescued by the officer. He is relieved that he is rescued, but is also distressed. Instead of jumping for joy, he ends up weeping for the other boys. He realizes that in the end, he is the only one truly left. All the other boys are either dead or have no intention of returning to civilization. When Ralph first arrived at on the island, he was an optimistic child. He thought that his father would rescue him and in the meantime, he and the other boys would have a 'fun time'. However his time on the island ended up costing him his innocence.

     Throughout the novel, Piggy was Ralph's confidant and always believed in Ralph even when Ralph didn't. For Ralph to watch Piggy being killed and them he himself hunted was a horrible experience. Even though he is now safe and is returning to civilization, he will never be the same again. "...the darkness of man's heart..." is what every boy loss their innocence to. After the corruption of his mind and soul, there is no going back. He lives the rest of his life knowing what mankind is truly capable of doing.  This connection can be made with victims of war and hate crimes. In world war two, thousands of Jewish people were murdered because of their race. The people who killed them were brought up in social well being but they were still able to do such things. This ties in with the two main themes of the book which were the 'evil' present in everyone and the end of innocence.