Thursday, December 12, 2013

Lord of the Flies-- Page Goal for Thursday!

First, a confession:  I am at the beginning of Chapter 4.  I will, however, be caught up by our meeting next week.  Second, our new reading goal is to finish chapter 9.  Look at the questions below.  Answer the ones you feel strongly about here, and be ready to discuss any and all next Thursday!

Chapter 1
1.  Describe the major characters: Ralph, Piggy, and Jack.
2. What instances of foreshadowing occur in this chapter? What predictions can you make about what sorts of things might happen later in the novel?
 3. What do the boys‟ attitudes and actions (e.g. Ralph‟s joy at being free of “grownups,” the vote for leader, Ralph‟s telling the other boys about Piggy‟s nickname) reveal about human nature?
Chapter 2
4. What does Jack‟s behavior in this chapter suggest about him (e.g. his attitude toward killing pigs
and hunting the beast, his excitement about the rules and the consequences of violating them, his
treatment of Piggy etc.)? In what way(s) might the behavior of the boys during the meeting
foreshadow later events?
5. What do you think Piggy's glasses might represent? Consider their normal function, the use they are
put to in this chapter, Piggy's intelligence, and Piggy's helplessness without them.
6. What hypocritical irony is there in the boys' treatment of Piggy in contrast with their treatment of

Ralph and Jack? What does this fact suggest about human nature?

Chapter 3
7. Discuss the change in Jack's personality that is described at the beginning of the chapter. What is
Jack's highest priority, and what does this tell us about him?
8. How are the all of the boys except Ralph and Simon (and Jack) behaving? What is Golding telling us
about human nature? What important qualities do Ralph, Simon, and Piggy have that the other boys
seem to lack?

Chapter 4
8. Why do the hunters decide to “paint” themselves with clay and charcoal? What effect does doing
this have on their behavior, and why? Does this “makeup” have any symbolic meaning?
9. How do the hunters behave in response to the success of the hunt, and what is the significance of
this behavior?
 10.   How does Ralph “assert his chieftainship” after the argument with the hunters? Why do you think
this gesture is so effective?
11. What do you think will result from the open conflict between Jack and Ralph and from Jack's
success at getting meat? What is the significance of the boys‟ reaction to being able to eat meat, and
how does this compare to their reaction about having missed a chance to be rescued?

Chapter 5
12. What does Percival say when Jack asks him where the beast lives? Why do you think he says this? What does Simon say about the beast, and what do you think he means? How does everyone else
react to what he says?
13. Why are the rules so important to Ralph? What are the consequences of breaking them?

Chapter 6
14. What is the “beast from air”? How is it appropriate that the boys mistake it for a beast—what
connection does it have with the novel's themes, and what does it symbolize?
15. What does Sam and Eric's description of the beast tell us about human psychology?
16. How do most of the boys react to their discovery of the “castle”? What foreshadowing takes place
at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 7

17. What disturbing thing do the group of hunters and Ralph do immediately after their encounter with the pig? How is Ralph‟s behavior surprising? What does this behavior foreshadow?
18. Why do you think Golding (the author) plotted the story so that the boys would go up the mountain 
in the dark? 

Chapter 8
19. How does Piggy show “intellectual daring”? Why is this so significant to the boys? 
20. What unusual thing happens to Ralph after Jack leaves and after he realizes most of the biguns have 
left? What is the significance of his reaction? 
21. What suggestion does Simon make, and why do you think he makes it? What does he mean when he 
says, “What else is there to do?” What are the consequences of the group‟s decision not to follow 
Simon‟s suggestion?

Chapter 9
22. Why does Jack command the boys to dance and chant, and why is this an effective leadership tactic? 
What psychological effect does dancing and chanting have on the boys? Think back to the effect that 
putting on makeup had on them in Chapter 4. 
23. What is the “beast” that the boys kill? How is this event ironic and especially tragic (not only for 
the “beast,” but for everyone on the island)? How is it symbolically significant?