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?
6 comments:
Jack Ralph and Piggy are the oldest. I think. Jack and Ralph are the leader kind. Piggy is the brains
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?
This is a tough one. If you are a boy, this has most likely happened to you already.
I see the hunt as something the kids have seen the adults in their life do. And in their mind it is glorified. They do not really understand the act, however, and are only driven by the rewards that the adults in their life are given by bringing food to the table. Rarely does the hunter feel 'good' about taking a life, but understands that it is necessary for the survival of his family ans so he does it. But rarely is their joy in taking a life. This is the transition I see. The sudden realization, when they are finally successful, that they have taken an innocent life. And with that, their innocence is now gone. They will no longer be 'real' children from this point on....
Question #23- What is the 'beast' that boys killed? How is this event ironic and especially tragic (not only for the beast, but for everyone on the island?) How is it symbolically significant?
Since I already spoiled it during the last book club meeting, (sorry about that by the way, but you guys should have gotten to the page goal) I'm going to answer this question truly.
The 'beast' the boys killed was Simon. Simon had been hiding in the bushes for quite some time, so when he managed to get out of the bushes and go and find the rest of the boys, he was very weak and couldn't walk all that much. So he crawled to them. He was a mess and looked quite strange, so naturally the boys thought he, Simon, was the beast.
This event is ironic and tragic because it shows that the boys don't think before they act. They just attack something that they believe to be dangerous/harmful/not like them. It's tragic because in the end, they realise that they just murdered one of their own out of impulse. They realise it too late though, for SImon's body has already been washed out to the sea.
It's symbolically significant because it shows that they were frightened. No matter how much Jack and Ralph convince the rest of the boys that they're not frightened, or how much the rest of the boys do the same, they were frightened. And because they were frightened, they acted on impulse. They were scared of something that wasn't like them. Something they believed to be a 'beast' when in reality, it was just SImon, weak and sick from hiding from them all.
Question #15- What does Sam and Eric's description of the beast tell us about human psychology?
I think that the way that Samneric described the beast, shows that the human brain sees what it wants to see when it is unknown of what it's seeing.
Question #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?
Jack personality because demanding, controlling, and 'wants-it-done-then-and-there'. Jack's highest priority becomes hunting the pigs, and gathering the meat for the boys (besides Piggy). This tells us that Jack's mind is very narrow, and it only focus' on one thing. Hunting pigs. Jack doesn't care much for the fire, and keeping it going atop the mountain. He also doesn't care much for rules unless they're his own. He doesn't want to follow Ralph's rules, but does so anyways in the beginning of the book, even if it's reluctantly. He later breaks off from the boys though, to make his own tribe that'll focus mainly around hunting down pigs.
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