The questions for chapters 5-8 are under construction
Chapter 4: Painted Faces
and Long Hair
Key Quote
“Kill
the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.”
Questions
- At the
beginning of this chapter, Golding describes the passing of day. What two
parts of day are the boys most comfortable on the island? Why? What two parts of the day aren’t they
comfortable on the island? Why?
- What keeps
Roger from actually hitting Henry with the stones he throws at the smaller
boy?
- What
reason does Jack give for applying the colored clay to his face?
- Why
couldn’t the boys signal the ship that Ralph spotted on the horizon?
- Where was
Jack and his choir when Ralph spotted the smoke from the ship?
- Why does
Jack attack Piggy and what is the result of the attack?
- What is
Jack’s reaction when Simon gives Piggy the meat?
Quotes
“Here,
invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child
was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm
was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.”
“Ralph
turned and smiled involuntarily…Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as
friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that
Piggy was an outsider.”
“He
looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger…a mask
that drew up their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter
became a bloodthirsty snarling…the mask was a thing on its own, behind which
Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”
“So
Ralph asserted his chieftainship and could not have chosen a better way if he
had thought for days. Against his weapon…Jack was powerless and raged, without
knowing why. By the time the pile was built, they were on different sides of a
high barrier”
Discussion Questions
1.
The older boys called the small boys “littluns.” Why is this label necessary
from the point of view of the author as well as other characters? What does the
fact that the littluns are basically nameless convey about their purpose in
this story?
2.Does
it appear that Jack knows he has made a mistake by taking all of the hunters
with him to kill instead of leaving two as promised to keep the fire
going? How can you tell? Should his
apology to Ralph be enough?
Chapter 9-12
Chapter 9: A
View to a Death
Key quote
“At once the crowd
surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck,
bit, tore.
There were no
words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.”
Questions
1.
What does Simon
discover at the beginning of the chapter?
2.
Why are Piggy and
Ralph the only 2 at the pool?
3.
Describe Jack’s
appearance and personality in this chapter
4.
What phrase do the
boys add to their chant? Where has this
been mentioned before?
5.
How does the boys’
game of reenacting the pig hunt change in this chapter?
6.
What are some of
the specific details used to describe what happened to Simon’s body at the very
end of the chapter?
Quotes
1. The dark sky was shattered by a blue-white scar. […] The chant rose a
tone in agony.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
2. Jack spoke.
"Give me a
drink."
Henry brought him a
shell and he drank, watching Piggy and Ralph over the jagged rim. Power lay in
the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in
his ear like an ape.
Discussion Questions
1. What is the
weather like during this chapter? How
does that contribute to the tone/mood of the scene?
2. How does Golding use the external
environment to escalate the suspense and terror?
3. Looking back
over the novel, how is Simon portrayed as a Christ
figure? Give specific examples. How does his death continue that symbolism?
Chapter 10: The
Shell and the Glasses
Key quote
“I know. They didn’t come for the conch. They came for something else. Ralph—what am I going to do?”
Questions
1. How do Ralph and Piggy each respond to Simon’s
death?
2. What happens to Wilfred?
3.What keeps happening to Ralph in this chapter as he
tries to lead the others?
4.What was ironic/funny about the fight in the dark in
this chapter?
5. What did Jack and his boys steal?
Quotes:
1. "I
expect the beast disguised himself."
"Perhaps […]. We'd
better keep on the right side of him, anyhow. You can't tell what he might
do."
The tribe considered
this; and then were shaken, as if by a flow of wind. The chief saw the effect
of his words and stood abruptly.
2. Piggy drew up his legs.
“You all right, Piggy?”
“I thought they wanted the conch.”
“You all right, Piggy?”
“I thought they wanted the conch.”
Discussion Questions
1. After the
opening discussion Piggy and Ralph have about Simon’s death, does your opinion
of these characters change at all?
2. Have they
changed like Jack and Roger or are they still civilized and “good”?
3. What is
significant about Jack’s methods as a leader?
How does he manipulate the other boys?
Why do you think the other boys follow him?
4. Why was Piggy
so scared Jack wanted the conch? Why is
that ironic?
Chapter 11:
Castle Rock
Key quote
“Piggy sought in
his mind for words to convey his passionate willingness to carry the conch
against all odds.”
Questions
1.How does Ralph want them to present themselves when
they go to ask Jack to return Piggy’s glasses?
2. Who never
forgets their purpose in going to see Jack?
Who needs to be reminded?
3.How has the face paint changed the boys in Jack’s
tribe?
4.Describe what happens to Piggy. Be specific.
5.What do we assume happens to Samneric at the end of
the chapter?
Quotes
1. Behind them on the grass the
headless and paunched body of a sow lay where they had dropped it.
2. Samneric protested out of the heart of civilization, “Oh, I say!
–honestly!”
3. “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no
more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this
island. I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything
done. So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what. Or else –”
Discussion Questions
1.Do you think
Ralph’s a good leader or not? Why? What are his good qualities and what are his
weaker ones? How do we see those in Chapter 11?
2. Why is Piggy’s
death symbolic? What happens to the
conch? What might that represent?
“3. Simon and
Piggy can see that the boys are the true evil on the island, but because the
boys cannot accept the truth, they kill these two truth-bearers.” Do you agree or not?
Chapter 12: Cry of the Hunters
Key quote
“The tears began to flow and
sobs shook him.”
Questions
1. What does Ralph do to the Lord of the Flies?
2.What are Samneric doing in this chapter?
3.What is the significance of Roger “sharpening a stick at both ends”? What do Samneric say about him?
4.When Ralph is being hunted, he has 3 strategies. What are they? Which does he choose?
5.How are the boys rescued? Why is
this ironic?
6.What do all the boys do at the end?
Quotes:
1. Ralph launched himself like a
cat; stabbed, snarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up.
2. On the beach behind him was a cutter, her bows hauled up and held by two
ratings. In the stern-sheets another rating held a sub-machine gun.
3. The tears began to flow and
sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the
island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body.
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island;
and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too.
And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose,
Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall
through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.
Discussion Questions
1. How do the boys appear to
the naval officer? What does he ask
them? How do they act here at the end?
2. Do you think this part at
the end about hunting Ralph is realistic?
Could that actually happen? Does
it matter if it could happen? Does the
theme still have relevance regardless?
3. How would this have been
different if it were a group of girls?
What about if they had been older?
Would adults have done a better job of surviving?
didn’t stop you?
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