Inner Evil

The boys have completely lost it. When Jack starts being consumed with the thought of hunting and gets the some of the other boys to go along with it the boys start falling. These are boys that grew up to never hit or steal or let alone kill, but when they are alone and are able to do whatever they want with no one telling them differently they go crazy. Anyone can fall to this inner evil. It happens to "perfect" little children and adults that have grown up around violence. I do think that people are born good, but they have an evil part of them. Like Britany has been saying, whether you feed that side or not is up to you. Many people, like Ralph when he hits the pigs nose with his spear, feel the rush but they don't let it consume them. Though some people do let it take them over and thus ruin their lives. It comes down to whether you want to be a good person and push it back or if you want to let it come forward.

Erin Dingle

Golding's Thoughts and Yours

Years later in an interview tiha reporter from the New York World-Telegram and Sun (1963), Golding insisted that the novel’s primary purpose is to serve as a warning of man’s potential for brutality to his fellow man. He said, “I learned during World War II just how brutal people can be to each other. Not just Germans or Japanese, but everyone. I tried to point that out…Some have said that the brutality of the novel is impossible. It’s not. Look at any newspaper.”

What do you think? Do you agree with Golding's theme? Offer evidence one way or another.

If you're stuck #2....

...get your brain going! Here are some discussion prompts you could use for your posting if you don't have another idea. It could make for some good discussion.

Golding has referred to himself as a pessimist intellectually and emotionally an optimist. Discuss _Lord of the Flies_ in light of this.

If you're stuck #1....

...get your brain going! Here are some discussion prompts you could use for your posting if you don't have another idea. It could make for some good discussion.

1. The conclusion of the _Lord of the Flies_ has been criticized on the grounds that Golding sacrificed artistic excellence for the sake of a "happy ending." What do you think?

Another Pig Symbol

Throughout the book we've seen the beasts to be the boys, and we said the pig's head represented the beast in the conversation with Simon. As i keep reading, I keep thinking about that head, and I believe there is another meaning to it. We always talk about the clothing or glasses as sybols of civilization. As we see them less, there isn't as much order and more savagery. The pigs head is also another sybol of this. The head decayes more and more as the days go on the same way civilization is decaying within the boys. Also, to tie this in with our beast conversation, the beast becomes more and more of a fear within the boys day by day. This feels like to me when the head says "I'll be down there"to Simon, the more it decayes the more he is with the boys causeing fear and chaos. This is something i'd like people to think about and possibly talk about in class.
-Austin Reichert

FIRE!!!!!

I think it was a little funny, when Jack tried to kill Ralph with the fire. Then they get saved by the navy, and so over all, Jack saved the kids from the island, although he was the one who wanted to stay on the island. The fire can symbolize Jack's hatred for Ralph, and as the book goes on, his hatred gets bigger until it takes over the whole island. As Ralph tried to hide from Jack, he coundn't because the fire follows him like Jack. Jsohau Hill

Fighting the urge of giving in....

The boys on the island have completely gone mad. They murder a pig (brutally and in a very disturbing manner), kill Simon who has done absolutely nothing wrong but try to keep some kind of sanity on the island, and are after to kill one another. I slowly see Ralph, the boy who we looked to for some civilization, slipping into the violent person that Jack is. I believe that the author is showing how no matter how civilized and composed a person can stay in desperate times, we all have inner evil that can take the best of us in taking desperate measures. This is showing that Jack decided it would be easier to feed his inner evil and become violent in hunting for the "beast" and having dominance over the boys. At this point in the book, I think Ralph is fighting the urge to giving in to his inner evil and is giving up on the hope of survival and rescue. Ralph seems like when he acts like a savage he doesn't realize it, but when he looks back on it he questions and looks for excuses on why he acted the way he did. Everything was taken to a next level when Simon was murdered. The boys were so preoccupied and caught up in the thought of killing and being blood thirsty, that I think that some of them knew it was Simon while in the process but still didn't say anything because they were desperate for that rush of killing. They are all concentrated on killing this beast, that is not even real, that the boy who actually knew the truth about it was murdered by themselves! Can they not see that they are the beast themselves! According to www.dictionary.com, a beast is a cruel, coarse, filthy, or otherwise inhuman like person. This definition perfectly describes Jack and his little followers. Ready to kill at any moment and does not have any guilt for it. They are the beast. Not the man trapped in a parachute. This book has gotten me quite worked up! I am furious as Jack and am dreading the death of Piggy :(! I still believe that Jack will kill off everyone off on the island due to paranoia or command of the Lord of the Flies. I can't wait to see what will happen!
Sydney:)