Gift for the Darkness 2

A Gift for the Darkness

Jack and the boys kill a mother sow and plan to go and feast on the beach. Jack puts the pig’s head on a stick and jams it into a crack in a rock as “a gift” for the beast.

Hunting

Jack and the boys go hunting and Jack is “brilliantly happy”.
Jack thinks that he can get more of the other boys to leave Ralph and join him if he provides more pig meat for them to eat.
“I'm going to get more of the biguns away from the conch and all that. We'll kill a pig and give a feast”.

The pigs and Piggy

They find a group of pigs and Jack focuses on a large mother sow nursing her babies.
The attack on the mother pig foreshadows the attack on Piggy later.
The mother sow nurses her piglets, just as Piggy has protected the littleuns.
It is also interesting to note that Jack immediately wants to kill the mother sow. This links to his immense hatred of Piggy.

The kill

The boys attack and hit the mother sow and her piglets. Jack sits on her and cuts her throat.
Roger leans hard on one of the spears and pushes it into the sow.
Jack and Roger are excited that they have killed the mother pig.
Jack “giggled” as he notices that his hands are covered in blood and rubs the blood on another boy’s face.
Roger brags about jamming the spear “right up her ass!”.

Planning the feast

The boys act out the killing of the pig and then Jack guts it.
Jack tells the boys to take the meat back to the beach, where Roger will steal a branch from Ralph’s fire to make their own, and they will all have a feast.

“A gift”

Before they leave, Jack tells Roger to “sharpen a stick at both ends”.
Roger does so and Jack puts the pig’s head on one end before jamming the stick into the crack in a rock.
Jack says that the pig’s head is “a gift” for the beast.

A Gift for the Darkness

The boys leave, taking the pig’s carcass with them but leaving the head behind.
The name of this chapter is A Gift for the Darkness.
Jack has left the pig’s head as a gift for the beast, the metaphorical darkness and evil that lives within the boys.

Simon

The boys are unaware that Simon had been sitting in the forest and watching them the whole time. Simon's favourite place has now been ruined.

Simon's spot

The boys are unaware that Simon had been sitting in the forest and watching them the whole time.
They had followed the pig to Simon’s favourite place and brutally slaughtered it.
Simon’s favourite place has been ruined by the boys.
Now he only sees the pig’s head and guts, with flies covering them.

Human destruction

This is another way in which humanity (the boys) has destroyed the peaceful, serene life on the island.
Simon’s favourite place had been filled with butterflies, birds and sunlight.
Now it is filled with blood and the stench of death.

Recognising evil

Simon feels as though the pig’s head is telling him to run away.
Flies start to cover Simon’s face and thighs, as well as the pig’s head.
Simon recognises the pig’s head as the Lord of the Flies.
The Lord of the Flies is also known as the devil.
Simon recognises the evil that the boys have brought to the island and he is scared.

Pathetic fallacy

Simon’s head starts to hurt and dark clouds cover the island.
- (Pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood.)
The dark clouds covering the island could show that darkness and evil have finally taken over and that things are going to get worse.

1Context

1.1Context

1.1.1The Title

1.1.2Historical Context

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Context

2Story Analysis

2.1Chapter 1

2.1.1The Sound of the Shell

2.1.2The Sound of the Shell 2

2.2Chapter 2

2.2.1Fire on the Mountain

2.3Chapter 3

2.3.1Huts on the Beach

2.4Chapter 4

2.4.1Painted Faces & Long Hair

2.5Chapter 5

2.5.1Beast from the Water

2.5.2Beast from the Water 2

2.6Chapter 6

2.6.1Beast From the Air

2.7Chapter 7

2.7.1Shadows & Tall Trees

2.8Chapter 8

2.8.1Gift for the Darkness

2.8.2Gift for the Darkness 2

2.8.3Gift for the Darkness 3

2.9Chapter 9

2.9.1A View to a Death

2.10Chapter 10

2.10.1The Shell & the Glasses

2.11Chapter 11

2.11.1Castle Rock

2.12Chapter 12

2.12.1Cry of the Hunters

3Key Characters

3.1Profiles

3.1.1Ralph

3.1.2Piggy

3.1.3Jack

3.1.4Exam-Style Questions - Jack

3.1.5Simon

3.1.6Roger

3.1.7End of Topic Test - Ralph, Piggy & Jack

3.1.8End of Topic Test - Simon & Roger

3.1.9Grade 9 - Key Characters

4Key Concepts

4.1Themes

4.1.1Human Nature

4.1.2Location & Setting

4.1.3Democracy & Dictatorship

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Themes

5Writing Techniques

5.1Writing Techniques

5.1.1Allegory

5.1.2Foreshadowing

5.1.3Pathetic Fallacy

5.1.4Naming

5.1.5End of Topic Test - Writing Techniques

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