2.8.3

Gift for the Darkness 3

Test yourself

Jack Seizes Power

Jack shouts to the boys that his hunters have killed a pig and invites them to feast with them.

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The importance of fire

  • Back on the beach, at the new fire, Ralph is scared because no one except him seems to care about the fire.
  • He argues that the boys cannot be rescued without a signal fire, so he doesn’t understand why the other boys don’t care enough to keep it going.
  • Ralph asks Piggy why bad things keep happening and Piggy blames Jack.
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“Demoniac figures”

  • Suddenly, Jack and three other boys (“Demoniac figures”) run towards Ralph and Piggy.
  • The hunters have painted faces and look like devils.
  • Piggy and the littleuns run away.
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Jack

  • Jack is “stark naked” apart from his belt and the face paint.
  • He seems to have lost all sense of civility and appears to be wild and uncontrollable.
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Jack seizes power

  • Some of Jack’s boys get burning sticks from Ralph’s fire.
  • Jack shouts to the boys that his hunters have killed a pig and invites them to feast with them.
  • Jack shouts “The Chief has spoken!” before he leaves.
  • Jack has seized power.
  • He has eliminated any sense of democracy and civilisation.
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The meat

  • Ralph calls a meeting with the remainder of the boys.
  • The boys think that they should go to Jack’s feast; they want to eat the meat.
  • Ralph argues that they can get their own meat, but the boys argue that they are not hunters and that they want to ask Jack for meat.
  • Even Piggy wants meat.

Simon’s Garden of Eden

Simon again imagines the pig’s head talking to him. He is being tested by the Lord of the Flies (the devil), just as Jesus was tested in the Bible.

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The Lord of the Flies

  • Back in the forest, Simon is still staring at the Lord of the Flies.
  • His head is hurting and his tongue is swollen.
  • He imagines the pig’s head telling him things about him being a “silly boy” and that the other boys think he is “batty” (weird).
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Simon’s Garden of Eden

  • Simon’s Garden of Eden has been transformed from a beautiful, peaceful, good place to one of death and horror.
  • Simon is being tested by the Lord of the Flies (the devil), just as Jesus was tested in the Bible.
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The Bible

  • In the Bible, Jesus was tested to see if he was brave enough to sacrifice himself on the cross for the sake of all humanity.
  • Simon is being tested here to see if he is brave enough to face the Lord of the Flies and then continue to the top of the mountain and see if there really is a beast.
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Talking heads

  • Again, Simon imagines the pig’s head talking to him.
    • The pig tells Simon that it is the beast and asks if he is afraid of it.
    • Simon tells it that it is just a pig’s head.
    • The pig asks Simon if he is aware that the beast is inside all of the boys.
    • The beast is inside each boy and is growing stronger. The beast is the reason everything is going wrong on the island.

The Lord of the Flies

Simon is like Simon Peter (St Peter) and like Jesus. The Lord of the Flies warns Simon not to reveal to the others that the beast only exists inside them.

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The Lord of the Flies

  • The Lord of the Flies seems to grow bigger and appears to tell Simon not to tell the other boys the truth about the beast.
  • The Lord of the Flies warns Simon not to reveal to the others that the beast only exists inside them.
  • The Lord of the Flies wants the boys to be savages. It enjoys their savage games.
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The warning

  • The pig’s head seems to threaten Simon: "I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. D'you see? You're not wanted.”
  • The pig’s head warns Simon that if he tries to tell the boys the truth about the beast, the boys will destroy Simon.
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Simon's epilepsy

  • Simon faints.
  • Simon has epilepsy, which causes him to appear to faint a lot.
  • This separates him from the other boys.
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Simon Peter

  • Simon is like Simon Peter (Saint Peter) in the Garden of Gethsemane (in the Bible).
  • Simon Peter falls asleep when praying to support Jesus.
  • Jesus wakes him, telling him that his spirit is willing but his body is weak.
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Jesus

  • Simon is like Jesus.
  • Jesus fought against sin and evil natures, trying to figure out the truth of human nature and to decide what he should do to help humanity.

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