Blog #4 (LOTF)

Lord of the Flies

Chapter 4: Painted Faces and Long Hair

"You let the fire go out."

Perspective: Jack

What things are you having trouble adjusting to that are different from your home in England.

Back in England, I was always the leader. The boys in the choir would always do as I say, and they would never even try to protest. Here in the island, Ralph is always trying to make them work and keep his fire going when they should be going hunting with me so everyone can eat.

How do you feel about the littl'uns?

I really don't care much for the smaller boys, although Ralph says all they do is play and eat. They're really easy to manipulate, so I could probably make one or two watch the fire so me and my choir can go hunt.

What do they do with their time?

By what Ralph told me, the little boys are very lazy. They only work for a few minutes and then go make sand castles or eat as much fruit as they can find. I don't think it matters that they don't work, since I honestly don't think they're good for anything.

Why do you all paint your faces?

The hunters and I painted our faces to hide from the pigs. I figured they'd be able to see us before we got close enough, so the camouflage helped a lot. That paint got us our first successful hunt, and therefore is very important to us.

What does this foreshadow?

I think the paint means we're going to be able to have more successful hunting trips from now on, because the pigs won't see us even if we're in a bush next to them. I also think the hunters will start to respect me again if I give them meat.

How do you feel when your face is painted?

When my face is painted, I feel great. I feel like I can do anything to those pigs, and they can't hurt me because I'm a hunter and they're just animals on an island. It makes me look as if I had some added swarthiness when I paint my face.

Why doesn't the passing ship see you on the island?

The ship didn't see us because the hunters and I were busy catching a pig so Ralph and all the other boys could eat. The fire burned out while we were hunting, so the ship didn't notice anything on the island. I really think Ralph overreacted about the ship, since he was staring at me malevolently. It was probably too far away to see us anyway.

Why was the fire allowed to go out?

A few of my hunters were supposed to watch the fire, but since I took them with me to kill a pig there was no one to keep the fire from going out. After we brought the pig to the platform, everyone was very ungrateful to us, and Simon even gave Piggy his piece of meat.

Why do you lead the hunters in chanting, "Kill the pig. Cut her throat."

After I killed the pig, I wanted to celebrate with the hunters our first real dinner since we arrived at the island. They all joined into the blatant singing, and we kept chanting until we got to the beach. We were all so happy about getting food for the first time.

Where does this desire to kill come from?

I really like going on hunting trips because when I get food for my hunters, they treat me as their only leader instead of Ralph. The hunters are gradually coming to respect me again, and if I give them enough food, they will obey only me in the end. The food acts sort of like a balm on their morale. Killing the pigs also makes me feel powerful, like I can just kill anything I want if it annoys me. I like seeing the carcass drop gouts everywhere.

Blog #3 (LOTF)

Blog post on Lord of the Flies
Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach

Character Perspective: Simon

Why or why not is it important to have shelters for the little ones?

I think we should have shelters so the little boys don't get scared too much. If they are scared they might run off somewhere and put themselves in danger. Also, the opaque roofs will protect us from the sun.

What are the various jobs assigned to the boys?
Jack and his choir boys are supposed to be hunters and catch a pig for food, although they haven't caught a single one yet. Ralph and me have to build the shelters for the rest of us. Piggy's job is to take care of the little ones and take names so we know how many are supposed to be here.

Why aren't they carried out?
Jack hasn't caught a pig yet because he hasn't really practiced hunting before. That, and the fact that he let the rest of the hunters go back to the beach the other day. Ralph and I can't build good shelter without help from the smaller ones, and they always run off after working only a few minutes. There's a lot of vicissitudes in building the huts, but I'm sure they'll pay off later.

What do you feel is the most important task for survival?
I think the shelters are the most important task in my opinion, since they protect us from the rain and the animals on the island. There's a lot of castanet noises coming from the jungle, so I think we could run into something dangerous if we don't take care. There's a lot of fruit here on the island, so we don't need the hunters that much. I also think we should keep the fire going in case a boat comes near us.

How would you describe yourself?
I consider myself to be very calm. I don't like taking sides, but if someone obviously has the right answers, I'm most likely to go with them. I'm not very tall, but I'm not very short either. I like to help anyway I can when it comes to being rescued. I'm sort of tan, and have gotten sunburned a lot since we arrived here.

What do you think will happen if you don't get off this island soon?
I think if we stay to long here, we might lose control of the little boys. If little children get too scared, they tend to act very weird, and if we can't keep them from going crazy and running off everywhere, I think lots of them will get hurt. None of our shelters are very good, so I'm worried we might freeze in a storm.

Why do you go off alone up the mountain?
I climbed the mountain alone to think about something we could do to cheer up the rest of the boys around. I also wanted to see how the fire was doing, since Ralph said it was the most important thing if we want to be rescued. There was also this strange compulsion to look at the island and the things in the forest. I feel better after listening to the island's susurrations.

Blog #2 (LOTF)

Do you think this is a good island or a bad island?

I think the island is bad for the littl'uns, since it's very scary for them and most of them are around six years old. I think the island is also making the older boys act like the littl'uns

Blog #1 (LOTF)

Chapter One: The sound of the Shell

AKA: Finding the Rest

Perspective: Ralph

Describe the setting of the island.

The island doesn't seem to be that big, since we could see everything on it from the mountain Jack, Simon and I climbed. Theres lots of palm trees, but the stop growing at about twenty feet high because of the lack of soil. There are plenty other intricacies I could list, but it would take too long.

What brought you to this island?

We were all in a plane before we arrived on the island, and we think it might have been shot down by someone since Piggy said he saw flames coming from the wing. The plane is gone after being washesd away by a storm, but it left a huge scar on the beach.

Why are there no adults on the island?

By what we've seen, the island appears to be uninhabited. The pilot could have died in the crash, and I don't think there's anyone here but us.

What powers does the person holding the conch have?'

The person holding the conch at a meeting can speak without being interrupted. I think it helps to keep the other boys from fighting or arguing, and it prevents a communion of voices from yelling out all at once. The conch is also very beatiful, and it has a nice motif to it, because it's so smooth.

What is the choir's job?

Jack's choir has been given the job of hunting pigs for food. I think it is a good proffer, since Jack already owns a knife and seems to know a lot about hunting the pigs.

What qualities do you think made you chief?

I think I was voted chief because i try not to treat others in a mean way. Jack, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like Piggy at all. He often insults him and gets sniggers from the choir, thus making him feel even more powerful.

What do you think of the other boys on the island?

The smaller boys don't really do anything other than play and run around. Jack seems to be sort of a dictator towards the children in the choir, and he is very specious about his intentions. Piggy is very loyal to me, and so far has been doing as I say, like when I told him to stay behind and take names from the smaller boys.