Essay/Term paper: Lord of the flies: summary

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Society Term Papers

Lord of the Flies: Summary

By: Wiliam Golding

Main Character Description

Piggy: A large kid, one of the older ones. He was made fun of and teased about
his weight and it drove him crazy. He met Ralph first. Piggy wore glasses, which
later proved vital for fire making. The best way to get to Piggy was to take
away his "specs" because without them, he couldn't see a foot away from anything.
He is later killed in the book. He falls fourty feet onto solid rock and his
head splits open.

Ralph: Ralph is chief of the group on the very first day. He was voted above
Jack and his small band of kids. Ralph is one of the oldest. He first meets
Piggy and was the original founder of the Conch Horn. Ralph comes up with many
useful ideas during the novel, like the shelters on the beach. He is hunted
right before they are rescued.

Jack: Has his own band of kids that he later names, his "hunters." In the
group, they are responsible for the hunting of the pigs of the island; to bring
in meat. Otherwise, the only thing they had to eat was the fruit of the island.
Later on in the novel, Jack leaves the group of kids to be on his own.

Simon: Quiet, out-spoken by everyone, Simon is one of the hardest-working of
them all. He helps Ralph with the shelters and the little ones with fruit. He is
later killed in the novel.

Sam "n Eric: Sam and Eric are twins. They help in various problems during the
novel and survive until the end of the novel. Neither of them play a vital role
in the novel.

Chapter Summary

Chapter 1- In the first chapter, the time is right after the plane has wrecked
and they all wake up from the crash. Ralph and Piggy meet each other, walk
around and soon look for other people on the plane. Ralph soon finds the Conch
shell and uses it like a horn to beacon the others. The survivors eventualy find
themselves together in a group; Ralph, Piggy, Jack and his hunters, Sam "n Eric
and Simon included. They vote Ralph the chief of the group, make a few rules
(like, whoever has the Conch Shell has the right to speak) and designate Jack
and his band as the group's "hunters." Ralph, Simon and Jack explore the island
and climb it's pink mountain to see if the place they were at is trully an
island. They find it is.

Chapter 2- An idea is formed for the group. They decide to designate a place on
the top of the mountain and make a fire-pit for a signal to ships or planes that
may be passing by. The whole group colects tons and tons of wood and dead leaves
and heaves them alll into a pile. They use Piggy's specs to start the fire by
placing them between the sun and the pile. Soon, the fire consumes all of the
materials they had collected and very little smoke had been created. Piggy is
made upset and he starts a much bigger fire. They all get in an argument. Then
meet back down at the meeting place.

Chapter 3- In this chapter, the group attempt to make huts on the beach. It
turns out that Ralph and Simon end up doing all the work. The shelters are not
very good ones and the progress is slow. Jack is upset that he cant get any meat
for the group to eat, and that his band of hunters spend all their time in the
bathing pool.

Chapter 4- In this chapter, a few of the kids find out about camoflauge and such.
Some of them paint their faces for hunting. Jack included. He decides white and
red to plit his face then a black line from his right eye to his left jaw. A
ship came within sight of the island, but Jack and his group of kids went
hunting so the fire was left and went out.

Chapter 5- Three shelters have been built by this time in the novel and a
restroom was about to be built by the bathing pool. They were going to build the
restroom by the bathing pool so the tide can clean everything out. (their
camping area was getting a little dirty) Chief Ralph also made a new rule that
no fire ever be made unless it's on the mountain. And that if they didn't keep
that fire going, they'll die. A rumor was spread sayingthat a gigantic squid was
seen, bigger than a whale. Towards the end of the chapter, Jack riles up an
assembly and they all go running after the "beast."

Chapter 6- The beast-hunting party makes their way up the pink rock mount. There
was only one place on the island that Jack had not visited. It was a large pile
of rocks near the fire-site. It turned out to be monster-free, and an ideal fort
area. Jack realy liked that fort. They name the place "Stone Castle." Using a
mean tone of voice and loud voice, Ralph convinces Jack that the priority right
then was to keep the mountain-top firing burning...at all times. And he
emphasised that.

Chapter 7- The beast / pig-run party finds what they think may the infamous "
beast" that so frightens the little ones. The creature is actually a boar.
While sneaking upon it and striking at the thing with their spears, Jack is
injured in his arm. (he sucks it and it's all better) They follow the beast's
tracks somewhat and eventually find it.

Chapter 8- In this chapter, Jack leaves the group of kids after a big argument
with Ralph. (one of the many many they've had) Jack attempted to mutiny Ralph's
authority and accused him of being a coward while hunting the beast. He said he
did all thw work while Ralph hung back and did all the work. He puts it to a
vote, should he be impeached as chief and Jack take his place or should he stay.
Not one child voted for impeachment. This gave Jack a mixed feeling of
embarassment and rage and he stormed off, saying he didn't want to be any part
of "Ralph's lot."

Chapter 9- In this chapter, Jack calls his own sort of assembly after leaving
Ralph's lot. Everybody attended, even Piggy and Ralph. Jack announces that he is
starting his own tribe and Ralph objects to the idea. Jack ignores his
rejections and asks who will join his tribe. Many of the kids do join and the
assembly is dismissed.

Chapter 10- In this chapter, the group of kids had finally broken up and Ralph's
lot was pondering just what that meant. When Jack went to recruit people for his
lot, he mentioned how much fun they would have and that they wouldn't have much
work to do. So, naturally, most people joined Jack's lot and only a few stayed
with Ralph and Piggy. Jack's fort, Castle Rock, was his group's sanctuary. Later
that, following the dismissal of Jack's assembly, Jack's hunters and he attacked
Ralph's shelters and the two group's got in a fight. They were fought back and
retreated, but managed to complete their objective...which was to steal Piggy's
glasses.

Chapter 11- Ralph's lot are in shock because Piggy's specs were taken and they
immediately decide how to get them back. After an assembly is called, they get
each other so riled up that they just storm the castle rock. The two twins,
Sam'n Eric get tied up and are threatened to be hanged If they do not join
Jack's lot. In the struggle, Piggy is pushed off a cliff and falls forty feet to
his death after getting his smashed by a rock.

Chapter 12- Ralph goes back to the shelters (or whats left of them) and
eventually Jack's lot finds it necessary to hunt Ralph down and kill him. Ralph
escapes the oncoming group of killers and is chased throughout the forest. A
naval ship, notices the smoke, and comes by. A naval officer greets Jack from
the beach and the kids cry.

My Opinions on the Book

This book was easily the best book I've read in a long time. It was my favorite
on the list so far. I really likedthe idea of kids surviving on their own in an
isolated environment. And I think this bok really did what it was supposed to do,
well. That is, it was a great way to express theopinion that humans are not
generally good creatures corrupted by society, but generally rotten creatures
that are civilized by society. And that's how I feel. Awesome book.

l