LORD OF THE FLIES – CHAPTER 8 Gift for the Darkness
PLOT SUMMARY
Ralph and Jack tell Piggy about the beast. Ralph says they cannot fight it. He
describes it as having teeth and big black eyes. Jack blows the conch and brings
the boys together. He lies to them, saying that Ralph is a coward and that he
didn’t go up the mountain with them and stayed back. Jack asks the boys how
many of them do not want Ralph as chief. He gets no response. Jack announces
that he is no longer going to be part of ‘Ralph’s lot” and runs away, inviting
anyone who wants to hunt to join them.
Piggy suggests that the fire should be lit on the beach as it would give off
smoke just the same. The boys busy themselves gathering wood for the new
fire. Bill and Roger leave to join Jack in the forest. Ralph notices that Simon is
missing.
The hunters found a group of pigs and wound a large sow. they follow her into
the forest and kill her. Jack guts the sow and cuts off the head. He places the
head on a stick as a gift for the beast. When Simon sees the pigs head, he
imagines that the head is talking to him. He sees the head covered in a mass of
flies and thinks of it as the ‘Lord of the Flies’.
Back on the beach, Ralph admits to Piggy that he is scared that they will never
be rescued. At this point Jack and the hunters arrive. Two hunters steal
burning sticks and run off. At this point Jack and the hunters arrive. Two
hunters steal burning sticks and run off. Jack announces that he and his
hunters are living along the beach and that they ‘hunt and feast and have fun’.
He invites others who join his ‘tribe’.
The hunters now have painted faces and are smeared with blood. Jack says
there is to be a feast and anyone who wants can come. Two of the hunters end
his invitation with the words ‘the chief has spoken’. The hunters are beginning
to treat Jack like a king and there are elements of worship in the way they now
behave towards him.
Ralph finds it hard to hold the attention of the other boys. He still insists that
the fire is the way they will be rescued but begins to sound less convincing. The
boys want meat and like the idea of playing at being hunters. Many of them
find the idea of dressing like a painted savage appealing.
Simon is still watching the pig’s head on a stick. He imagines that it tells him
that the beast is not something that can be hunted and killed. It says that the
beast is part of him. Simon is overcome by his vision and has a fit.
VIOLENCE, CLASHES, DILEMMAS AND ISSUES
This Chapter is the beginning of the disbandment of Ralphs Tribe. Ralph and
Jack have different views on what to do with the beast. Jack wants to kill the
beast, where as Ralph wants to hide. At the beginning of this chapter, Ralph
describes the beast as a “Tiger”. However, the conflict begins when Ralph
stated that Jack’s band of hunters were “boys with sticks”, implying that they
were no match for the beast. Jack was enraged by the demeaning of his
hunters; therefore he leaves to start his own group.
The beast was seen on top of the mountain so the dilemma which Ralph and
Piggy had was where to set their new signal fire. Piggy ingeniously suggested to
set the fire along the beach, “Whats wrong with a fire down here? A fire could
be built on them rocks.”
THE BEAST
The beast is something misinterpreted in the novel. It is described as a vicious
creature, when in fact, it is revealed to us as a harmless creature (a dead
parachutist). It relates to the theme of good versus evil, where Simon,
representing the Good on the island faces the Beast, representing evil.
Once the boys are aware having mistaken the dead parachutist for a monster,
come to believe fully in the existence of the beast, most of the remaining sense
of civilization on the island diminishes. Jack forms an “outcast” tribe. In a world
where the beast is real, rules and morals become weak and utterly
dispensable. The original democracy Ralph created devolves into
totalitarianism, with Jack as a tyrant and the beast as the feared enemy. We
see the depth of the boys' growing devotion to the idea of the beast in their
impalement of the sow's head on the stake as an offering. The Beast therefore
is like a god who is respected by Jack and his followers.
CHARACTERISATION
JACK
Jack is the natural born leader on the island. This is shown by assertiveness and
charisma when he separates from ‘Ralph’s lot’. Jack shows he can be very
devious when he claims that Ralph hadn’t gone to the top of the mountain to
find the beast. He knows that he can undermine Ralph’s position by following
this through. When Jack decides to break away, from the group his words are a
strange mixture of strength and childishness. His final decision is “I’m not going
to play any longer. Not with you”.
SIMON
In this chapter, Simon is the main character. He is most medically ill on the
island. He is the only one on the island which isn’t afraid of the beast.
Ironically, he is the only one to actually see what the beast really is. He is
different from the other characters in the play. Simon is shown as a kind figure
that constantly helps other people and insists on the positive. He suggests that
they should all climb the mountain, and face the beast. This reveals actual
bravery, even though he is misunderstood by the other characters. Simon’s
medical condition reveals the true evil on the island – the lord of the flies, in
what can be called the climatic part of the novel.
RALPH
Ralph becomes weak and powerless once Jack leaves. He doesn’t know what to
do; all he is determined to do is get a signal fire going. He is isolated with piggy
and together they attempt to restore order.
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Throughout the play there have been many biblical illusions. For example, the
island parallels the Garden of Eden, a place of paradise. In this chapter, more
biblical illusions are revealed. The pig head – the “Lord of the Flies” is the
direct translation of Beelzebub, a devil only second to Satan. When Jack
impales the pigs head, it is as though the devil invaded the Garden of Eden –
basically, evil has spread throughout the island
SYMBOLISM
Jack and his hunters leaving the pig’s head for the beast is a sign of
disintegration of civilization. They are turning into savages and hunting for
blood. Their old ways of rules and order were forgotten and were replaced by
savagery. The lord of the flies symbolises the evil on the island and Simon, who
encounters the lord of the flies, represents the good. The literal translation of
the lord of the flies is Beelzebub, which in biblical terms is a devil.
This violence is a symbol of Democracy vs. Totalitarianism. Jack believes that
Ralph is a coward that he doesn’t face the beast on the mountain when
encouraged by Simon. Ralph, representing the democracy, is determined to
create the fire and that it is the only way to become saved, while Jack is
focused on hunting and surviving by them, he forgets the will to become
rescued. Jack takes control of the island and all the children, bribing them with
his gift of meat.
This idea of leaving an offering for the beast reflects a practice that can be
found in many primitive cultures of leaving offerings to the spirits of the
mountain, the jungle or the sea. It is another example of Jack and his followers
moving away from their ‘civilised’ upbringing. They are turning into savages in
appearance and action, and Golding refers to them as such.
THEMES
Good vs. Evil
This theme is portrayed in two situations in this chapter. Jack and Ralph’s
conflict and Simon the Lord of the Flies meeting. Jack’s arrogance and
leadership gives an image of dictatorship.
The Heart of Darkness
This is the ‘devolution’ of civilised man into savages. Golding incorporates this
theme into his novel. Jack changes the most, from being a prefect to an animal.
Jack doesn’t set out to become the wild savage that he eventually turns into.
This chapter shows how Jack turns primitive when he gives the pigs head to
the beast as an offering. This is different from modern society where all or
most of the carcass would have been consumed.
The End