Lord of the Flies Quotation Bank
Characters
Ralph
Piggy
“You could see now that “He was shorter than the
he might make a boxer,
fair boy and very
as far as width and
fat…looked up through
heaviness of shoulders
thick spectacles.” Ch. 1
went, but there was a
mildness about his
mouth and eyes that
proclaimed no devil”
Ch. 1
"Ralph sat on a fallen
“Piggy asked no names. He
trunk, his left side to the was intimidated by this
sun. On his right were
uniformed superiority and
most of the choir; on his the off-hand authority in
left the larger boys who Merridew’s voice” Ch. 1
had not known each
other before...before him
small children squatted
in the grass." Ch. 2
"Piggy, for all his
ludicrous body, had
brains. Ralph was a
specialist in thought
now, and could
recognize thought in
another." Ch. 5
“with
"The world, that
understandable and
lawful world, was
slipping away." Ch. 5
"'You got your small fire
all right.'" Ch. 2
the martyred
expression of a parent who
has to keep up with the
senseless ebullience of the
children” Ch. 2
Jack
“When his party was about
ten yards from the platform
he shouted an order and they
halted, gasping, sweating,
swaying in the fierce light”
Ch. 1
Simon
"Then, amid the roar of
bees in the afternoon
sunlight, Simon found for
the fruit they could not
reach... passed them back
down to the endless,
outstretched hands." Ch.
3
Roger
“Roger’s arm was
conditioned by a
civilisation that knew
nothing of him and was in
ruins” Ch. 4
"'We've got to have rules and
obey them. After all, we're
not savages. We're English,
and the English are best at
everything.'" Ch. 2
"'Maybe there is a
beast....maybe it's only
us.'" Ch. 5
“Roger received this news
as an illumination. He
ceased to work at his tooth
and sat still, assimilating
the possibilities of
irresponsible authority”
Ch. 10
“Jack was bent double. He
was down like a sprinter, his
nose only a few inches from
the humid earth. … he
lowered his chin and stared
at the traces as though he
would force them to speak.
Then, dog-like,
uncomfortably on all fours
yet unheeding his
discomfort, he stole forward”
Ch. 3
“If you're hunting
sometimes... you can feel as
if you're not hunting, but -being hunted, as if
something's behind you all
the time in the jungle.”
“However Simon thought "Roger advanced... as one
of the beast, there rose
wielding a nameless
before his inward sight
authority." Chapter 11
the picture of a human at
once heroic and sick.”
Ch. 6
"'You'll get back to
where you came from.'"
Ch. 7
"Even the sounds of
nightmare from the other
shelters no longer
reached him, for he was
back to where came
from, feeding the ponies
with sugar over the
garden wall." Ch. 6
“Not even Ralph knew
how a link between him
and Jack had been
snapped and fastened
elsewhere.”
"The only trouble was
that he would never be a
very good chess player."
Ch. 7
"Piggy, for all his ludicrous
body, had brains. Ralph
was a specialist in thought
now, and could recognize
thought in another." Ch. 5
"Beside the mere, his sinewy
body held up a mask that
drew their eyes and appalled
them. He began to dance and
his laughter became a
bloodthirsty snarling." Ch. 4
"Piggy was... so full of
pride in his contribution to
the good of society, that he
helped to fetch wood." Ch.
8
"'I painted my face--I stole
"The water rose farther
up. Now you eat--all of you-- and dressed Simon's
and I--'" Ch.4
coarse hair with
brightness. The line of
his cheek silvered and the
turn of his shoulder
became sculptured
marble." Ch. 9
"We was on the outside.
“I'm scared of him, and that's
We never done nothing, we why I know him. If you're
never seen nothing." Ch.10 scared of someone you hate
him but you can't stop
thinking about him. You kid
yourself he's all right really,
an' then when you see him
again; it's like asthma an' you
can't breathe.” Ch. 6
"'They're not as bad as
“I'm scared of him, and
"Serve you right if
that. It was an accident.'" that's why I know him. If
something did get you, you
Chapter 12
you're scared of someone
useless lot of cry-babies!"
you hate him but you can't Ch. 5
stop thinking about him.
You kid yourself he's all
right really, an' then when
you see him again; it's like
"'after all we aren't
savages really...'" Ch. 11
"'You knew, didn't you?
I'm part of you? Close,
close, close! I'm the
reason why it's no go?
Why things are what they
are?'" …"'You're not
wanted..."Ch. 8
"surrounded by a fringe
of inquisitive bright
creatures, itself a silver
shape beneath the
steadfast constellations,
Simon's dead body
moved out toward the
open sea." Ch. 9
"Ralph launched himself
like a cat; stabbed,
snarling, with the spear,
and the savage doubled
up." Chapter 12
"What was the sensible
thing to do? There was
no Piggy to talk sense."
Chapter 12
"Ralph wept for the end
of innocence, the
darkness of man's heart,
and the fall through the
air of the true, wise
friend called Piggy."
Chapter 12
asthma an' you can't
breathe.” Ch. 6
"'This is 'jus talk... I want
my glasses.'" Ch. 11
"'We musn't let anything
happen to Piggy, must we?'"
Ch. 7
"Ralph--remember what
we came for. The fire. My
specs." Ch. 11
"He says things like Piggy.
He isn't a proper chief.'" Ch.
8
"Which is better--to have
laws and agree, or to hunt
and kill?" Ch. 11
"'This head is for the beast.
It's a gift.'" Ch. 8
"The rock struck Piggy a
glancing blow from chin to
knee; the conch exploded
into a thousand white
fragments and ceased to
exist." Ch. 11
"You can't tell what he might
do." Ch. 10
"Piggy's arms and legs
twitched a bit, like a pig's
after it has been killed."
Chapter 11
"You're a beast and a swine
and a bloody, bloody thief!"
Ch. 11
"What was the sensible
thing to do? There was no
Piggy to talk sense."
Chapter 12
Themes
Innocence
“He patted the palm
trunk softly; and forced
at last to believe in the
reality of the island,
laughed delightedly
again and stood on his
head” Ch. 1
"Daddy said they haven't
found all the animals in
the sea yet." Ch. 5
Evil
"The desire to squeeze and
hurt was over-mastering."
Ch. 7
Savagery
"'Kill the pig! Cut his throat!
Kill the pig! Bash him in!'"
Ch. 7
Civilisation
Ralph gains organizes
group; “Seems to me we
ought to have a chief to
decide things.” Ch.1
Violence
"'Kill the pig! Cut his
throat! Kill the pig! Bash
him in!'" Ch. 7
"There were no words, and
no movements but the
tearing of teeth and claws."
Ch. 9
“There was the brilliant
world of hunting, tactics,
fierce exhilaration, skill; and
there was the world of
longing and baffled
commonsense.”
"'This head is for the beast.
It's a gift.'" Ch. 8
“There was the brilliant
world of hunting, tactics,
fierce exhilaration, skill;
and there was the world
of longing and baffled
commonsense.”
"Here, invisible yet
strong, was the taboo of
the old life. Round the
squatting child was the
protection of parents and
school and policemen
and the law" Ch. 4
"The desire to squeeze and
hurt was over-mastering."
Ch. 7
“…ages ago they had
stood in two demure
rows and their voices
had been the song of
angels.” Ch. 8
"'Kill the beast! Cut his
throat! Spill his blood!'" Ch.
9
"The world, that
understandable and
lawful world, was
slipping away." Ch. 5
"They were glad to touch
the brown backs of the
fence that hemmed in the
terror and made it
governable." Ch. 9
"What could be safer
than the bus center with
its lamps and wheels?"
Ch. 10
“Might it not be possible
to walk boldly into the
fort, say – ‘I’ve got pax’
laugh lightly and sleep
amongst the others” Ch.
12
"'They're not as bad as
"There were no words, and
no movements but the
tearing of teeth and claws."
Ch. 9
"What could be safer
than the bus center with
its lamps and wheels?"
Ch. 10
"At once the crowd surged
after it, poured down the
rock, leapt onto the beast,
screamed, struck, bit, tore.
There were no words, and
no movements but the
tearing of teeth and claws."
Ch. 9
"Behind them on the grass
"Which is better--to have
"In the stern-sheets another
“The humiliating tears
were running from the
corner of each eye. ‘ I’m
not going to play any
longer, not with you”
Ch. 8
"'Kill the beast! Cut his
throat! Spill his blood!'"
Ch. 9
that. It was an accident.'"
Chapter 12
“Ralph wept for the end
of innocence, the
darkness of man’s heart”
Ch. 12
the headless and paunched
body of a sow lay where they
had dropped it." Ch. 11
"Which is better--to have
laws and agree, or to hunt
and kill?" Ch. 11
laws and agree, or to hunt rating held a sub-machine
and kill?" Ch. 11
gun."
Chapter 12
"'I should have thought
that a pack of British
boys... would have been
able to put up a better
show than that.'" Chapter
12
Setting
Paradise
“Here was a coral island.
Protected from the sun, ignoring
Piggy’s ill-omened talk, he
dreamed pleasantly.” Ch. 1
“the shore was fledged with palm
trees […] their green feathers
were a hundred feet up in the air”
Ch. 1
“the looped fantasy of the forest
creepers” Ch. 1
“He picked his way towards the
seaward edge of the platform and
stood looking down into the
bottom. It was clear and bright
with efflorescence of tropical
weed and coral” Ch. 1
"The candle-buds opened their
wide white flowers... Their scent
spilled out into the air and took
possession of the island." Ch.3
The Platform / Huts
Castle Rock
“There, where the island petered
out in the water, was another
island; a rock, almost detached,
standing like a fort, facing them
across the green with one bold,
pink bastion.” Ch. 1
Island General
the boys have taken advantage of
the naturally occurring structures
on the island (reefs, mountains,
platforms) and imposed their own
system on it. The mountain gets
used for fire, the platform for
meeting, the lagoon for swimming,
and the beaches for building huts.
[The entry to Castle Rock
Ralph and Piggy are deciding
includes:] “an impenetrable tangle whether to go to Jack’s feast:
of creepers and trees,”
“High up among the bulging
clouds, thunder went off like a
gun.”
Ch. 8
[The boys assume the beast must
Whilst Jack is asking people to
be here, ironic considering this is
join his tribe: “Up in the cloud
where Piggy meets his death. If the canyons the thunder boomed
beast is the darkness of man, and
again” Ch. 8
this dark act is committed by man
at Castle Rock, then, yes, in some
ways, this is where the Beast ends
up residing.]
“the ceaseless, bulging passage of Dance prior to Simon’s death: “the
the deep sea waves.”
dark sky was shattered by a bluewhite scar. A moment later the
noise was on them like the blow of
a gigantic whip. The chant rose in
agony” Ch. 9
Ralph looks out over the lagoon
towards a “coral reef” and beyond
that, the “dark blue” of the “open
sea.” Behind him is the “darkness
of the forest proper.” So far, then,
we have a dark scary forest
(DANGER), a bright
“shimmering” lagoon
(EXCITEMENT), and a wide open
sea (ISOLATION).
Symbolic Objects
Conch
“Ralph grasped the
idea and hit the
shell with air from
his diaphragm. A
deep harsh note
boomed under the
palms, spread
through the
intricacies of the
forest and echoed
back from the pink
granite of the
mountain” Ch. 1
Fire
“There was
something good
about a fire.
Something
overwhelmingly
good.” Ch. 2
“But I tell you that
smoke is more
important than the
pig, however often
you kill one.”
“’That’s what this
shell is called. I’ll
give the conch to
the next person to
speak. He can hold
it when he is
speaking’”
“the conch
exploded into a
thousand white
fragments and
ceased to exist."
Ch. 11
"Couldn't a fire
outrun a galloping
horse?" Chapter 12
"He saw a shelter
burst into flames
and the fire flapped
at his right
shoulder." Chapter
12
Glasses
Mask
“the mask was a thing
on its own, behind
which Jack hid,
liberated from shame
and self consciousness.
The face of red, white
and black, swung
through the air and
jigged towards Bill”
Ch. 4
Beast
“Within the diamond
haze of the beach
something dark was
fumbling along” Ch.
1
“Freed by the paint,
they had their hair tied
back and were more
comfortable than he
was. Ch. 11
"The creature stepped
from mirage onto
clear sand, and they
saw that the darkness
was not all shadow
but mostly clothing.
The creature was a
party of boys,
marching..." Ch. 1
"'It's come... It's
real!'" Ch. 10
"You're a beast and a
swine and a bloody,
bloody thief!" Ch. 11
Knife
“Jack slammed his
knife into a trunk and
looked around
challengingly” Ch. 2