Lord of the Flies: Chapter 7

PlotAt the beginning of the chapter, we find Ralph thinking of how the boys have changed from

clean to dirty with pitiful food to eat. He marvels at how it is now considered normal and how he wishes that he could clean up properly, such as cutting his hair, having a bath with soap and brushing his teeth. As his mind wondered, he remembered the house he lived in before he went to school. He described it as a cottage on the edge of the moors in Devonport where he had his room that was filled with many books. A little while after this, some of the boys, including Jack and Ralph, were on a pig-hunt, but lost the boar. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Robert began to act like a pig and the group continued to pretend he was the pig they were after. Unfortunately, things were taken too far and Robert was actually hurt, which ended the game. Later, the boys agreed to go up the mountain to check if it was clear and possible start the fire, but they noticed they were taking too long since they were in the part of the island that Jack had not explored yet. As it was getting dark, Simon offered to go across the island to tell Piggy that the other boys would be back after dark and quickly left. After a small argument, Jack, Ralph and Bill decided to go up the mountain to find the beast as the other boys went back to the shelters. Once close to the area, Jack went by himself to check things out, only to come back, frightened, saying he had really seen it. With this, all three of the boys went to see and for an ape-like creature with it's head bent between it's legs, which suddenly threw it's hands up in the air as the wind blew. The boys ran in fear.

SettingFor the first half of the chapter, it appears to be around noon and the boys seem to be on the

other side of the island from the shelters. As the chapter progresses, they go into the jungle to catch a boar and they rest in an open space by the sea, where the play-fighting takes place. When they attempt to find the beast, Ralph and Bill are at the edge of the burnt patch of the jungle as they wait for Jack's return. At the end, they are on the mountain where they see the beast and then run back to the shelters. By this time, it is just after the moon has ascended into the sky, completely.

Symbols

Symbols Meaning

“Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” (Play-fight)

The play-fight shows the dramatic decrease in the boys' sanity and general civility. At the start, they treated it just as it was: a game. Though, as it continued, their focus wandered off to actually killing the pig (Robert), even if they knew it was not a real pig.

The Shelters The shelters, where Piggy is, seem to have become a sort of fear-free place. Though they are still scared of the beast, they believe that the safest place is in the shelters.

Ashes They ashes are the permanent mark of extreme mistakes on the boys' part. They are a reminder of how the first person(or several as they do not know how many of them there are) was killed because of sheer neglectance and bad leadership.

Tone

Tone Meaning Quote

Fear The fear of the beast has become so great that even the mountain, which was seen as a safe place (with the fire), seems dangerous.

For the first time since he had known Jack, Ralph could feel him hesitate.'Now–?”(Ralph and Jack, pg. 133)

Insanity The boys' minds have taken a turn for the worse as they are consumed with killing.

“Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.(The boys 'pretending' that Robert is the pig, pg. 125)

Hate For many reasons, the feeling of hate has popped up, whether it is about who is the leader, what decisions are made or jealousy over other friendships.

Now it was Ralph's turn to flush but he spoke despairingly, out of the new understanding that Piggy had given him.“Why do you hate me?”(Ralph to Jack, pg. 129)

Longing One of the boys (Ralph) remembers how it used to be before he came on the island and longs for his home and various items (such as soap).

...Everything was all right; everything was good-humoured and friendly.(Ralph thinking about his home, pg. 123)

Characters

Ralph – He has moments whee he is just like the other boys (wanting to take part in the play-fight just so he can hurt the other boy). He is not as afraid as before of how he looks in front of the boys (he is alright with thinking in front of them).

Jack – He becomes more frustrated with just about everyone (mainly Ralph). He is shown to be scared of the beast, no matter how many times he said he was not.

Roger – He is described as being uncommunicative by nature and does not say much.

Robert – He pretended to be the pig after a failed pig-hunt. He was terrified when the boys would not stop when he told them they were hurting them.

Conflicts

Type Who? Conflict

Human vs. Human Jack vs. Ralph Before, these two competed to be the leader of the boys, but now it seems that they are just trying to best each other for the simple reason of being 'the best'. Jack's taunting causes Ralph to go against his better judgment (going up to see the beast during the night, opposed to the day) and ultimately furthering the belief of the beast.

Human vs. Human Jack vs. Piggy Although the conflict is not direct, Jack is extremely jealous of Piggy's friendship with Ralph, one that he could not create. He wastes not time in insulting Piggy (in front of him or behind his back) and chastising Ralph for always thinking of how to 'protect' Piggy.

Human vs. Unknown Ralph vs. Beast Though he believes that there is not a beast on the island and tries to prove it, he is still scared out of his mind. When he sees the 'beast', he is convinced, like the other boys, that there is a beast.

Significant Turning Points

Play-fight – Ralph is starting to realize that he is also losing his sense or morality, along with the boys.

The Beast/Dead Pilot – Seeing the dead pilot in the dark caused the boys' to come to the wrong conclusion: there really was a beast. Since they are the main bigguns of the group of boys, their thoughts and words on such matters are extremely influential. Also, the fact that he had not seen the beast allowed Ralph the one thought of logic: there could not be a beast on the island. After seeing the beast, that thought went up in smoke.