Lord of the Flies

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1. 
   dymatsuoka

   Speaking specifically, Piggy says "the first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach".  It would have been a comparatively simple thing to do, but as it was, "the first time Ralph (said) 'fire" (they all went) howling and screaming up (the) mountain...like a pack of kids".  Now, the boys have built a fire that has gone out of control and burnt a good part of the island, and all their wood is gone. 

   In a larger sense, Piggy is saying that they should have listened and taken time to think before rushing off to do the first thing that appealed to them, building a fire.  Piggy stresses the need for order, asking rhetorically, "How can you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper?"  Not only should the boys have built a shelter, they should also have taken the time to get an accurate count of the survivors, and a list of their names.  Piggy, at Ralph's direction, had tried to do this, but had been unable to because the boys "waited for two minutes, then they fell in the sea, they went into the forest, they just scattered everywhere".  Now, in the aftermath of the uncontrolled fire, they suspect that at least one little 'un has been lost in the flames, and that possibly others have been too.  Without some system of order, they will never know, nor, as Piggy warns, should they expect to survive until help arrives (Chapter 2).

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/flies

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-2-summary-analysis

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/characters

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   Posted by dymatsuoka on Monday October 6, 2008 at 2:47 PM
   
   

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