Lord of the Flies

Question:

Answers:

1. 
   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   In chapter 5, life on the island is quickly falling apart for the boys.  The situation is becoming increasingly chaotic.  The little ones are more and more afraid of beasts, Jack's tribe continues to hunt with some success, the huts are not being built because the kids would rather play than work, the little ones are not going to the bathroom where they should, and the signal fire was allowed to go out.  Ralph has called a meeting.  He wants to get the boys to settle down and work together to create a civilized society, but the kids want to vote on whether or not there are ghosts.  Piggy sees the ridiculousness of this and he tries to tell the kids so when Jack jumps up and yells at Piggy to shut up.  When Ralph tells Jack to let Piggy speak because Piggy has the conch and he tells Jack that he is breaking the rules by speaking out without holding the conch, Jack responds with, "Who cares?"  Ralph says the rules are the only things they've got.  He's right - it's the rules of a society that make it a society.  It's people acting together, showing deference to one another, being civil toward one another that creates a society. Jack doesn't want that; he wants savagery because then he can have control.  Jack does not care what the boys do to one another as long as they obey his rules and show deference to him.  It's at this point in the novel when the power shifts visibly from Ralph to Jack.

   Sources:

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

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-5-summary-analysis

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

   Rate answer:

    

   • Flag as inappropriate

   Posted by luannw on Friday October 31, 2008 at 5:33 AM
   
   

2. 
   mitchell2 Student
   High School - 10th Grade

   During the meeting when Jack talks out of turn, Ralph gets angry. When Ralph tells Jack to be queit because he didn't have the conch, Jack simply replied who cares.  

   Rate answer:

    

   • Flag as inappropriate

   Posted by mitchell2 on Thursday November 6, 2008 at 8:34 PM
   
   

You can now ask questions directly from Facebook, add the Ask a Teacher App from eNotes!