CTBC Tabs

The first passage I chose happens to be the first passage of the book. The first chapter, which is only a page and a half, is entirely description of the setting. The setting is established in this passage with the use of a lot of personification and figurative language. It creates an image of South Africa, along with giving the reader a very sad feeling. The tone in the beginning is hopeful, when Paton is describing the valley and the hills of South Africa. By the end of the passage, though, the tone is sad, and the word choice is depressing: "It is not kept, or guarded, or cared for, it no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men." This seems to illustrate the transformation of the older, beautiful Africa into something broken, desolate, and sad.

I also chose the passage near the end of page 40, beginning with "He went out the door..." and ending just before the little leaf separator thing. That paragraph says that as Kumalo leaves, his wife sits down at the table and puts her head in her arms. She "was silent, with the patient suffering of black women, with the suffering of oxen, with the suffering of any that are mute." This seems to be the beginnings of a theme through the use of language, when Paton talks about the suffering of those who are mute.

Next, the passage on page 42 in the middle, when Kumalo is thinking about the story of the woman who saw her son hit by a car when they moved there. I thought this might have been foreshadowing, since he knows that his own son is somewhere in the city, and he doesn't know what to expect. His son doesn't write anymore and they haven't seen him for a very long time.

Finally I chose the end of page 48, when Kumalo gave the young man his money to buy his ticket for him. The man ends up stealing his money. This shows how naive this character is in the big city, and how he doesn't know the workings of it, either. It gives you an image of how out of place he is, and can also be used to show how he'll change by the end. Showing that he's a naive character in the beginning can be compared to however he changes by the end of the novel.

Theme Development

The theme I chose in the novel is "The weakest among us is always an outlet for violence." One way he develops this is through the characters of Piggy and Simon. Piggy is constantly attacked, verbally and physically, for being weaker than the other boys. He has asthma and he's overweight, which is why he is weaker. Then Simon, when he is dehydrated and delusional, is killed by the rest of the boys on the island. It shows how the weak fall victim to the strong.

Another way of developing this theme is through the narration. Golding almost always chooses to see through the eyes of Ralph, or Jack, or even Roger. They are all the more powerful, stronger characters. It makes the others, like Simon, Piggy, and the littluns, appear even weaker just because we don't see inside their heads (with the exception of Simon's episode with the pig head, although even that makes Simon seem weaker than the other boys).

Females in LOTF

In Lord of the Flies, the presence of both boys and girls would have made a huge difference. If girls had been present then the "littluns" probably would not have gone unaccounted for from the beginning as they had with the boys. The youngest boys probably would have stayed closer to the females on the island, because they would be the closest thing the boys had to a mother. The maternal instinct that most girls have from a small age (playing with baby dolls and playing 'house') would have ensured that. And while Jack may have still become obsessed with the hunt, the boys wouldn't have fallen on themselves so readily. Girls tend to use words more than physicality, unlike boys, which would make it a lot less violent. I, personally, as a girl, related best to Piggy and Simon, so other girls who felt the same could've helped ensure that Simon and Piggy were heard – not killed.
On the other hand, when the group is all male, the boys pick on Piggy who is the weakest among them. Women are usually physically weaker than men, both as a stereotype and in fact. It's possible that the girls would be the first to get killed off by the savage boys. But I don't think that would be the case with these young boys in LOTF.

LOTF Effects

Golding mentions Ralph's gray school sweater and stockings while he's walking through the jungle. In the jungle, those things are completely useless. This serves as a contrast between where Ralph came from and where he ended up. The school sweater and stockings suggest civilization, education, cool climate, and altogether everything that the island doesn't have. Golding says that Ralph "had taken off his school sweater and it now trailed from one hand..." This foreshadows that he will eventually lose (or take off) the other reminders of civilization and his home, falling farther and farther toward savagery as he stays on the island.

Throughout the whole first page, Piggy (or 'the voice' as he's called for part of it) continues to talk and chatter without Ralph ever replying. This initially creates a feeling of annoyance toward this character - he's that guy that won't shut up. But this makes sense when compared to later in the novel, when Piggy is interrupted and jeered at whenever he speaks. It can be assumed that in his life before the island, Piggy rarely got to speak his mind like he does in the first page. The fact that Ralph allows this builds a feeling of trust in Piggy, which is why Piggy stays close with Ralph throughout the rest of the story. This first page introduces this trait in Ralph, that he lets Piggy speak. So, Piggy teaches Ralph to think the way he does. He becomes Ralph's adviser. He keeps Ralph on track with the signal fire and the rescue. And when Ralph doesn't listen - when he leaves Piggy alone with the conch - Piggy is killed by the falling rock.