Lord of the Flies study guide questions and answers.

the plane in which they were being transported to safety was shot down. How did the boys end up on the jungle island? Ralph is described as being pale with fair hair in the beginning. He is taller in relationship to Piggy, and thinner as well. He has wide shoulders and is built like a boxer. You can tell that he is better educated by his grammar. Finally, Ralph is a natural born leader which is evident when he creates order among the boys and makes sure everyone has a job. Describe Ralph's physical features and also his reaction to being on the island. List at least 3 attributes. Piggy is first described as short and fat. This creates an obstacle when it comes to athleticism. Piggy's weight most likely gave him his asthma which hinders his ability to be active. Also, it can be assumed that he is either younger or less educated due to his grammar. Lastly, Piggy yearns to be accepted by his peers. For example, when Ralph was teasing him, "Piggy grinned reluctantly, pleased dispite himself at even this much recognition," (11). Descibe Piggy's physical features and also his reaction to being on the island. List at least 3 attributes. He first ignores it and daydreams. But once they found the conch shell, Ralph decided to use it to call any others together for the meeting, using Piggy's original idea. How does Ralph respond to Piggy's practical suggestion to have a meeting? Ralph thinks that he will be rescued by his father who is in the Navy when he gets his leave. He thought his dad would find out from the airport, but Piggy says it has been bombed. How does Ralph think they will be rescued? Piggy overheard the pilot saying that an "atom bomb" went off at the airport and killed everyone. What had Piggy overheard the pilot saying? Ralph attracted the other boys on the island by blowing into the conch that him and Piggy found which produced a loud sound that could be heard for miles. How does Ralph attract the other boys on the island? What does he do? The younger boys acted obediently when they found Ralph and Piggy . They listened to what Ralph had to say with manners. How do the younger boys act when they get there? They looked like a mysterious creature while advancing towards the rest of the group. They were walking very orderly in two parallel lines and dressed in," strangely eccentric clothing" (19). The choirboys carried garmets in their hands and each had a square black cap with a badge and a cloak except the leader's was golden. Describe the way Jack and his band of choir boys looked as they came toward the assembled group. List 3 attributes. Jack treats the others like he is more superior and dominant while they have to obey his orders. He achieves organization by bullying the other kids and gets everyone to join in against his victim. How does Jack treat the others? The conflict that arises is that the boys need to choose a chief to lead them. Both Jack and Ralph want to lead so the conflict is solved by voting. Ralph wins the votes so he becomes leader but he allows Jack to lead the hunters. What conflict soon arises? How is it solved? Ralph makes Jack feel better by giving him the power to decide what the choirboys get to do and lead them in it. In this way, Ralph compromises by giving away a power that he received to Jack. What does Ralph do to make Jack feel better? What is compromised? to determine whether or not they were on an island. This discovery would gauge the liklihood of being rescued and allow the boys to form a course of action. What is the purpose of the expedition of Jack, Ralph, and Simon? green candle buds How does Simon describe the unusual buds on the bushes? He couldn't get past the thought of taking a living thing's life. He hesitated and the pig escaped. Why hadn't Jack been able to kill the pig? The rule of the conch is that it is given to whoever is speaking and they won't be interrupted. What rule concerning the conch is made? Piggy attempts to draw the group's attention to the fact that nobody knows where they are because they never got to their final destination since the plane was shot down. What does Piggy attempt to call the group's attention to? This is a situation of unknown and they look to Ralph for reassurance. Some kids do not believe Ralph that the beastie is not real and he feels his power is being questioned. Everyone is on edge. How does the talk of the beastie affect the boys? for the boys to have fun and get rescued At this time, Ralph says the boys appear to have 2 goals. What are they? The boys react by acting without question. They got onto their feet at once and got down to business. Piggy describes their actions as childish because they didn't have time to think for themselves and put all of their faith in Ralph. How does the group react to Ralph's suggestion that they build a fire? How does Piggy describe their actions? Piggy treats a small boy kindly and respectfully by getting the group to listen to what he had to say. This action tells us that Piggy will look out for other people and that they can count on him. How does Piggy treat a small boy? What does this tell us about Piggy? by using Piggy's specs as burning glasses to reflect the sunlight. How do they manage to start the fire? to keep the fire going and keep a look out for the rescue ship. What responsibility has Jack taken on for his choir? The boys accidently set trees ablaze. The fire symbolizes their attempts to connect with civilization and be rescued. The "adult world" is currently going through WW2. What goes wrong? Do you see any symbolism here? What is going on in the adult world at the time? Piggy realizes the little boy who warned about the beastie is now missing and he had been playing over by the fire consumed area. Who is missing? Jack is preoccupied with the obsession of needing to find a pig and kill it. The first time, and every other time he has either been mentally or physically unable. What is Jack preoccupied with? Ralph complains to Jack that there are only three people who are actually working;himself, Jack, and Simon. He says that after they have meetings the littluns work for 5 minutes and get bored or hungry so they take a break and play, all of which he did not have a chance to do because he was working on constructing the huts. Then, Ralph complains about his job because, "everyone gets to do something they like but him." What complaints does Ralph have? What has he noticed about the people? They are hopeless and not able to help much with the tasks that need to be completed. Instead, they go off bathing, eating, and playing. Also, they are frightened about the beastie situation and are up screaming at night because of bad dreams. In other words, the children do not feel safe. How are the littluns dealing with things? They are together through the best and worst. They have a lot in common because of the pressure that is put on them to lead the other boys. But at the same time, the pressure can cause them to get irritated with eachother like when Ralph was talking about how no one ever works. They know that they need eachother to be the best "civilization" they can be which makes them try even harder to love each other. In many respects, this relationship is similar to sibiling relationship which shows that if they work well, their futures can be positive. Explain the love-hate relationship between Jack and Ralph. Simon went into the jungle alone. He went deep into the forest where there is a thick jungle glade ( an open space filled with nature from flowers to butterflies). While he is there, he lays down and thinks, taking in the tranquility of his surroundings. Where had Simon gone and what does he do there? Simon might represent the good of humans. He is kind to the littluns, like when he helped them all get fruit, and works hard for the good of the whole group to be advanced. He even spent all day working on the shelters with no break and then selflessly devoted his time to help the younger boys. What might Simon represent? The water rises up and the reflection of the sun causes bizarre images to appear over the water and land appears where there is no land. Everyone dismisses the images as mirages. What strange things happen at midday? Playing and eating fruit which gives them stomach aches and bad diarrhea How did the littluns spend their day? Roger seems cruel because of the way he treats the littluns. In the beginning of the chapter, he and Maurice came out of the forest and walked straight through the littlun's sand castles that they mad with such care. This sent sand into their eyes, making them cry. Then, later, he had fun throwing stones at Henry who was playing peacefully by the water. In what ways does Roger seem cruel? At the waters edge, Henry was poking things with stick that washed upshore. Also, he made, "runnels that the tide filled and trid to crowd them with creatures." What is Henry doing while Roger watches him? It means that when Roger was doing mean things to the littluns, there was a psychological effect on him; it caused him to remember the repercussions that cruelty would have involved in his old society. At this point, Roger still feels limited by authoritative figures like adults, policemen, school rules, and laws even though he could technically do whatever he wanted to. Also, when Roger recalls being around Jack, he says a dark shadow crept beneath his skin. I think that means that Jack brings around a sense of evilness and that influences the way that Roger treats other people. What does it mean when Roger felt the "taboo of the old life"? Also, what does it mean when Jack approached Roger "a darker shadow crept beneath... [Roger's] skin."? What effect is Jack having on Roger? When Jack paints his face, his whole attitude towards hunting changes. He is no longer discouraged, but instead laughed excitedly with the confidence that this time he would catch the pig. Also, it fueled his blood thirsty fire. The mask camouflaged Jack so the pigs would not sense that they were being hunted. Also, "the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self- consciousness" (64). This quote means that it allowed the other boys to think he was more confident than he was in reality and he could do things he wouldn't normally. Describe the transformations that take place after Jack paints his face. This mask serves a few purposes. List them. There was a boat, visibly off in the distance but the hunters let the smoke signal burn out while they went hunting. If it had been going, there is a possibility that the boys would have been saved. What does Ralph discover that upsets him greatly? "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood." What do the hunters chant? Because Piggy is an intelligent and rational thinker, therefore, Piggy is an asset to the group. But when the glasses are broken, it shows that the group members are acting more violent towards eachother and there is a shift in power. Jack and the hunters are breaking the rules and not even Ralph can stop them, Finally, it shows that they are not longer tolerant of eachother. Piggy and his glasses held the group together and the tie was severed. How does Jack's attack on Piggy and the breaking of one of the lenses in his spectacles symbolize the degeneration of the group? In order to be a leader, you must be wise. You have to be ready when an occasion slips by to make decisions that will benefit the whole group. The attribute of wisdom was valuable and he saw that it got results. He saw this in Piggy and knew it was how he had to lead. What is Ralph realizing is necessary in order to be a leader? The rules of getting water from the stream put into a coconut for storage, where the lavatory was placed, and keeping the fire going have all been ignored. And, no one does their fair share of work. What rules have been ignored? List at least 3. The term taken short means having to go to the bathroom when there are no facilities around. This means that the littluns were having diarrhea everywhere from their fruit consumption. This shows that they are desperately hungry to eat fruit even when they get sick and that they are reversing to more primitive behaviors. What does it mean when Ralph refers to the littluns as taken short? What does that show about their behavior? Ralph makes the rule that they, "ought to die before letting the fire out." Also, as a safety precaution, no where can have fire but on the top of the mountain so they have to cook up there. What rules does Ralph make regarding fires? He saw Simon wandering about in the trees coming out from the secret jungle glade. A littlun says he sees something moving in the jungle at night. Who/what was it? Some sort of creature coming out of the water. How does Jack explain the beast? Rules are important to Ralph because he knows that the are the only thing that sticking to an agreed set of rules is the only thing that will allow the group to maintain order. This is evident when the boys are meeting and Jack ignored the rules saying, "Who cares?". Ralph replied simply saying, "Because rules are the only thing we've got." Why are rules important to Ralph? Simon means that maybe the beast is not a scary unknown creature, but the boys themselves because evil humanity does exist. I think that mankind's essential illness is the evil spiritedness itself; it consumes people and causes them to act in a certain way. He asks what the dirtiest thing there is because he is unable to convey (inarticulate) what mankind's essential illness is. What does Simon mean when he says, " What I mean is.... maybe it's only us... We could be sort of.."? What do you think mankind's essential illness is? Why does he ask ," What is the dirtiest thing there is?" He knows that no one would listen; his authority was taken away. He said, " If I blow the conch and they don't come back, then we've had it. We shan't keep the fire going. We'll be like animals. We'll never be rescued." Why doesn't Ralph blow the conch when the meeting dissolves into chaos? He could communicate with his father or other grown ups because they know what to do. He wishes for, "a sign... or something." At the end of the chapter what does Ralph look for? Ralph wished for an adult to come and save them, and a fighter jet gets shot down so a dead pilot falls out of the sky and crashes into the forest. This is depressingly ironic because what he wished for came true, but the whole purpose was for the adult to bring them back to civilization which a dead person cannot do. Ironically, what Ralph wished for came true. What happens? Why is the answer to his wish depressingly ironic?