William Golding, "Lord of the Flies"- Overview Quiz

Answer: "All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat."

The "scar" mentioned is a reference to the crash site of the plane that brought them to their Island. It could be interpreted as an early sign of the damage that the boys would do to nature and of things to come...

Of the other three, "Ralph lowered himself down..." closely mirrors the very first sentence, but his name isn't known at this point, instead being referred to as "The boy with fair hair".

"It was a wild, black night..." comes from the opening chapter of Richard Ballentyne's work "The Coral Island", which is mentioned in the novel, as well as possible criticized by Golding's much more realistic appraisal.

The last option I made up, but does not match Golding's style very much as well as their only being mention of one boy in the very first paragraph, and only Piggy and Ralph until the conch is blown.

Answer: Fire on the Mountain

Throughout "Fire on the Mountain", events start to take a sinister turn, while it starts optimistically with Ralph calling an assembly and declaring that "it's a good island". At the same assembly, Jack threatens anyone who breaks the rules and a child complains that they saw a "beastie". All the kids, lead by Jack, run up to the mountain and burn down half of the island... and most likely the child who was afraid of the beast.

Answer: They both come from the same school choir

Both Simon and Jack are members of the choir. Again, Golding foreshadows the deterioration of society when introducing the choir by describing it: "The creature was a party of boys". Simon is the choir member who fainted from the heat, probably because all of them kept their hot black cloaks on!

While there is no evidence for the other three, they would be very interesting insights into both of their natures- for instance, although Jack is later a monster, he initially is presented as Head Boy, and it's even suggested that he should be chief instead of Ralph!

Answer: "I can't think. Not like Piggy."

By chapter 5, more people are scared of the beast- even the biguns. This leads Ralph to call an assembly saying "Things are breaking up. I don't understand why."

This chapter also features the surprising testimony from Simon that "maybe there is a beast", although the narrator tells us that he is really trying to express "mankind's essential illness". Finally, the chapter ends with Jack ignoring Ralph and shouting "bollocks to the rules!", totally abandoning his enthusiasm for them in Chapter 2.

Answer: "Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out..."

The chapter is called "Beast from Air" because it is in this chapter that the dead parachutist lands and "crumpled among the blue flowers". However, it also signifies the exploration of Castle Rock, "What a place for a fort!" as Jack says. Unfortunately, Jack also makes plans for ways to defend his fort to the death while he is there.

Answer: A littlun

Yes, Jack suggests that they kill a lttlun in the following exchange:
"'You want a real pig,' said Robert, still caressing his rump, 'because you've got to kill him.'
'Use a littlun,' said Jack, and everybody laughed."

The other rest are all suggested by Maurice and the other hunters.

Answer: "The pile of guts was a black blob of flies that buzzed like a saw."

The pig's head, henceforth known as "The Lord of the Flies", shows how Jack uses fear of the beast to command control. The incident also presages an otherwise opaque statement in the last chapters "Roger sharpened a stick at both ends." Anyone paying attention to this chapter however, is in no doubts as to what this means.

As ever, more than one things happens, and Simon has a surreal conversation with the dead pig, who takes on the voice of a schoolteacher and tells Simon that he is "a silly little boy" and that "We are going to have fun on this island. Understand?" The meaning of 'fun' in this sentence might not be entirely what you expect.

Answer: Simon's- the boys were in a frenzy and mistook him for the beast

"A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain."
"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"

Simon was killed, and in a departure from Golding's usually brief style, we are treated to a complex and unreal description of how "The strange attendant creatures, with their fiery eyes and trailing vapours, busied themselves around his head."

Answer: "... the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought."

A major aspect of Jack's tribe is their warpaint. Throughout the book appearance clearly defines characters: Jack is "ugly without stillness"; Ralph "the boy with fair hair" and who "might make a boxer"; Piggy is defined by his weight. The use of tribal paint suggests the total abandonment of civilization by Jack, and enable him to commit atrocities because he can escape into another personality- that of "The Chief".

Answer: "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."

This is an interesting line and in many ways it sums up the messages of the fable: Golding believed after WWII that people were capable of terrible things and wanted to warn future generations.

A little different from Ballentyne's ending: "[we] were gradually leaving far behind us the beautiful, bright green coral islands of the Pacific Ocean."