Chapter 11

Lord Of The Flies

By: Adam and Owen

Yes, Adam and I know this book is English and not American but you just cannot go wrong with an American theme. So remember, a vote for this presentation is a vote for AMERICA!!

Major Themes

Blindness vs. Sight

• The “curtains” that shade and cloud Ralph’s mind.
• “He paused lamely as the curtain flickered in his brain” (170).
• Ralph still needs Piggy to help “see” (173, 177, 178).
• The hair of the boys on the island.
• The savages have it tied back. Ralph and his crew don’t and Ralph notes “Freed by the paint, they had tied their hair back and were more comfortable than he was” (175).

Civilization

• Piggy still believes in civilization and literally holds onto it by holding the conch when confronting Jack and his tribe. He talks to Samneric and Ralph about how Jack must give him his glasses back because “what’s right’s right” (171)
• Ralph thought that he would be able to call a meeting using the conch after everybody joined Jack’s group. “I’m calling an assembly” (175). This is unsuccessful.

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Man vs Man-

• This is the main conflict in the chapter and can be seen when Ralph and Jack engage in fights outside of Castle Rock.
• Similarly, Piggy is extremely offended by the fact that Jack has stolen his glasses rather than just asking for fire.

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Man vs Nature-

• Ralph and Piggy find it impossible to build a fire without the help of Piggy’s glasses.

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Man vs Himself-

• Ralph has trouble balancing savagery and civilization, but with the death of Piggy this may change…
• Piggy has always been the driving voice of reason behind almost all of Ralph’s decisions. Since Piggy is now gone there will be no one but himself for Ralph to rely on for making the “right” decisions.

Conflict

Symbols

• The Shattering of the Conch
• Throughout the novel the conch has served as a symbol of order and peace. Even in the last few chapters Ralph and Piggy were worried if the conch was still intact after Jack’s raid for the fire. When the conch is shattered it symbolizes the destruction of the last few remnants of civilization on the island. This is seen when Jack takes the destruction of the conch as a symbol of no more civilization and throws his spear directly at Ralph hitting him in the ribs. The destruction of the conch drives the island and all its inhabitants closer and closer to full on savagery.
• The Death of Piggy
• Piggy has always been the voice of reason and the most direct link back to civilization (Super Ego). When he is killed, along with the destruction of the conch, this means the only remote connection to civilization is Ralph. Since Ralph has been progressively losing his sense of civilization no one can predict which side Ralph will now choose. The super ego part of Ralph has also died with Piggy, so it is foreshadowed that Ralph will join in the savagery.
• The Paint all Jack’s Savages Wear

Ralph is appalled that all of Jack’s groups have painted their faces. In contrast, Piggy, Ralph and Samneric decide that they will all wash up before confronting Jack.

Character Analysis

Ralph

In this chapter it is seen again that Ralph’s mind is blocked and he needs Piggy to help convey ideas and concept when he is speaking.

• Page 173 the conversation between Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric.
• Page 177 Piggy reminds Ralph of the major reason for confronting Jack (specs).
• Page 178 Piggy again reminds Ralph about secondary reason for talking to Jack (fire).

The fact that Ralph’s mind keeps getting clouded shows how he is slowly losing his sense of civilization. This is also present when they are at Castle Rock and Ralph notices the savages have their hair tied back. Ralph “made a resolution to tie his own back afterwards” (175). This shows how he is tempted to take part in the savagery and how he thinks they look “more comfortable than he was” (175). Ralph tries to call an assembly which does not work showing his slipping grip on power. He then has a physical confrontation with Jack which stands as a literal fight for power. During this fight Piggy is killed by a boulder and the conch is shattered. This leaves Ralph as the only person left on the Island who is not completely savage. Without Piggy’s knowledge and influence, one cannot predict if Ralph will choose to be civil or savage.

Character Analysis

Jack

It is again seen in Chapter 11 that Jack has descended further into savagery.

• Jack has completely taken off his clothes. Now all he wears is a belt. This is in protest to civilization.
• Jack has painted his face, and instructed his followers to do the same.
• Jack gets so frustrated that he ties up Samneric

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Jack feels the need for power over Ralph.

• Jack engages in a fistfight with Ralph over who has power.
• When Ralph was questioning Jack’s tribe (180), Jack felt the need to yell also to stop Ralph from having any power.
• His last attempt to prove his power was to beckon to Roger to kill Piggy, just to show that he is more powerful than Ralph.

Character Analysis

Piggy

This is the chapter where Piggy snaps. He loses his patients and decides that he will confront Jack

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Piggy has one last surge of a need for civilization at the beginning of the chapter

• Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call an assembly even though there is no need to. Ralph, piggy, and Samneric are already all together so the could start a meeting without blowing the conch.
• Piggy yells out “I got the conch” yet again even though there are only four people at the meeting. with only four people there is no need for a conch to decide who will speak.

Piggy becomes useless without his glasses.

• Piggy can’t even carry a spear to protect himself on the trip to Jack’s tribe
• On the trip he says he will “...have to be led like a dog” (171)
• Piggy says that he can’t think when he doesn’t have his glasses, again connection to the blindness vs sight.

Character Analysis

Roger

In the last couple of pages in Chapter 11 we see Roger becoming more savage as he is influenced by Jack. In the beginning of the book, Roger was throwing stones at Henry and aimed to miss because he still felt the taboo of the old life. In Chapter 11, he again throws stones but this time they go much closer to Ralph’s head. After throwing two stones Roger then “leaned all his weight on the lever” and sent the boulder crashing into Piggy. This kills Piggy and it seems as though Roger feels no remorse. It looks as if Roger has descended almost fully into savagery. One last interesting Roger moment ends Chapter 11. Jack has two boys tie up Samneric and then asks them if they want to join the tribe. They say no and Jack starts to jab them with a spear. After he does this Roger “edged past the chief, only just avoiding pushing him with his shoulder...Roger advanced upon them [Samneric] as one wielding a nameless authority.” (182). This shows how Roger, who used to get scared of punishment from the old life, has now become a different person, one who is savage and cruel.

enigmatical terminology

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“The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia”

Luminous- illuminated

myopia- blindness

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“Ralph glanced up at the pinnacles then toward the group of savages” (177)

Pinnacles- mountains, peaks

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“Zup” (180) This sound keeps occuring while Ralph is asking the tribe questions.

Zup- The sounds of the rocks Roger is throwing

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“There was silence, except for the multitudinous murmur of the bees” (173)

Multitudinous- a huge amount

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“The twins lay, inexpertly tied up” (179)

inexpertly- badly, poorly

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