Chapter 5

Summary:

-In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, chapter five starts out with Ralph walking alone on the beach so he can think by himself. Since Ralph is chief of the group he feels that he has to make all the decisions and can’t always play with the other boys. When he calls the meeting around sunset, he is very serious and reminds everyone that there are still rules and boundaries on the island, and that at assemblies everyone should be serious instead of joking around. Also at the meeting Ralph brings up the fear and that they need to decide that it isn’t anything to be afraid of. All of the little boys think the fear, which is also called the beast, is an animal like creature, like a squid from the sea. Simon says to the group that maybe the fear is only them, and almost the whole group breaks into laughter. After a suggestion that the fear might be a ghost, Jack becomes very angry. After Jack storms off the rest of the group leaves the platform doing all kinds of things, leaving only Simon, Ralph, and Piggy. Ralph starts saying that maybe he shouldn’t be chief, as he cannot get the other boys to listen to him and have them keep the fire going. Piggy and Simon both help Ralph realize that if he wasn’t chief things would most likely be worse than what they already are.

Literary Analysis:

-One symbol in chapter five is the conch, which represents authority and control. When the conch is blown all the boys on the island come to the platform for an assembly, which shows the control the conch has over the boys and how they respect the conch. “Ralph held out his hands for the conch and the littlun sat down (Lord 85).” The littlun had the conch so he could speak and when he handed it to Ralph he had to stop talking, which he did. Whoever has the conch is allowed to speak and the other boys are not supposed to. For the most part all the boys follow this rule but there are some side arguments and mumbling that happens during the meeting.

-Another symbol is the beast. The beast represents fear and the unknown. At the assembly, Ralph brings up the beast which is called the fear by the boys. They don’t know if the beast is an animal or if it’s just a nightmare since it was one of the littluns that first mentioned it earlier in the book. The bigger boys think the littlun was just having a nightmare, therefore it is unknown if the beast is real or not. Many of the boys are terrified at the thought of it causing them to be scared and fear the unknown. “Maybe he means it’s some sort of ghost (Lord 89).” The boys are trying to figure out what the beast/fear is.

-In chapter five two important characters that are characterized are Ralph and Jack. Characterization is the act of describing the character or qualities of someone or something. Ralph has some leadership qualities but has a hard time enforcing the rules. One of his leadership qualities is responsibility. During the meeting he reminds everyone that they have to use the area behind the rocks to go to the bathroom. “We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for laughing and falling off the log”-the group of littluns on the twister giggled and looked at each other-“not for making jokes, or for”- he lifted the conch in an effort to find the compelling word-“for cleverness .not for these things. But to put things straight (Lord 79).” Ralph is trying to keep the society and civilization they had before they came onto the island and trying to get them to be more serious at the meetings. Even as chief, Ralph cannot get the other boys to listen and do what he says at times.

-In this chapter, Jack Merridew is disrespectful and has a short temper. During the assembly jack doesn’t follow the rule where whoever has the conch can speak and the others cannot. Then he is calling the littluns cry-babies and useless. “Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!” But Jack was shouting against him. “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat-! (Lord 91).” Jack was tired of hearing all this talk of a beast that he thought was all nonsense, so he was angry. It wasn’t long into the assembly that jack started to lose his temper.

-Another key component in chapter five is allegory. Allegory is a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. “We’re all drifting and things are going rotten. At home there was always a grownup. Please, sir; please, miss; and then you got an answer. How I wish (Lord 94)!” The boys are having a hard time adjusting to living in a society without grownups, since the grownups always told them what to do. The young boys don’t really listen to Ralph and don’t take him seriously. The meaning behind chapter five is that without proper guidance and order, young boys will not care about much or take things seriously, like their survival.

Literary Devices:

-Verisimilitude is the appearance of being true or real. This is discussed a lot in the book when they speak of the beast. On page 84 the group calls an assembly to discuss if this beast is real or if it is just fear. -Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in a novel. Dialogue is used a lot in this book to express emotions of characters and to explain the scenario the characters are discussing. Piggy says “Unless we get frightened of people.”(Lord 84) showing he is concerned there is no beast but themselves and that no one should be scared unless they are scared of people.

-Diction is the distinctive tone of an author’s writings. Diction is not just a writer's choice of words it can include the mood, attitude, dialect and style of writing. In the lord of the flies the author uses a British diction because the boys are from England. Some vocab they use is “…taken short...”(Lord 80) ralph says this when he is talking to everyone about going to the bathroom. Also jack says “Bollocks to the rules!”(Lord 91) this is a British term that is equivalent to the f word in the English language.

Quotes:

-“If faces were different when lit from above or below-what was face? What was anything?”(Lord 78)

-“We’ve got to talk about this fear and decide there’s nothing in to it”(Lord 82)

-“I know there isn’t no beast-not with claws and all that, I mean-but I know there isn’t no fear, either… Unless we get frightened of people.”(Lord84)

Works cited Golding, William. The Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954. Print.