LOTF Exam

Vocab

Chapter Questions

1.  Describe the character of Piggy.

Piggy is pudgy, and he deeply wants to be included. He is socially awkward, unable to "read the room." He has thick glasses, and he discusses living with his auntie, as his parents are both deceased. He has asthma, and he does not seem to be very active.

2.  How do the boys decide who will be leader?  Who should be leader?  Who is elected?

Rodger, a choir boy, suggests they vote. Jack assumes he will be leader, as he is used to that position in the choir. Ralph lacks the confidence that Jack has, but he is voted in because he help the conch and called the meeting. Ralph, as the "fair hair" boy, is interested in keeping things fair and everyone happy.

3.  What happens when they find the piglet in the forest?

Jack raised his knife to kill the pig, but then he was afraid. He probably felt pity for the piglet, and he has probably never killed a living thing before.

Chapter 2

1. What are the rules for speaking in a meeting?

The speaker must have the conch. Wherever the conch is, that counts as a meeting. Anyone who wants to speak must wait for the conch. Ralph is the only person who should interrupt the conch holder.

1. The government is already showing signs of weakness.  What are the signs?

Jack interrupts the conch holder, especially if it's Piggy.  The choir is trying to take on all the responsibility first the hunting, then the fire tending. When the boys are given instructions, they follow them quickly without order. Then, they lose interest.

1. How do the boys make a fire?

They use Piggy's glasses as a magnifier for the sun's rays.

1. What happens to the littlun with the birthmark on his face?  Who will be blamed?  Why?

They worry that he was in the part of the forest engulfed now in flames, probably with others. Piggy will be blamed because he did not sufficiently take notes of how many little ones there were. Piggy is an easy scapegoat. They can blame him, and no one will defend him (except maybe Simon).

Chapter 3

1.  How has Jack’s personality changed during his stay on the island?

He seems comfortable in the wild. He has learned more about hunting, even though he has not yet been successful.

2.  Ralph says of Simon, “He’s queer.  He’s funny.”  What makes Simon seem different?

He is sweet and thoughtful in a way the other boys are not.  He has a connection to nature. Simon sticks up for those who need help; for instance, he told Jack that Piggy helped start the fire because they used his glasses. He helps the littluns reach fruit.

3.  List at least three problems the survivors are encountering (think both physically and socially).

The littluns don't help much. They suffer from nightmares. They are easily distracted. Frustrations are mounting. Jack has become so obsessed with hunting that he is unwilling to help Ralph with the shelters. A lack of protein will make the boys ill.

Chapter 4

1.  What do we learn about Roger in this chapter?

He enjoys taunting littluns. Although he does not directly hit Henry with rocks, he does seem somewhat tempted.

2.  Why does he paint his face, and how does the mask make Jack feel?

He paints it to camouflage against the pigs, and the result is that he feels a bit savage. It made him feel "liberated from shame and self-consciousness." This masked identity frees him, like a portal into another character of sorts.

3.  Why were the boys unable to signal the ship they saw on the horizon?

The hunters left their station at the fire in order to hunt a pig.

Chapter 5

1.  How does the author show us that Ralph is finally beginning to face the realities of their existence?

He begins to question their behavior and his leadership. He calls a meeting in which he hopes to address everything that's going wrong.

2.  Compare Ralph’s treatment of the littluns with Jack’s.

Jack dismisses their fear and call them names. Ralph wants to discuss their fear and figure out "what's what."

3.  What is Simon saying when he thinks the “beast” may be inside the boys themselves?

Simon is afraid that their rapidly changing behavior could lead to savagery. He's hinting that there is something dark within their nature that is beginning to emerge.

Chapter 6

1.  What do Sam and Eric tell the boys they have seen?  What is it actually?

They said they saw the beast, but it was actually a dead parachutist.

2.  Why do Ralph and Jack decide to go find the beast?

Ralph and Jack need to provide some answers for the boys in order to move forward.

3.  What are the boys arguing about at the end of the chapter?

The boys are arguing about whether or not to play and make a fort at Castle Rock or head back to the original camp and maintain the fire.

Chapter 7

1.  How does Ralph react when a boar comes charging down the path?

He strikes the boar in its snout, and he is overjoyed. This is the first time we see Ralph understand the thrill of the hunt.

2.  To what does Ralph’s demonstration of his hunting prowess lead?

Ralph's excitement riles the others up so much that they pretend Robert is a pig and "hunt" him, injuring and scaring him in the process.

3.  What did the boys see on the mountaintop?

They think they see "the beast," but it is actually the parachutist.

Chapter 8

1.  Although he is not able to get the boys to throw Ralph out of office as chief, Jack manages to overthrow Ralph's authority anyway.  How?

Jack abandons camp, promising hunting and fun to any boys who join him. The hunters and others slowly start to slip away from Ralph's camp.

2.  Jack suggests a way to keep the beast happy.  What is it?

He suggests they leave a part of each pig after a kill to appease the beast.

3.  Describe Simon's strange encounter with the Lord of the Flies.  Who or what is it?

When Simon encounters the sow's head on a stick in his little sanctuary, he begins to hallucinate that it is talking to him, probably because he is prone to fainting, in addition to being dehydrated and malnourished. The sow's head reiterates Simon's fears that the only real "beast" on the island is within the boys themselves.

Chapter 9

1.  What acts of kindness (there are two) does Simon perform in this chapter?

Simon freed the parachutist from the rocks, so he was free to drift away. He tries to set the boys' minds at ease by letting them know the "beast" is only a parachutist. 

2.  What is happening weather-wise on the island?  Why is it significant?

A storm's lightning and thunder contributes to the chaos of the hunters' dance.

3.  What happens to Simon when he returns to the group?

Simon is mistaken for the beast and killed.

4.  At the end of this chapter, what happens to both Simon and the parachutist?

Both Simon and the parachutist have drifted off into the ocean.

Chapter 10

1.  Describe the way that Jack is currently ruling as “chief.”

He is picking on the others, like Wilfred. No one knew why Wilfred was tied and beaten.

2.  What happened in the hut?

Jack, Roger, and Maurice attacked the hut where Piggy, Sam, Eric, and Ralph were sleeping, in order to steal Piggy's glasses so they could make fire.

Chapter 11

1.  What happens to the conch and to Piggy?

When Roger releases a boulder, Piggy and the conch are knocked off a cliff and shattered on the rocks below.

2.  Where are Sam and Eric?

Sam and Eric are now a part of Jack's tribe after being tortured into conversion.

3.  What choices does Ralph have now?

Ralph could surrender, but Jack would probably kill him, as he perceives Ralph as a threat. He could also run.

Chapter 12

1.  What is Ralph’s reaction when he encounters the pig’s skull?

He takes the spear for himself, and he punches the skull until it shatters. The skull is now clean of fur and flesh, and it gleams white, just like the conch. The shattering of both the skull and the conch is evidence that no organized power exists on the island, it's just chaos and anarchy.

2.  Driven by fear and hunger, Ralph manages to make contact with Samneric who are standing guard at Castle Rock.  Of what do they warn him?

They wanted Ralph to know the hunters were after him. They were the ones who told Ralph about Roger sharpening a stick at both ends. That news was too awful for Ralph to contemplate.

3.  In what ways does the tribe try to find Ralph?

They all walk in a line trying to uncover Ralph's whereabouts, calling to one another in their search. They set the island on fire. They try to drop a boulder onto the into the coverts were Ralph is hiding.

4.  Where is the situational irony in the novel?

The hunters never wanted to maintain the signal fire under Ralph's orders. When they try to kill him with fire, however, they actually call in the rescue Ralph has been wanting all along.

5.  If you remember the term “deus ex machina” from The Odyssey, you might realize something about the ending of the novel.  What is it?

The naval officer drops in out of nowhere to solve an impossible dilemma. Golding was a naval officer in World War 2, so this was his way of saving Ralph.

Allegory Notes

moral allegory

• Simon - soul

• piggy - intellect

• Jack - emotion

• Ralph - Common sense

  Political allegory

• Simon - humanism

• Piggy - technology

• Jack - dictatorship

• Ralph - fair and democratic government

  Religious allegory

• Simon - deep spirituality

• Piggy - pure intellectual

• Jack - evil corruption

• Ralph - everyday man

  Psychological allegory

• Piggy - superego

• Jack - id

• Ralph ego