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Lord of the Flies-Chapter Three-Huts on the Beach
Character Analysis
Ralph
-working past few days on huts without much help
-complaining about few helpers and meetings
-small argument/fight with Jack
-knows children are frightened about the snake-thing, the scar in the jungle
-feels urgency to have shelter for protection and calming the childrens fears
-love/hate relationship with Jack
Jack
-hunts for pigs alone
-somewhat scared during the hunt, feeling of being hunted instead of hunting
-defends himself against Ralph
-not noticing the childrens fears
-thinks the children are crazy for fearing the scar in the jungle
-love/hate relationship with Ralph
-compulsion to kill and madness in eyes
Simon
-helps Ralph with the huts
-noticed childrens fears
-explores scar, trying to discover if theres really something there
-children following him and he gets fruit for them
Quotes
Ralph, p.50- Theyre hopless. The older ones arent much better. D you see? All day Ive been working with Simon. No one else. Theyre off bathing, or eating, or playing.
Ralph, p.51- Meetings. Dont we love meetings? Every day. Twice a day. We talk.I bet if I blew the conch this minute, theyd come running. Then wed be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we ought to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over theyd work for five minutes, then wander off or go hunting.
Jack, p.51- I went on, I let them go. I had to go on. I-I went on. I thought, by myself- The madness came into his eyes again. I thought I might kill.
Jack, p.51- But I shall! Next time! Ive got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out. If we could only make barbs-
Ralph, p.52- Youve noticed, havent you?Well. Theyre frightened.I mean the way things are. They dream. You can hear em. Have you been awake at night?They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if-
Simon, p.52- As if it wasnt a good island.As if the beastie, the beastie or snake-thing, was real. Remember?
Jack, p.53- But you can feel as if youre not hunting, but being hunted, as if somethings behind you all the time in the jungle.
Plot Summary
Ralph has strong ideas about how life should be on the island, but it is not working out the way he wants it to. He tries to have some sort of civilized behavior, which is not being carried out at the meetings. The building of the shelters is proving to be difficult because he and Simon are doing all of the work. Jack and the hunters have failed to kill anything. Jack could help Ralph take charge, but he does not share Ralphs thoughts of how life should be while they are on the island. Jack sees his main occupation as a hunter, and is frustrated that he has not yet made a kill. Simon has a need to be apart from the others and he has a private place where he can be alone and safe. He is a little weird, and is regarded as odd by some of the others on the island. His best trait is that he cares about the little kids that are with him.
Vocabulary
#1) Festooned- A string or garland, as of leaves ort flowers, suspended in a loop or curve between two points. Page 48, Par.1, Line 3-The tr4ee trunks and the creepers that festooned then lost themselves in a green dusk thirty feet above him, and all about was undergrowth.
#2) Inscrutable- Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. Page 49, Par.2, Line 3-Jack lifted his head and stared at the inscrutable masses of creeper that lay across the trail.
#3) Vicissitudes- One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in ones life, activities, or surroundings. Page 49, Par.2, Line 16-Jack stood there, streaming with sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained by all the vicissitudes of a days hunting.
#4) Gesticulated- To make gestures especially while speaking, as for emphasis. Page 50, Par.17- Except the hunters. Well, the littluns are- He gesticulated, sought for a word.
#5) Furtive- Characterized by stealth; surreptitious. Page 49, Par.1, Line 8- Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees.
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