Lord of the Flies by William Golding has a vast collection of complex and gripping quotes. The quote I selected comes from the final chapter of the novel. Ralph is running from Jack and his hunters while the Island is being consumed by flames. Ralph rushed out of the forest and is met by rescuers. The thought that he has been rescued hits him and he stops and thinks. Ralph thinks about what has occurred on this Island that he and a large group of other boys have been trapped on. He remembers the murder and the fear that arose. Thinking about what he and others have done he breaks down. “And in the middle of them with, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, 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” (Golding 235). I believe one of the central themes of this book is that a society without laws leads to chaos and corruption. My chosen quote relates to this theme heavily because of what Ralph is crying about. Ralph cries for “the end of innocence”, “The darkness of man’s heart”, and “the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”.
Ralph weeps for he has lost his precious innocence through one specific event on the island. This “event” is when Ralph joins a circle of other boys and kills a boy named Simon after mistaking him as The Beast (A make-believe monster on the Island). If you read it quickly it might seem that this was an accident and that for the entire time Ralph thought that Simon was this beast, but if you look closer, the text tells a different story. After the death of Simon Ralph discusses it with a boy called Piggy.
“At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering.
"Piggy."
"Uh?"
"That was Simon."
"You said that before."
"Piggy."
"Uh?"
"That was murder."’ (Golding 179-180)
Ralph knew that The Beast was Simon, despite this Ralph continued to murder Simon along with the other boys. This is the main reason Ralph has lost his innocence, and this is one of the main reasons that he cries.
“The darkness of man’s heart” refers to a lot of different things found in the novel such as the murder of Simon, however, I believe the most prominent example of this darkness is Jack. Jack might not seem corrupt at the start of the novel, but when he rises to power we see what kind of person he is. Jack is very controlling when he gains power. The author might foreshadow this when he introduces Jack and details how he keeps the choir he leads in two parallel lines with synchronized footsteps. In the novel, Ralph is originally the leader of the so-called tribe. Close to the end of the book Jack leaves this tribe and creates his own leaving only 4 boys behind, one of them being Ralph. Jack leaves the tribe because it is very clear that he has a hatred for Ralph. Eventually, the 3 other boys leave Ralph’s side, one of the boys, called Piggy, is killed by Jack's tribe and the 2 other boys are forced to join Jack’s tribe. Ralph is left alone and Jack orders his tribe to hunt Ralph to the death. Jack has become corrupt and his hatred of Ralph leads to a hunt that might not have killed Ralph because of the rescue but would have if the rescuers had not been there. Ralph realizes that the darkness of the hearts of the boys on the island (including himself) has been exposed, this is the second reason he cries.
The final reason he cries is for the loss of his good friend called Piggy. You might have noticed that when the author refers to Piggy in the quote he uses the word “called” instead of “named”. This confused me until I thought back to the beginning of the book when Piggy is introducing himself to Ralph, he mentions that people called him Piggy, but he hated the nickname and asks Ralph not to use it. When Ralph hears this nickname he bursts out in laughter and repeats it over and over again constantly cutting Piggy’s requests not to be called by the name off. He tells the rest of the tribe and the name ends up sticking. I think this event is important because of how it also foreshadows how Piggy will be viewed as a person. Throughout the book Piggy is rarely taken seriously by anyone, people mock him and ignore his words despite his intelligence. This event with Ralph and Piggy is important because despite how rude Ralph was Piggy stays by Ralph’s side, Piggy stays by Ralph’s side until his death. I believe this is why he is referred to as a true friend. Despite adversity, Piggy stuck with Ralph until his untimely death. Ralph weeps because he remembers Piggy and realizes what a good friend Piggy was. Ralph weeps because of the chaos that leads to Piggy’s untimely death.
These three reasons Ralph weeps are all related to corruption and chaos. He weeps for his loss of innocence as the group of boys slowly become corrupt, he weeps for the darkness of man's heart when he begins to see the true colors of the boys and himself, and finally, he weeps for Piggy, one of the victims of the corruption and chaos.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding has a vast collection of complex and gripping quotes. The quote I selected comes from the final chapter of the novel. Ralph is running from Jack and his hunters while the Island is being consumed by flames. Ralph rushed out of the forest and is met by rescuers. The thought that he has been rescued hits him and he stops and thinks. Ralph thinks about what has occurred on this Island that he and a large group of other boys have been trapped on. He remembers the murder and the fear that arose. Thinking about what he and others have done he breaks down. “And in the middle of them with, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, 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” (Golding 235). I believe one of the central themes of this book is that a society without laws leads to chaos and corruption. My chosen quote relates to this theme heavily because of what Ralph is crying about. Ralph cries for “the end of innocence”, “The darkness of man’s heart”, and “the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”.
Ralph weeps for he has lost his precious innocence through one specific event on the island. This “event” is when Ralph joins a circle of other boys and kills a boy named Simon after mistaking him as The Beast (A make-believe monster on the Island). If you read it quickly it might seem that this was an accident and that for the entire time Ralph thought that Simon was this beast, but if you look closer, the text tells a different story. After the death of Simon Ralph discusses it with a boy called Piggy.
“At last Ralph stopped. He was shivering.
"Piggy."
"Uh?"
"That was Simon."
"You said that before."
"Piggy."
"Uh?"
"That was murder."’ (Golding 179-180)
Ralph knew that The Beast was Simon, despite this Ralph continued to murder Simon along with the other boys. This is the main reason Ralph has lost his innocence, and this is one of the main reasons that he cries.
“The darkness of man’s heart” refers to a lot of different things found in the novel such as the murder of Simon, however, I believe the most prominent example of this darkness is Jack. Jack might not seem corrupt at the start of the novel, but when he rises to power we see what kind of person he is. Jack is very controlling when he gains power. The author might foreshadow this when he introduces Jack and details how he keeps the choir he leads in two parallel lines with synchronized footsteps. In the novel, Ralph is originally the leader of the so-called tribe. Close to the end of the book Jack leaves this tribe and creates his own leaving only 4 boys behind, one of them being Ralph. Jack leaves the tribe because it is very clear that he has a hatred for Ralph. Eventually, the 3 other boys leave Ralph’s side, one of the boys, called Piggy, is killed by Jack's tribe and the 2 other boys are forced to join Jack’s tribe. Ralph is left alone and Jack orders his tribe to hunt Ralph to the death. Jack has become corrupt and his hatred of Ralph leads to a hunt that might not have killed Ralph because of the rescue but would have if the rescuers had not been there. Ralph realizes that the darkness of the hearts of the boys on the island (including himself) has been exposed, this is the second reason he cries.
The final reason he cries is for the loss of his good friend called Piggy. You might have noticed that when the author refers to Piggy in the quote he uses the word “called” instead of “named”. This confused me until I thought back to the beginning of the book when Piggy is introducing himself to Ralph, he mentions that people called him Piggy, but he hated the nickname and asks Ralph not to use it. When Ralph hears this nickname he bursts out in laughter and repeats it over and over again constantly cutting Piggy’s requests not to be called by the name off. He tells the rest of the tribe and the name ends up sticking. I think this event is important because of how it also foreshadows how Piggy will be viewed as a person. Throughout the book Piggy is rarely taken seriously by anyone, people mock him and ignore his words despite his intelligence. This event with Ralph and Piggy is important because despite how rude Ralph was Piggy stays by Ralph’s side, Piggy stays by Ralph’s side until his death. I believe this is why he is referred to as a true friend. Despite adversity, Piggy stuck with Ralph until his untimely death. Ralph weeps because he remembers Piggy and realizes what a good friend Piggy was. Ralph weeps because of the chaos that leads to Piggy’s untimely death.
These three reasons Ralph weeps are all related to corruption and chaos. He weeps for his loss of innocence as the group of boys slowly become corrupt, he weeps for the darkness of man's heart when he begins to see the true colors of the boys and himself, and finally, he weeps for Piggy, one of the victims of the corruption and chaos.