This chapter was called Castle Rock, and that was where most of it took place. First off, however, the remaining Ralph-tribe decide that they need to go to Castle Rock and demand that Piggy have his specs back. So, the boys go (along with the conch) and try to storm Castle Rock. Sure enough, Ralph and Jack get into a fight and the next thing we know, Roger releases the stone that was meant for the "beast" and both kills Piggy and breaks the conch. Bad move by him, to say the least. SamnEric are captured, and Ralph is forced to run away into the forest.
Two VERY important symbols were basically demolished in this chapter. Piggy, who was basically the closest thing they had to an adult (he was even-tempered, logical, intelligent), was killed. He represented order and logic, and his death symbolized anarchy. The conch, which was also very representative of law and order, was smashed to pieces. It kind of makes sense that these two symbols leave the book at the same time, because they kind of go hand in hand with each other. Without the conch, Piggy never gets to speak. But without Piggy, sometimes Jack rendered the conch useless.
Jack continues to think that he's all-powerful. He even says "You keep to your end. This is my end and my tribe" to Ralph, even though Ralph was clearly the elected leader even from the beginning (176). Not only has Jack destroyed everything good on the island (Simon, Piggy, the conch, the fire), but now he wants Ralph gone, too.
I agree that Piggy and the conch were two very important symbols and that they both kind of represented the same things. Good post.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter does turn into complete chaos, when all Ralph's group wants is to reason and peace. Because what they wanted from them was logical and reasonable. Jack can't handle anybody else who is a threat to his authority. Good job on the post and looking into deeper meaning.
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