Golding uses the word pig in the beginning of the story to show a peaceful creature who shows the slow descent into savagery with the lack of civilization . In an article written by Hussein Tahiri, he writes about how at the loss of civilization, people can become more wild-like than normal, which can be seen throughout their actions. As Jack, Ralph, and Simon explore the forest, they see a pig stuck in the creepers. Jack raises a knife to kill it, but hesitates and the pig runs away. Ralph asks Jack why he did not kill the pig, to which Golding writes, “[he] knew very well why [Jack] hadn't; because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood” (Golding 31). All of the boys are still …show more content…
He wants to kill the pigs so he can get meat to give to the boys, so they do not have to keep eating fruit from trees. In his desire to kill, the sound of the pigs’ hoofs are “seductive” because they enchant him into killing. The sounds of the hoofs are “maddening” because he is so close to achieving something that will give him pleasure - in this case the killing of pigs for food - that he is going crazy waiting to acheive his goal. At this point, Jack is becoming more overwhelmed with the desire to kill, that he does not have to give a second thought over whether he should kill the pigs or not. Jack, however, fails to kill the pigs, but that does not stop him from trying. He goes hunting with other boys on the island, and they successfully kill a pig. Unfortunately, they let the signal fire out in the process. Ralph tries to look for the boys, when they come marching in, carrying a dead pig. The boys, led by Jack, are chanting “kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (69). The use of such violent words like “kill” and “cut” being applied to a dead pig show the group’s personalities slowly starting to become more