Lord Of The Flies Passage Analysis

Direct Evidence Commentary

“At length he let out his breath in a long sigh and opened his eyes. They were bright blue, eyes that in frustration seemed bolting and nearly mad. He passed his tongue across dry lips and scanned the uncommunicative forest. Then again he stole foreword and cast this way and that over the ground.” (60). This passage shows characterization of Jack. In the beginning of the book it was shown through Jack’s readiness to be leader of the group that he thrived on authority and not taking orders from others. As the book continued he only grew more savage. As shown by this quote Jack only became more aggressive, he started to develop pleasure out of hunting and killing animals. I thought that Jack’s nature would change

The ground beneath them was covered with coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and open space of the scar. Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake-blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple.” (10). I liked how detailed the imagery is because it allowed me to see what terrain these boys were forced to live on. The boy were left stranded in an empty, dark forest in the middle of nowhere. This allowed me to understand why these boys did some of the actions they did, such as killing one another. It is quite possible that they were driven mad by this island that was filled with many trees, a lack of food, and at first glance, no other living organisms. The descriptions of the trees and the lagoon allowed me to visualize the island but also allowed me to see how it affected the boys and what environmental obstacles they had to

The pile was so rotten, and now so tinder-dry, the whole limbs yielded passionately to the yellow flames that poured upwards and shook a great beard of flame twenty feet in the air. For yards round the fire the heat was like a blow, and the breeze was a river of sparks. Trunks crumbled to white dust.” (56). The symbolism of the fire in this quote is hope and rescue. The boys are seen being happy and dancing, feeling a new found hope that with this fire they will be rescued. The hope given by the fire allowed me to realize how lonely and hopeless these boy were feeling until this point. I knew they were feeling sad but I thought since they had one another they would be okay. I then realized that in this quote it is also seen, for the first time, that the boys are not fighting but rather living in the moment with this new found hope uniting them