In Chapter Seven, Ralph is struggling to keep his civility from the ever increasing lure of atavism. Throughout the chapter, Ralph was attracted to savagery and atavism by taking part in many atavistic activities with Jack and the hunters. They tried to hunt pigs, play games, and climb mountains. While taking part in these activities, Ralph nearly forgets his real mission, to find the beast. The increasing lure of atavism nearly overtakes him when he watches a reenactment of a hunt by Jack and the hunters. After failing to catch a boar, Jack and the hunters decided to reenact the event, with Robert as the boar. The boys surrounded Robert and threw spears at him and sang hunting songs, nearly killing Robert. Although he knew that it was just …show more content…
The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering” (114-115). When presented with another view of society that seems to be fun and relaxing, a person will become interested in that view. Similarly, Ralph is being presented with Jack’s way of life on the island. Every time they kill an animal, Jack and his hunters surround the beast, sing wild songs, and chop its head off. When Ralph saw Jack’s reenactment, he is intrigued. What he is seeing is not a boring job of hunting animals for food, it is hunting for fun and for sprit. The bloodlust, joy, and power that comes with killing an animal is overwhelming. To Ralph, it looks like Jack’s way of life and method of hunting is exciting and energetic, compared to his monotonous task of building huts, watching over little kids, and making sure everyone is following the rules. Symbolically, Ralph is struggling to decide whether atavism or civility is the better choice to follow. His current method, using civility and reason to solve problems is not fun and easy. He has to sacrifice most of his fun to ensure order around the island. In contrast, the atavistic life Jack and the hunters are living is