Jon is blogging Lord of the Flies! Did you miss the first installment? Here it is.
Chapter 2 begins with Ralph holding a meeting back on the beach, shortly after the non-piglet-killing expedition to the mountain. Surrounded by the now mostly-dressed children, Ralph reveals that the island is uninhabited, except apparently for some pigs, which of course reminds Jack of violence (as will many things throughout this chapter). Jack once again stabs a tree to reiterate that he will stab the next piglet so hard that he's not even kidding.
With Jack's willingness to kill things established, the assembly segues into talk of civility and order. Ralph insists that they can't just all just shout at each other, so he establishes the rule that holding the conch shell will have the same effect as raising hands at school. Jack leaps excitedly to his feet, having decided that he loves the idea of having lots of rules, because he will then get to beat up anybody who breaks them. This is what we're left to assume, anyway, from the threatening, ominous cries of "wacco!" and "doink!" (The fact that he has already broken the conch rule seems lost on Jack.)
Piggy stands up and takes the conch. Shockingly enough, everyone quiets down long enough for Piggy to voice his concern that nobody knows where they are. Undeterred, Ralph and his mountain-traveling group happily point out that this isn't a problem, because they're on an awesome island, filled with food, drink, rocks (?), and blue flowers (??).
One of the littluns, a "shrimp of a boy" with a large birthmark, is shoved forward by some other kids. He stands frightened and mute before the group. Piggy bends down and interprets that the kid wants to know what Ralph intends to do about the "snake-thing," a big creature he saw in the woods.
Again displaying some respectable leadership for a kid who'd been using the conch to make fart sounds last chapter, Ralph politely reassures the boy that such a creature couldn't survive on a small island like this. Never one to miss his murder-cue, Jack adds that if there were a snake-thing, he'd hunt and kill it. Ralph is frustrated by this in a way he doesn't understand. I understand, though. It's like he's trying to explain rationally that there are no monsters in the closet, and Jack is saying, well, there might be, but they're probably not a big deal.
Soon Ralph shifts back into Leader Mode. He announces that his dad is in the Navy, that there are no uncharted islands left, and that the Queen has pictures of all islands in a map room somewhere. Aside from the somewhat unreasonable suggestion that the Queen herself is scrutinizing nautical charts late into the night, it's a nicely uplifting speech. Ralph concludes with the certainty that the boys will absolutely be rescued. With everyone encouraged and the monster forgotten, Ralph is riding a metaphorical surfboard of leadership on a tidal wave of admiration. He goes on to suggest that the boys build a signal fire to alert passing ships. Which is when everything goes terribly wrong.
Everyone except Ralph and Piggy goes crashing off up the mountain to gather firewood, urged on by the enthusiasm of all young boys to set things on fire. Even Ralph follows, leaving Piggy to complain mournfully to himself for a few minutes before he goes along as well. Everyone (except Piggy) starts throwing together a woodpile, with Jack and Ralph working together on one large branch. Sam and Eric arrive with dead leaves for kindling.
Once they've gathered a large pile, everybody… just sort of stands around. The unspoken realization that nobody has any idea how to start a fire hangs embarrassingly in the air.
The boys idle around the woodpile, muttering about firestarting techniques, until Piggy arrives on the scene. Jack almost immediately steals his glasses, leaving Piggy burbling helplessly as Jack and Ralph use the lenses to focus sunlight onto the wood. Everyone—Ralph included—ignores Piggy's pleas for his glasses. They produce a small flame and then go tearing off to gather more wood, but their small fire soon collapses in a shower of sparks, and goes out. Piggy tries to point how worthless this whole endeavor was, and even though he's holding the conch, Jack repeatedly tells him to shut up. Trying to get everyone under control once again, Ralph asserts that they're going to need more rules, including some about who monitors the fire. Jack wholeheartedly agrees, adding that they're Englishmen, not savages. (Bear in mind that Jack has spent this chapter threatening to kill or injure various things and bellowing at Piggy.)
In Jack's defense, even though he's generally a jerk, he does occasionally display a sense of leadership—like right now, for instance. In the wake of the failed fire, Jack offers his choir as both fire-tenders and lookouts. Before that plan can really evolve, though, Piggy points out that oh, great job guys! Look at the fire everyone made. Everyone looks.
Surrounded as they are by lots of dry, dead wood, the boys have managed to start a blaze—one they have no way of containing— spreading along a quarter-mile of forest beneath them. So there you have the logical conclusion of Ralph's third big idea. Two out of three isn't too bad for a 12-year-old kid.
As the boys watch the blaze, torn between fear and awe, it suddenly occurs to them to wonder about the well-being of the littluns. It had been Piggy's job to gather their names, but since no living thing is capable of listening to Piggy, the littluns have mostly gone nameless. They boys do realize, though, that the small, terrified kid with the birthmark—the one who'd been worried about the monster—is nowhere to be found. Ralph begins to offer a halfhearted explanation as to where he might be, but doesn't even bother to finish. Everyone else just stares at the fire in silence.
Chapter 2 concludes, bringing our fatality count to 1. Who knows how far it will grow? Well, you probably do, since it's a short book and everybody reads it, but still.
Comments? Questions? Eulogies for the small, terrified kid with the birthmark? Leave them in the comments.
By: Jon_Skindzier
Topics: Books
Tags: books we could do without, blogging the classics, blogging lord of the flies, books we love to hate
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