The
boys had decided to go to the tail-end of the island, where nobody had yet been, to find the
beast. It was during this venture that the decision was made to hunt.had discovered fresh pig
dung which was still steaming.toldthat even though they were hunting 'the other thing,' they
still needed meat. Ralph agreed that they would hunt if it meant that they were going the right
way.
Soon the boys were screaming and running down the pig track, obviously
frightened. Jack was nudged aside and Ralph saw a boar rushing towards him, its tusks gleaming.
He took deliberate aim and threw his stick spear at the boar, hitting its large snout. The spear
stuck for a moment and then fell. The pig then veered into a covert. Jack came back and
instructed the boys to go after it. They ran after the boar and Ralph, who was simultaneously
afraid, anxious and proud, shouted that he had struck the bear on its snout.
Ralph was obviously mightily impressed by this achievement and was intent on letting
the others know about it. He repeated the claim and asked if anyone had seen. Maurice supported
him by stating that he saw Ralph's spear hit the boar right on the snout. Ralph was excited and
spoke hurriedly, exclaiming his success:
I hit him all
right. The spear stuck in. I wounded him!
His repeated
reference to what had happened indicates that Ralph was overwhelmed by the idea of having
actually struck a live animal. He had gained the admiration of the other boys and felt that
'hunting was good after all.'
Ralph's celebration and proud boast was
interrupted, however, when Jack scolded him for not waiting. The momentous moment passed when
Jack indicated an injury on his arm, sustained when he got close to the boar and tried killing
it. The boys instantly forgot about Ralph and turned their attention to Jack. So it was that
Ralph's moment of glory was superseded by Jack's greater act. Ralph was indignant and tried, in
vain, to draw attention to his great deed and Robert mocked him by snarling at him as if he were
the boar. Ralph, unperturbed, made a game of it and played along.
The two
boys' actions encouraged the others, who were obviously keen to hunt, to join in and so they
started playing a hunt game when Jack urged them to form a ring with Robert in the centre,
playing the boar. The boys actually hurt him. Even Ralph, inspired by his previous actions,
joined in and jabbed at Robert with Eric's spear. The boys started chanting, 'Kill him! Kill
Him!' and Robert was in a frenzy for he was being hurt. The boys acted as if they were in a real
hunt. Roger, driven by his lust to hurt, fought to join in the frenzy for the boys were now
chanting ritually,
Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill
the pig! Bash him in!
Ralph was overwhelmed by the event.
He desperately tried to get close, wanting to get hold of Robert and hurt him. The desire was
uncontrollable. The game culminated in Jack acting as if he had just killed their prey and the
boys making pig-dying sounds.
This event foreshadows what happens later, in
chapter 9, whenstumbles out of the forest during a thunderstorm. The boys were on the beach
playing the same game with Roger assuming the role of the pig. The boys were repeatedly chanting
and when Simon stumbled into the centre of the horseshoe they had formed, they assumed that he
was the beast and attacked him. They became ferocious predators, hitting, biting and
tearing.
Even Ralph andjoined in the frenzy. The boys all succeeded in
killing Simon whose body was later washed away by the current.
These two
incidents illustrate the powerful, instinctual desire innate in everyone - to kill and maim.
Even those who are not aware thereof, such as Ralph and Piggy, are driven to commit terrible
acts of violence and savagery when the conditions are right. In this regard, it is a mob
mentality in which the individual becomes immersed and is lost.
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