In this extract all of the boys take part in the murder of Simon. Simon is described as ‘the beast’ during his killing. Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, the death of Simon also symbolises the death of spirituality. After his brutal death Golding describes ‘his check silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble’ this almost romantic description is an emblem of Simon’s purity. The setting is a frightening one. It is night time, but not completely dark as there are ‘flashes of lightning’ this gives a hint to the reader that this chapter will not have a happy ending. Golding uses pathetic fallacy throughout the extract to build suspense and add to the atmosphere, ‘sulphurous explosion’ this is a contrasting quote compared to the beginning peaceful setting of the novel, ‘the brilliant fish flicked away’ this is evidence of the shift within the novel from good to evil. The sounds Golding describes are the sounds of fear.
The extract starts with just a few drops of rain but even when these drop they make ‘Individual sounds’ this shows that even a small thing can have a big effect. Golding starts with just small sounds to help build the tension. The rain also reminds the reader rightly of world war two as Ralph says ‘you’ll have rain like when we dropped here’ which links to the atom bomb and the irony that Piggy keeps on saying ‘what would the grown-ups think?’ when they themselves are in a war. Twice the thunder is said to ‘blow’ as if it is whipping the boys like a master would whip an animal, as a means of controlling them, Golding uses the weather to alter the mood and to help build the boys up into a frenzy. The use of monosyllabic chanting, ‘kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ shows a very concentrated power source which drives the boys to do what they would never image on any ordinary day. The use of exclamation marks means the extract becomes very loud.
Courtney from Study Moose
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