"Cliff Notes - Lord of the Flies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Golding seduces his readers into nonthinking--the very failing he criticizes in the boys. Only after the story has been read, felt, and thought about can the reader understand the danger of being seduced by the automatic acceptance of an idea without due consideration of the facts.

^^^^^^^^^^LORD OF THE FLIES: CHAPTER ONE

The opening chapter introduces us to the characters and the conflict and poses a question: If people were dropped on a distant island that offered plenty of food and no dangerous conditions, would the experience be a good one or a bad one?

Ralph is the first person we meet. He wanders out of the jungle, followed by a fat boy. Although they were dropped by a plane that was under attack during an atomic war, Ralph thinks he is in a paradise. It's especially wonderful because there aren't any adults around.

But is it really? The first paragraph gives you a clue to what the author thinks about the island. There is a "long scar smashed into the jungle" where the plane dropped them the night before. As Ralph breaks through the creepers (even that word says something), a red and yellow bird, the color of fire and heat, flashes into the sky with a "witch-like cry." Ralph stands among the "skull-like coconuts." These are subtle suggestions that the author thinks the island is not quite what the boys expect.

Ralph wears a belt with a snake-clasp that also implies menace. Snakes are an important symbol that we will encounter again.

Ralph doesn't see any of this. It's a wonderful setup for playing, he thinks, and he turns cartwheels. At twelve Ralph is strong, tall, and handsome; a natural athlete, he has been swimming since he was five. He drops his clothes in the same way he willingly leaves the world behind. He has returned to Eden.

A fair-haired boy, Ralph is often described in the presence of sunlight, which implies goodness and naturalness. "A golden light danced and shattered just over his face." He looks at his shadow and thinks it's green. Ralph accepts his new surroundings easily; he's at home on the island.

The fat boy who follows Ralph is worried. An asthmatic, nearly blind without glasses, he sees his life easily threatened because of his weaknesses. He doesn't belong in a wild place like this, and he knows it. He has diarrhea from eating the fruit: The jungle is making him sick.

When he asks Ralph his name, we realize that not all of the boys on the plane knew each other. Ralph is not polite enough to ask his in return, but the fat boy reveals his dreaded nickname, Piggy. When he tries to tell Ralph his real name, he is interrupted by Ralph's teasing, and we never learn Piggy's real name. Ralph is not intentionally mean when he mocks Piggy. He's just not very sensitive or aware, and he's too busy playing to be thoughtful.

NOTE: THE USE OF NAMES Names are significant in Lord of the Flies. The main characters' names have something to do with their roles in the story. Certain boys' names we never learn; the littluns and biguns are groups of boys known only by their size. Some boys lose their names, and one forgets his by the end of the story. When you read old legends and tales, you find that characters were cautious about revealing their names. A person was believed to have power over another if he knew his name. A man who wanted to protect himself against his enemies made up a name and did not tell his real one. Keep names, naming, and the loss of a name in mind as you read.

By asking Ralph's name, Piggy shows he is anxious to keep relations civilized and decent while they're on the island. He needs to link himself to civilization and sanity in order to believe he will be safe.

Ralph floats in the warm waters of the lagoon, day-dreaming comfortably. He's too happy with his newfound freedom to worry, and he believes his father will rescue them.

NOTE: Thinking your father will come to save you is like believing in a magical wizard or even a god. According to Golding, this is part of Ralph's innocence and an important idea to be aware of in the story.

Piggy doesn't agree about their chances of being rescued: "We may stay here till we die." His father is dead and therefore won't be rescuing him. Piggy's ability to predict, his near-blindness, and his glasses are characteristics that will have significance in the course of the novel. We will discuss their importance later, but if you follow them through the story, you will increase your understanding of what Golding is saying.

The differences between Ralph and Piggy are obvious. Ralph is strong, handsome, and unthinking; Piggy is fat, serious, and concerned. Together, Ralph and Piggy are like the body and mind of a single person. Ralph enjoys himself sensually while Piggy keeps asking questions, trying to think things through. It is Piggy who knows to blow on the shell to call the boys together; it is Ralph who has the necessary strength to sound the conch shell. And when he does, the boys begin to emerge from the jungle.

NOTE: THE SYMBOLISM OF THE CONCH The sounding of the conch is like a reenactment of an ancient event. The boys are being called out of the jungle in much the same way primitive men were called together. At the same time, the conch's sounding is a means of communication, a way of gathering the boys. It brings them out of isolation so they can become a group, a civilization, where they can think together. It calls them away from primitiveness and toward awareness.

In the course of the story, Golding creates events and details that have many interpretations. Perhaps you can see a level of meaning in the story that we have not mentioned. Try to follow it all the way to the conclusion; see if it remains consistent and important.

The twins Sam and Eric are among the first to arrive after the conch is sounded. Piggy can't tell them apart or keep their names straight.

Along the beach comes a band of choirboys dressed in black robes and moving as one creature. The creature is led by Jack Merridew, and the association of Jack with a black creature is an important foreshadowing. We are told that Jack is redheaded and quick to anger. We see Jack make the choirboys stand at attention in the sun until one boy, Simon, faints.

Jack wants to know who is in charge. Ralph introduces himself and invites Jack to join the group. In an attempt to establish order, Piggy tries to learn all the names. Jack mocks Piggy by calling him "Fatty." Ralph quickly defends him but reveals Piggy's nickname, and Jack's ridicule becomes worse. The entire group laughs at Piggy.

This early scene sets up the conflict and reveals the direction the story will take. Ralph shows his basic goodness by defending Piggy and his ineptness by giving away the nickname. Jack's treatment of Piggy calls attention to his dangerous nature and sheds light on his future relationship with Piggy. Piggy is upset that everyone knows and ridicules his name; this makes him vulnerable before the group and especially with Jack.

After all have assembled, the boys elect Ralph as their chief. Golding says that "there was a stillness about Ralph... and... there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them...." The boys assume that there is some special quality to Ralph and the conch. They don't even consider Piggy or Jack.

NOTE: The idea that people invest other people and objects with power is important in this story. You will see that Ralph and the conch are given importance and that later that importance is taken away. Some characters, such as Piggy and Simon, who should be regarded as significant, will never be given that respect by the other boys. This is Golding's view of how people allow themselves to believe and disbelieve in people and ideas without considering what is real.

The boys decide to find out whether they are alone on the island. While surveying with Ralph and Simon, Jack says they are true "explorers." The word "glamorous" is used to describe how they feel about themselves and the island. Joyously they heave a boulder over a ledge just to watch it smash on the rocks--an action that foreshadows the falling of other rocks later in the book.