Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
Table of Contents
Chapter 11
Castle Rock
Ralph tries to rekindle the fire, but it is no use. Piggy encourages Ralph to call a meeting. At the meeting Piggy insists that he will go to Jack and demand his glasses and that Jack must return them because it is the right thing to do. Ralph and Samneric agree to go along.
The foursome observes a thin line of smoke in the direction of Castle Rock. Guarding the entrance is Roger. Ralph tells Piggy to kneel down so that he doesn’t lose his footing and go over the edge. Ralph blows on the conch in an attempt to call an assembly and reassert his authority. It fails dismally. Jack comes up behind them. Samneric move between Ralph and the entrance to the Castle. Ralph calls Jack a thief, and Jack attacks Ralph with his spear. The two fight briefly and then separate. Jack orders his tribe to arrest Samneric and tie them up. Samneric are surprised at the sudden assault. Jack and Ralph fight again, and again separate.
Piggy finds the conch and shouts for attention. Roger begins throwing stones. Jack joins the wall of savages ready for a charge. Roger leans on the lever and releases the giant boulder. Ralph has only enough time to fling himself down. The boulder crushes the conch and knocks Piggy off of the 40-foot-high ledge. Piggy lands on a rock below, his brains splattering beneath him, and the tide carries his corpse out to sea.
Jack hurls his spear at Ralph, which glances off of his ribs. The rest of the tribe throws its spears. Ralph dodges the others and flees into the jungle. Jack, now referred to by Golding as merely “the chief,” orders his tribe to return to the fort. Samneric are pressured into joining the tribe. Roger bears down on them with grim authority. The chief’s tribe has truly become savage.
This chapter concludes with a scene of savage brutality. Roger is a perfect executioner, and Jack has lost whatever identity he had before coming to the island. By giving into his evil impulses, he has become like a devil. Ralph, on the other hand, by trying to maintain some...
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