“He [Jack] capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”
A fine example of the primitive way of thinking still present in contemporary human minds: the mask is something separate and a way of hiding simultaneously. Jack separates his savage part into a mask, because without it he would still behave in a more or less civilized way.
“Which is better — to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?”
A great clamor rose among the savages. Piggy shouted again.
Here Piggy is at his best: he tries to tell a wise thing, to remind boys about the sensibility and civilized behavior, but gains quite an opposite effect, for being Indians is much more interesting than being like Ralph.
“The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
Golding, who wrote Lord of the Flies, once stated that the theme of his book was grief, grief, grief. This quote just confirms it.
“Piggy moved among the crowd, asking names and frowning to remember them. The children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the man with the megaphones.”
Golding’s former occupation shows: it is not natural for children to obey any rules, but civilized upbringing would teach them obedience.
“Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment. He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet. He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly.”
This is probably the first stage of losing child’s innocence for Ralph: now he is capable of analyzing the evolution of his attitude towards reality and life.
