*To refresh knowledge of the plot so far
*To understand how Chapter 5 acts as a turning point.
What has happened so far?
Bullet point main events so far
What main themes have we seen so far?
Chapter 5 notes refresh
•Ralph is worried about the group and his power as leader:“ The meeting must not be fun (Jack), but business.” Moral and physical decay hinted at through Ralph’s appearance: ‘frayed edges of his shorts were making an uncomfortable, pink area on the front of his thighs’.
•Place of assembly modelled on Parliament but the power of democracy is fading, becoming fragile. Even the conch seems faded: ‘’Exposure to the air had bleached the yellow and pink to near white, and transparency. Symbolism of where the people sit: ‘most of the hunters, on Ralph’s right; the rest on the left, under the sun.’
•Ralph reads the riot act: “Can’t you see we ought to – ought to die before we let the fire out?” Fear: of the breakdown of law and order, but also of the unknown, leading to savagery in order to protect oneself from what you cannot understand/ parallel with today and then- middle East.
•Jack behaves like a bully: picking on the weaker ones (the littluns). Piggy hints at the link between the beast and people: “I know there isn’t no beast… Unless we get frightened of people.”. Jack humiliates Simon: “He was taken short’, and we see the cries of those who suffer and who are humiliated: the littluns. Parallel with the Jews.
•Descent into savagery: no one minds that Jack has not got the conch when he speaks, a new fear, coming from the sea is voiced but impossible to confirm and we see a breaking of sanity due to the lack of respect for the rules they themselves had set up: ‘Bollocks to the rules’
•Simon expresses doubt and becomes prophetic: “May be it’s only us…S. became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.”- once again, link between the beast and mankind- the cruelty of mankind.
•Jack behaves like a bully: picking on the weaker ones (the littluns). Piggy hints at the link between the beast and people: “I know there isn’t no beast… Unless we get frightened of people.”. Jack humiliates Simon: “He was taken short’, and we see the cries of those who suffer and who are humiliated: the littluns. Parallel with the Jews.
•Descent into savagery: no one minds that Jack has not got the conch when he speaks, a new fear, coming from the sea is voiced but impossible to confirm and we see a breaking of sanity due to the lack of respect for the rules they themselves had set up: ‘Bollocks to the rules’
•Simon expresses doubt and becomes prophetic: “May be it’s only us…S. became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.”- once again, link between the beast and mankind- the cruelty of mankind.
•Break down of the established order perceived by Ralph: ‘The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.’ Piggy realises the danger Jack’s attitude is posing for democracy and sanity: “If J. was chief he’d have us all hunting and no fire.”
•Chapter ends with a “wail”: a more primitive sound compared to an “inarticulate gibberish”. The lexis highlights a move closer to a primitive or savage existence.
•R, P and S, have become isolated from the rest of the group: ‘the three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life.’
•‘Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well.’
Characters
•Ralph: tries to assert authority, be the voice of reason, but has not really got enough power to pull it off. All through chapter his authority wanes away. Realises the importance of rules and their abeyance. Begins to show a better grasp of what is required for law and order, but too late to really imprint it on the others.
•Jack: behaving more and more like a bully, using fear to get his way. Becoming more violent and primitive. obsessed with hunting and killing pigs. Humiliates Simon.
•Piggy: shows yet more insight and understanding of what is needed to be done in order to be safe, p86 (ought to die…). He shows a lot of sense and practicality, never loses sight of rescue. Understands that what they have to fear comes from themselves, p90 (unless we get frightened of people). Beginning to fear Jack. Aware of the danger he represents (I’m scared of him…).
•Simon: still the loner, also the thinker, humiliated by Jack who does not control him. Finds it difficult to speak (to speak to an assembly was a terrible thing to him). He speaks prophetically: “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.”
TASK- Chapter 5 as a TURNING POINT
The Assembly at Night is a key scene because it signals the change in power on the island between Ralph and Jack.
When we analyse or write about a turning point, we must include:
•What happens before
•What happens during the turning point
•What the result of the turning point is
So what happens before?
Jack and Ralph have very different priorities on the island; Jack wants to hunt and kill, while Ralph wants to build shelters, maintain a fire and keep order. This clash in outlook leads to conflict when Jack ignores the most responsible duty he has – the maintenance of the fire. A ship passes and there is no smoke – battle lines between Jack and Ralph are drawn.
Ralph fails to humble Jack who has produced meat for the camp. By appealing to the boys’ immediate needs Jack wins favour from the majority of the boys who quickly forget the disappointment of the passing vessel.
Ralph, frustrated and worried, decides to call an immediate assembly. However, it is late at night and Ralph’s decision backfires. He has played directly into Jack’s hands.
What happens during the turning point?
To fully analyse this we must take notes on:
1.Ralph’s motivation for calling the assembly
2.Ralph’s performance at the start of the assembly
3.Ralph’s inability to control the meeting
4.Jack’s contribution to the assembly
5.The concerns and contributions of the other boys
What the result of the turning point is
6. the effect the assembly has on Ralph’s leadership and how we can now see Jack’s emerging dominance
Match the quotes below to each above section. Then, for each quote:
•Find the context
•Fully analyse the quote to reveal what it shows about the characters and the changes occurring.
Use your answers to create a table-like the one you used for your essay!
|
Context
|
Quote
|
Explanation/Analysis
|
|
At the beginning of the assembly
Ralph is confused by his emotions. He is jealous of Jack’s free spirit and
the others’ enjoyment of the hunt and the meat.
|
““Kill the pig. Cut her throat.
Bash her in.”
Ralph watched them, envious and
resentful. Not till they flagged and the chant died away, did he speak.
“I’m calling an assembly.”” P94
|
Ralph dos
not seem completely aware of the descent into savagery and is even
jealous of the boys’ embracing of the hunt and the celebration of the kill.
The singing and the chanting are
symbolic of the new unity and togetherness that the boys feel. Ralph is
“envious” because he would like to be a part of the unity of purpose.
|
|
““Kill
the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.”
Ralph watched them, envious and resentful.
Not till they flagged and the chant died away, did he speak.
“I’m
calling an assembly.””
P94
|
|
“I
can’t think. Not like Piggy.”
P97
|
|
“Those that were aware that a ship had
passed the island while the fire was out were subdued by the thought
of Ralph’s anger. “
P98
|
|
“Now people seem to use anywhere. Even near
the shelters and the platform. You littleuns , when you’re getting fruit; if
you’re taken short---“
The assembly roared.”
P100
|
|
“Too
many things.”
P101
|
|
“Things are breaking up. I don’t understand
why. We began well; we were happy. And then---“
P102
|
|
“Am I a hunter or am I not”
P104
|
|
“Last night I had a dream, a horrid dream,
fighting with things. I was outside the shelter by myself, fighting with
things, those twisty things in
the trees.”
P105”
|
|
“There’s too much talking out of turn,” Ralph
said, because we can’t have proper assemblies if you don’t stick to
the rules.”
P112
|
|
“What are we? Humans? Animals? Or savages?
What’s grown ups going to think?”
P113
|
|
“Bollocks to he rules” P114
|
|
“If I blow the conch and they don’t com back;
then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals.”
P115
|
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