In this chapter we see Piggy's attempt to reason with the
boys go disastrously awry as he actually ends up provoking them into ever-greater acts
of savagery, resulting in his own death. Seeing how things are deteriorating between
Jack and Ralph, Piggy, claiming the right to speak because of his possession of the
conch, then speaks a certain number of truths to the assembled boys, drawing a
comparison to the leadership of Ralph and Jack. Note the three questions he asks the
boys:
"Which
is better--to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph
is?""Which is better--to have rules and agree, or to hunt
and kill?""Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and
breaking things up?"
Note the
way that Piggy introduces two opposites through these questions. Jack's leadership and
rule are associated with savagery, hunting, and killing, whereas Ralph's leadership is
associated with being sensible, agreement, law and rescue. However, these words turn
Jack and his tribe into a "solid mass of menage that bristled with spears." The words of
Piggy, hoping to reason with the boys, actually only serves to antagonise them still
further, unleashing the act of violence that kills him.
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