What is illusion? What is reality? Illusions make reality and affect reality; therefore the illusion can become the reality that one perceives. This means that, if one keeps on telling oneself, one is "this", eventually, one will become this. There are at least three specific times in Lord of the Flies by William Golding that this can be observed. The illusions that become reality are: Jack the Choir Boy who becomes Jack the Hunter, Simon who becomes a horrible beast to the eys of the rebel tribe, and the conch, the shell at the bottom of a lagoon, which becomes the symbol of civilisation.
One example of how delusions make reality may be noticed in the following quotes. In the election meeting scene, when Ralph asks Jack: " 'Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be - what do you want them to be?' 'Hunters.' " (Golding 19). Jack has set his illusion; that he and his choir are hunters, when originally they were British choir boys.
A drawing of the shell of Strombus alatus, the Flo...
Lord of the Flies
English: Cottages, The Green, Marlborough William ...In the immediate future, Jack is incapable of putting a pig to death. On their hike to discover the peak of the mountain, they come upon a pig stuck in creepers:
"The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish. He raised his arm into the air. There came a pause, a hiatus. [...] The pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downstroke would be. The piglet tore loose. [...] Jack's face was white under the freckles." (28)
One can easily see that Jack is embarrassed about what happened by the way his face turns white. Later in the story this delusion becomes reality. Jack slays a pig with his hunters, and comes back to tell the tale to Ralph: "...