Summary of chapters 1 and 2

Essay by njb20034life September 2004

download word file, 2 pages 5.0

Downloaded 15 times

In chapter one the characters of Piggy and Ralph meet up with each other after escaping from a plane they were on that was shot down. A war was going on in the world around them but it seemed as if they were the first to step foot on the island. Piggy spots a conch shell and shows Ralph how to use it to make a noise. Then Ralph gathers all of the other boys who crashed down on the plane. Short there after rules are set down and Ralph becomes the leader of the "tribe". They find no one else on the island so Jack decides to go hunting for pigs and some of the children follow while others believe it is foolish. What I find very significant about this chapter is that while Jack didn't catch the pig his quote of "next time" shows that he plans on having a future of hunting.

In addition, this shows a bit of foreshadowing of the boys splitting into groups because of there minds and what they believe in such as hunting and not hunting.

In chapter two, Ralph calls another assemble and reminds everyone that they are alone on the island and that there are no adults. Jack also makes a point of his failure to capture the pig and his need for skilled hunters to help him. Several other rules were made such as whomever hold the conch shell gets to speak. Also, a younger boys speaks of a "beastie" he saw on the island but everyone tells him it must have been his imagination and to forget about it. Ralph then suggests that they make a signal fire which would be necessary if they were ever to be rescued, they figure out that if they use Piggy's glasses they can start a fire, but they are careless and start a raging fire. The children also realize that the little boy with the birthmark is missing and had been "swallowed up" by the raging fire. What I found significant about this chapter is that Piggy begins to remind me of an adult figure pointing out the mistakes of being careless and starting the raging fire while Jack and Ralph argue over the signal fire.