Blogger #20, Sofia Mykytenko, Pd 3 11/3/21
Aim: How does the reaction of the boys to the “Beast in the Water” mimic the loss of control in their society?
Do Now: Reading Check Quiz: Chapter 5 Kahoot
As soon as we walked into class, Ms. Peterson announced our Reading Check quiz on Kahoot. Whispers of panic travelled through the classroom and frozen faces of fear struck some students' faces. Although in the end, the questions were solely based on Chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies and they were quite simple, just enough to make sure that you’ve done the homework and read the book. I think most students felt okay at the end of the quiz and didn’t completely fail, although the time limit of a Kahoot was definitely stressful.
Do Now: Dialogue Study. Review the structure of the dialogue through chapter 5. What pattern do you notice about the boys' attempt to speak at the assembly?
After receiving the alarming news of a new beast, the boys were fighting to speak at the assembly that Ralph called. The author uses short syntax and lots of punctuation to emphasize the heated arguments going on between the boys. As seen by this quote, “‘Who cares what you believe—Fatty!’ ‘I got the conch!’ There was the sound of a brief tussle and the conch moved to and fro. ‘You gimme the conch back!’” The boys' arguments turned so heated, that they were on the verge of becoming physical fights as well.
What are the rules of every classroom?
Consider the minor details that make each classroom function; the rules that are the same no matter which teacher you have.
What would happen to the classroom structure if one student decided to ignore all of these rules? Would it change if this was a ‘popular’ student? What if the teacher didn’t know how to handle that student?
After discussing with our groups and classes, we came up with several answers to these questions. The unspoken rules of every classroom are to be quiet, only raise your hand to talk, listen and pay attention, and follow directions.
If one was to ignore these rules, they would cause a disruptive environment for the rest of the students to learn in. This student would get punished either with a phone call to their parents, a lower grade, a visit to the dean, or even suspension depending on the severity of their actions. Punishments like these are used so that actions have consequences and students learn not to make the same mistakes twice. If this were to be a “popular” student, some students may feel the desire to follow suit to also be popular. However, with proper punishments, the rest of the class should be placed back into order. If the teacher didn’t know how to handle the situation, and couldn’t properly punish the student, the rest of the class may start misbehaving as well.
In class discussions, we also talked about how a classmate could potentially gain more power than the teacher. Once a classmate gains more supporters than the teacher, this causes chaos. This can be compared to Lord of the Flies because the kids on the island can’t establish a sense of power. This shows an uneven power distribution which can cause conflict.
How could this concept relate to the “Beast in the Water”?
This concept relates to the “Beast in Water'' because throughout the book, the boys were not receiving firm leadership or punishments, and therefore misbehaving, not following rules, etc. Ralph repeatedly tells the boys to refill water, work on shelters, and follow the rules of the conch, but the boys dismiss his rules, because he doesn’t show strong leadership or punishments. Golding himself says, “In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand”, but with no one enforcing rules and promoting a good conscience, the boys can do anything they please and get away with it.
Golding has three strong characters, each with his own personality, ‘lead’ in his own way -- Ralph, Jack, and Piggy.
We could all logically conclude that Piggy is the most rational… but, why would Golding make Piggy the most rational and not the others? What could he be trying to show us?
My group agreed that Golding wanted to make Piggy the most rational character, as a classic example of brawns over brains. From the start of the book, Piggy has been described as someone to pity for his sad physical appearance. He was first described as a sweaty pudgy boy with glasses constantly sliding down the oily slopes of his face, and a wheezing, asthmatic breath. Throughout the novel, the rest of the boys never care to ask Piggy for his real name, showing that they characterize him by his pig-like appearance rather than his own personality. However, Piggy proves himself to be the most reasonable and resourceful multiple instances throughout the book. My group member, Sofya, mentioned how he was the first to come up with the idea to use the conch to call everyone into a meeting, and later scolds the others for recklessly making a fire,“‘A fire! Make a fire!’ ‘Like kids!’ ‘Acting like a crowd of kids!’” We agreed that due to his rationale, Piggy should have been the natural born leader of the group, but his appearance makes him a less respectable leader to the kids.
How does the reaction of the boys to the “Beast in the Water” mimic the loss of control in their society?
The reaction of the boys to the “Beast in the Water” causes the last leg of their organized society to fall apart. Ralph calls over everyone for an assembly to talk about following the rules. One of the littluns, Simon, brings up the idea of a new Beast in the water, causing the boys to fight and argue, ending with Jack, his hunters, and the littluns going off on their own. Although the Beast in the water was the final straw, Golding foreshadows the collapse of their society, from the beginning, by the fire lit in Chapter 3. The boys were so eager to create their first fire and get to building things, but the fire quickly spirals out of control, causing more harm than good in the long run. This is a metaphor to the boys in their society. They eagerly elect a chief to create rules and organize a collaborative society, but the boys quickly become unruly with nothing keeping their morality in check. It should also be noted the symbolism of the environment during the assembly. The sun was setting, signifying the end of an era, in this case the end of civilized society. The tide was rising as well, possibly meant to symbolize the evil of the Beast creeping up on the boys. The Beast supposedly resided in the water, but the evil it brings was already apparent through the boy’s actions that night.
Video of the summary of chapter 5
After answering those questions, we reviewed what was expected of us for the LOTF group project. All information could be found on the document below.
Reflection:
This lesson allowed me to look at the structure of society from a different perspective. I believe we take structure, whether it’s in a classroom, or on a bigger, nationwide scale, for granted. A central power, especially one that enforces rules fairly, is essential in creating an organized society, where everyone respects each other and works collaboratively. We discussed this topic, so that we can use it to connect to the loose “society” formed in Lord of the Flies. I can now use my understanding of a civilized society to connect to the one in Lord of the Flies and further understand how the boys descend further away from savagery as time goes on. In addition, we learned about how power in a society could be unfairly distributed. We learned this to connect it to Lord of the Flies, more specifically to relate it to Piggy’s situation. I can use this as a lesson in real life, to never judge a book by its cover and look at corruption in today’s society.
In this lesson, we also accurately identified examples of symbolism in the novel, more specifically in chapter five. I’ve noticed that the author uses lots of symbolism in nature to reflect the boys' feelings and actions. I also learned more about the author’s writing style, and how they can create emotions by making their words come alive through syntax, diction, and figurative language. I can apply what I learned throughout the book, to look for more examples of symbols in nature and pay attention to the author’s writing style. Paying attention to their writing style can help me further develop my own.
One of the life lessons that I learned in class today is to listen and respect everyone’s ideas. In the beginning, Piggy suggested that the conch should be used when one wants to speak. They all ended up fighting to talk which was opposing Piggy’s idea. This caused me to realize how important it is to listen to one another. Furthermore, I learned how important it was to follow rules. In our class discussions today, we spoke about how much chaos could arise if students rebelled against the teachers. If all rules were to be followed, society would work better.
An essay that analyzes the descent into savagery in depth:
https://supremestudy.com/lord-of-the-flies-the-fall-of-civilization-into-savagery
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