When we last saw Ralph in chapter 11, he was running as fast as he could away from Jack’s tribe. We now find him hiding in the forest, wondering what he should do next. He can’t really believe what has happened to them all, and he thinks that the boys are only going to become more and more savage. He starts getting scared because he thinks that since they killed Piggy and Simon, they are going to look for him until they can give him a similar fate. He comes out of hiding to check out his surroundings and finds the pigs skull which scares him a bit, so he hits it and it cracks in half. He wonders if he can just go and join the tribe, but he knows that it will never happen. When he hears some of the boys nearby, he goes to see who they are and finds them to be Samneric, who are guarding Castle Rock. This makes Ralph sad, that the only other boys who were loyal to him that are still alive have turned to savages. Still, he goes over to talk to them. They warn him that he had better go away because the tribe is planning on hunting for him the next dayThey say that they’re going to keep hunting until they find him, and apparently Roger had “sharpened a stick at both ends.” They also explain that they had been forced to join the tribe, they hadn’t really wanted to. Ralph tells the twins where he plans on hiding, and asks them to make sure nobody looks there for him. One of the guards shows up and Ralph has to leave, after he goes back into hiding he finally falls asleep.
He wakes up hearing people coming, and moves through the forest as fast as he can managing to grab a sharp stick to use as a spear. He doesn’t know if he should hide, and hope they won’t find him, or run and risk being seen or being caught up to; in the end he decides to hide. Then he smells and sees the smoke, and realiezes that they are trying to make him come out of hiding by setting the entire island on fire. The smoke is getting closer and one of the boys has found his hiding spot, so Ralph runs for it. He runs as fast as he can to the beach and is prepring to be caught, since he has almost run out of land to run on, and sees a man from the Navy standing there. A ship had seen the smoke and come to see what was going on. The officer asks Ralph some questions, but definitely doesn’t learn the whole story. Then Ralph, thinking of everything that had happened to them, bursts into tears and that’s the end of the story.
Christina
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This chapter has alot of irony. Ralph had thought the signal firewas the only way to lure rescuers to the island. It's funny how a ship really does attract the officer to the boys yet it was not a controlled one but one that was intended to kill.
I read the book and i finished it and then I was telling my mom about it until something came to my mind. I figured that it was really the boy's savagery that ultimately saved them and not their civilization. Jack who turned savage got rescued whereas Piggy, the civilized one dies. Do you guys think that surviving and becoming a savage is better?
But they're lucky it turned out that way because if it hadn't they would have burned down all the fruit tress and lost all their fire wood!
That's a really good point, I don't think it's a really good message though. It's actually really sad when you think of it that way, Jack was the one who let the fire go out when the first ship passed. If they had been rescued at that point they all would have survived! But Jack gets rescued anyways and doesn't have to suffer any consequences for his actions.
Actually maybe once he gets home and gets some help he feels horribly guilty for the rest of his life. Or ends up in jail for something else once he's older.
We could totally write the sequel ;)"Life after the island" don't you think?
That's a great idea Christina! Let me finish my exams and we can diccuss the plot later on. Maybe the ghosts of Simon and Piggy can come back to haunt him too! I can't wait!!
Right we'll get right on that Amira, I'm sure it will be a big seller.
Post a Comment