Ritual Activites

In Lord of the flies, the dancing and the chanting seemed to bring the boys together even when some of them, such as Jack and Ralph, weren’t really getting along regarding other issues. But when they all danced and chanted together, they weren’t thinking about the beast that they were afraid was out to get them, and they seemed to forget about their current problems altogether. They were all together in a group and they seemed to feel as though this meant that they had protection. Also, the chanting and dancing originated from the hunters re-enacting the killing of the pig, which was something that they were proud of so it gave them a positive aspect of their situation on the island to focus on.

The trouble starts when they all start to get excited with this new “activity” that they’ve begun, and start to get carried away. I think we can all relate to this on some level; maybe we’re playing a game and we get too carried away with the thought of winning and we end up pushing someone out of the way to win. It could be something that we wouldn’t do in a different situation, but we can get so focused on whatever we are trying to do that we lose our common sense. I think this is exactly what happens with the boys when Simon arrives. It’s possible that when Simon first arrived some of them truly thought it was “the beast” coming to get them, but it clearly didn’t have to get to the extent it did for them to realize that it was really Simon. At least one of them must have known and chose not to stop the others. Maybe they were too afraid of the rest of the group to try to break up the chanting and dancing and get them to stop, afraid that they may be pulled into the circle instead of Simon.

I think they were all so focused on either thinking that they were killing the beast that they have been worried about, or the pig that seemed to bring them pleasure to kill that when they had someone they could actually take these actions out on they took advantage of it, without thinking of what the consequences were. They all wanted to believe that they had helped kill the beast.

Ritual Activities that I take part in:
-Going to church & activities at church
-Going to my grandparents for dinner every Sunday night
-Lent
- Band
-Christmas Traditions

For me, Lent is probably the most important ritual my family takes part in because it is challenging at the start but in the end it is also rewarding. For the 45 days (I think it’s 45…it’s around there) starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Good Friday, Catholics “give something up” and take time to reflect. You also aren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays (originally you weren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays at any time of the year, but now most people only do it during Lent). The whole Lent thing isn’t as big a deal anymore as it used to be, but my mom, my sister and I, as well as my mom’s side of the family all observe it. I like doing it because it’s fun to encourage every else on with their goals especially when they are difficult ones (like not eating bread, or chocolate!) By the time Easter comes, you feel really good about yourself because you realize that you have enough will-power to live without something that you enjoy or find difficult to part with. Quite often, once you are able to have whatever you gave up back; you tend not to want it as much. For example, last year I didn’t go on MSN for the entire time and now I hardly ever use it. I can’t really explain why you feel good about yourself, but you just do and to me that is an important experience that I can share with my whole family.

-Christina