Throughout these chapters more and more conflicts arise as more boys turn into savages and others cling to society.
At the beginning of chapter 7 we see Ralph very concerned with his appearance. He is upset with how stiff and dirty his clothes are and is frustrated with how long his hair is. His long hair makes it difficult for him to see at times, and therefore changes the way he sees, or doesn't see, things. Ralph really wants to go home and this is reflected by his obsession with his hygiene and appearance, but when Ralph goes out to hunt boars with the others we see his horrible savage side. Golding is trying to get across to the reader that there is a very dark animalistic side to everyone of us. After the hunt, the boys chant, "Kill the pig, and cut his throat." This symbolizes the loss of innocence as well as the change from "gentleboys" to savages.
Simon's character intrigues me. He doesn't seem to take sides when the boys split between savages and civilized people. Although he gets along with people, I think he would rather spend time alone in nature. I ask myself, "Why?" Simon takes everything at face value. He sees the good and bad in everyone and everything. We have yet to see a dark side to Simon. I wonder if there is one.
Jack seems to be envious of Ralph's leadership. When the group of boys go to the mountain to explore and Ralph decides that they should wait until morning, Jack challenges him saying that he will keep going which in turn makes Ralph keep going so he doesn't look weak to the boys. Jack also challenges Ralph's power when they go hunting. Jack asks why Ralph won't hunt, and shortly after that they are both hunting like animalistic freaks.
I predicted that the boys would split! There seems to be two "teams:" the savages and the civilized. Ralph is obviously the leader of society and Jack of the savages. The civilized boys consist of the littluns, Piggy, and Ralph. Jack's team consists of the choir boys, Bill, Roger, and Maurice. I predict that more and more people will join Jack, starting with the littluns.
When Jack instructs the boys to sharpen the stick and put the mother pig's head on it, I believe that Golding was trying to show Jack's complete loss of innocence. Jack has never been my favorite character, but this is ridiculous! Is he trying to prove something or does he not care anymore with his instincts taking over?
At the end of chapter 8 the pig's head is silently "talking" with Simon. This is so weird for me! I don't quite understand. Is Simon going crazy or is he that in touch with nature that the pig's "spirit" is "speaking" to him? Despite what was actually happening, there is a deeper foreshadowing going on. The pig tells him to watch out because the others will "do" him, or in other words kill him soon!
This book is kind of scary and dark, and I believe that is Golding's goal: watch out for ourselves for there is evil inside everyone.
TREMULOUS-characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness.
I also didn't really understand the whole pig head thing. I didn't really like how part of the climax was unrealistic, with a dead pig head talking to Simon. It didn't really make sense to me and it made me not like the book very much anymore.
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