Lord of the Flies Quotes and Significance
Join now to read essay Lord of the Flies Quotes and Significance
Sorry about the formatting, The quotes are on one line, the location and significance of the quote are on the next line
Eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they savored the right of domination.
Chapter 1,
They knew very well why he hadnât: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood
Chapter 1, page 31
This passage occurs after Jack sees a piglet stuck in vines and pull out his knife to kill it. He hesitated and did not kill the pig because it had the chance to free itself and flee. Jack said he didnât kill the pig because he didnât know where to cut it and says that he will kill the next pig he sees. But here, obviously was the truth. This passage is significant because it shows that Jack was not a savaged but a disciplined, civilized person, who would not kill a pig without remorse.
He felt himself facing something ungraspable
Chapter 2,
âI agree with Ralph. Weâve got to have rules and obey them. After all, weâre not savages. Weâre English, and the English are best at everything. So weâve got to do the right things.â
Jack,
Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.
Chapter 4,
His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.
Chapter 4,
âBut I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one.â
Ralph,
âWhat I mean is Maybe itâs only us.â… Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankindâs essential illness.â
Simon, Chapter 5, page 89
Simon says these words in Chapter 5, where he talks about the beast. While the other boys were talking about the beast as a literal beast that hides in the woods, or in the water, as a physical being, Simon says that the beast is only the boys themselves. Simon does not fully understand this idea until in Chapter 8 where he faces the Lord of the Flies in a hallucination. This becomes clear that the beast is the evil within the boys and the savagery among them.