(Since we read Chapter 6 in class, I didn't post the notes on the blog)
Key Characters
Ralph: In this chapter, Ralph gets his first taste of hunting and... likes it. He's proud of having speared the boar that came charging at them in the jungle. However, the other boys didn't seem to care all that much about Ralph's success.
Simon: Simon tells Ralph emphatically that "I just think you'll get back all right" (111). Simon seems very sure of himself that Ralph, at least, will one day get off the island. Later, in Chapter 8, after Ralph and Jack "confirm" the existence of the beast, Simon suggests that they go back to the mountain to really make sure that the beast is there (he's still doubtful that it exists). Everyone ignores him, so he goes off to find the beast himself--on his way he sees the entire scene in which Jack and his new tribe kill the mother pig. (See "Simon and the Lord of the Flies for more info).
Key Things and Moments
The "Game": They boys start a new game where one of them pretends to be a pig and the others make a ring around him and "hunt" him down. Robert happens to be the first fake pig, but the game gets a bit out of hand. Even Ralph gets sucked in to the violence, with the narrator noting that "the desire to... hurt was over-mastering" (115). This isn't the last time you'll see this game in the text, so watch out for it.
The Beast: By the time the boys hike from The Castle, hunt the pig, play the new game, and get to the mountain, it is dark. Jack goes ahead of the other boys to see if the "beast" is actually there, like Sam and Eric said. Again, foiled by the darkness, Jack says he sees "a thing bulge on the mountain," (121). When Ralph, Roger, and Jack go to get closer, the wind picks up, the dead pilot's body lifts and they get an obscured glimpse at his decomposed face. Since it's too dark to actually see that this "beast" is just the body of a shot-down pilot, they think they have confirmed that the beast exists. In the meeting in Chapter 8, Jack says that the beast is hunting them (even though there is no evidence for this).
The Signal Fire: Now that the "beast" rules the mountain, the boys believe they can no longer have the signal fire up on the mountain (the most visible place for it). Of course, the symbolic connection makes sense. The beast (though not actually real) is impeding their efforts to get off the island: just like their "inner" beasts push them to want to hunt and indulge in violence rather than try to get back to civilization. In Chapter 8, Piggy has the idea to move the signal fire to where they camp out, near the bathing pool.
The Meeting & Split in Chapter 8: Jack again tries to usurp Ralph's authority, saying that the latter was too scared to go see the beast. (Even though Roger stayed back too, Jack doesn't mention this). In the meeting, Jack asks "Who thinks Ralph oughtn't to be chief" (127). Once again, Jack is humiliated, as none of the boys raise their hands. However, this time, Jack storms off, saying he is going to create his own group that will hunt on its own. Maurice, Roger, and Bill are the first to leave Ralph to join Jack's group (surprise, surprise).
Mamma Pig: During Jack's first hunt as chief of his own separate group, the boys come across a mother pig nursing her little piglets. The boys hunt down the sow (female pig) and brutally kill her--even shoving a spear up her rear end and smearing the blood from her cut throat on their faces. This is a brutal killing that has elements of rape in it. Considering that the sow is the only female mentioned in the book, (beside Piggy's auntie), what happens to her is significant. The boys' extreme disregard for life (they kill a mother nursing her babies) is significant; the fact that it is highlighted in the first hunt with Jack as his own chief foreshadows the violence to come. Also significant is the fact that the boys cut off the sow's head and put it on a stick as an offering to "the beast": this becomes the titular "Lord of the Flies".
Simon and the Lord of the Flies: As mentioned above, Simon saw the killing and beheading of the sow. This, along with his dehydration, seems to have sent Simon over the edge. He begins to hallucinate that the sow's head (remember, Jack put it on a stick as an offering to the beast) is talking to him. This is a little confusing and weird, so pay attention:
Sow's head is called the "Lord of the Flies" (because there are so many flies buzzing around it). It REPRESENTS our dark nature and is, therefore, the "true beast" of Golding's novel. In his hallucinations, the Lord of the Flies talks to Simon, telling him he was "just wrong" and that he should "go back to the others" (137). Basically, the Lord of the Flies is trying to make sure Simon won't give him away.
At the end of chapter 8 (after an interlude in which we check in on Ralph and Jack), the conversation between Simon and the Lord of the Flies (i.e. the pig head on a stick) continues. The Lord of the Flies argues that it was silly that the boys thought that "the Beast was something you could hunt and kill," and goes on to say that "I'm part of you" (143). This, of course, verifies what Golding (and Simon) have been saying all along: the Beast is our dark side and it is not something we can hunt or hide from. The chapter ends with the Lord of the Flies threatening Simon to keep his mouth shut about the true nature of the beast: "I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry... You're not wanted...We are going to have fun on this island! So don't try it... or else" (144). Foreboding indeed. How Simon will react is another question.
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