The first three chapters of Lord of the Flies are filled with confusion and the essence of how slow starting a community is. The reader is led through Ralph’s frustration regarding the boy’s unwillingness to listen to him or the other older members, and will not or do the responsible work that would satisfy the group’s needs. Contrasting this wearisome and painfully not cohesive group, the hunters start to form a bond and the “littuns” are carefree splashing in the ocean and playing games within the forest.
Emotions run heavy throughout these opening chapters, allowing the reader to experience the fear, excitement, suspense, loneliness, hopelessness, and playfulness felt through the different characters. As the boys get used to the island, they develop a daily rhythm, although it is almost impossible to adjust to the new rhythms of tropical life. They seem to still have a lot of conflicts that need to be resolved and a schedule to help them make it through this “adventure”. A lot changed in the 3-4th chapters, Jack finally caught a pig and they missed getting rescued or that’s what they thought.
The conflict between Jack and Ralph is quite amusing. They both want to be the one with the power and have their own way. My favorite characters so far would have to be Ralph. He seems to have everything in check as in what needs to be done and when and what is wrong. For example, when Ralph saw the fire wasn’t making enough smoke to be noticed by a boat or anything of that kind and Jack and the other boys were doing nothing about it. He lets Jack know that there is more to living on this island then just killing a pig. I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig! ” (pg. 54) I get where Ralph is coming from because I get what it’s like when no one listens or just want to do their own thing which doesn’t always work. Piggy seems to be getting his voice out a bit now, making a name for himself and not just being the underdog. When they could have gotten saved piggy had something to say to Jack “You and your blood Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home- “(pg. 70).
My favorite part in these chapters was seeing Piggy speak up and not be afraid to say what he thinks. He had pretty much the whole island with him when he told Jack off. Even though he is the underdog people can still see that he is quite intelligent and knows what he is doing sometimes. Even though Jack broke his glasses he still stood up for himself not caring about anyone’s opinion. In conclusion, I enjoy the conflict between all the characters, but mostly Jack and Ralph have, they were both brought up a different way and that makes the story way more interesting to read.
