In his essay on Roger, Feem found useful support on page 62, where Henry is protected from Roger's stones by "the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."“Grownups know things,” said Piggy. “They ain’t afraid of the dark. They’d meet and have tea and discuss. Then things ’ud be all right—”“They wouldn’t set fire to the island. Or lose—”“They’d build a ship—”The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life.“They wouldn’t quarrel—”“Or break my specs—”“Or talk about a beast—”
- What is Golding saying in these and similar passages about the world of adults?
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Reference
Golding, W. (1954). Lord of the Flies. In W. Golding (Author) & E. L. Epstein (afterward), Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.
I think the world of adults is different from the world of children. Most children do anything they want without thinking of the outcome. They don't care about the rules or what is right or wrong. They just do it when they want.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for adults, they tend to follow the rules and concern about civilization. Sometimes they do what they really hate to do in order to be in the society. For example, adults will not break Piggy's specs or talk about the beast, and they will build a ship for escaping from the island.
In addition, when Roger throw stone to Henry, I think it is like in the world of adults, children will be protected from some harmful thing by parents, policeman and law because in that world, Roger will not have a chance to bully others.
Golding presents a contrast between outside world which full of grown ups as well as civilization and the world of stranded boys where chaos is happening and lacks of respecting rules.
ReplyDeleteEven though the outside world is not really civilized and conflicts are continuing as the World War is occurring during the period of the story, it is much better than living in a small island in four main points: the adults world has innovations to survive, more reasons, helpful protectors and rules of law.
The first thing, innovations to survive, is exemplified in a sentence about building a ship.
To support that the adult world has more reasons, the boys say that grown up don't feel afraid of darkness and do not talk about a beast.
Grown ups are also best protectors for children. Finally, they mostly do not only take arbitrary actions as kids do.
I don't know exactly what Golding is saying about the world of adults, but in the story, one of the character that reflects about grown ups world is Piggy. Piggy's action and behavior in the first four chapter shows that he is similar to the grown ups. He is conscientious and his thinking is not like a kid. For example, when the boys plan to make a fire on top of the mountain, every boys except Piggy excitedly run into the mountain top. They expect to have some fun which Piggy thinks it is not a fun thing. He says something about the other boys's behavior, "acting like a crowd of kids!"
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with you. He acts like a grownup. He is very cautious and think carefully before making a decision. You can also see when he vote for Ralph. He is the last person who raise his hand to vote for Ralph.
DeleteHe always complaining like women all the time. He always repeat the words "acting like a crowd of kids!". He also have a lot of intelligence showing by noticing the way to use the conch and importance of the shelter to be built.
I like "complaining like women." Where might that idea lead if developed a bit?
DeleteGolding is saying that the world of adults is civilized. Unlike the children, the grownups are rational enough to do things for the present and future because they have more experiences and are concerned about doing the right things right and are not too sensitive. Adults also know what is important and what is urgent to do. Seemingly, their beliefs and thoughts are instilled from what their ancestors have done before. The grownups are usually mature enough to spend their life appropriately in the civilized society which is governed by laws. More importantly, they think for their future, not only today's pleasure, and help together to make the better world.
ReplyDeleteBoth Ralph and Piggy are missing the world of maturity. They are bored the other boy who don’t have respect to other people and solve the problem with lack of intelligence. They hope the adult could find the solution to fix all of these problem, for example, building a ship. Above all, they are tired of the boys who are easily misled to the wrong way or do a lot of idiot things like being afraid of darkness, or using violence to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteReading your response comments, I thought a couple of other useful questions might be:
ReplyDelete1. Is Piggy more like an adult or more like an intellectual?
2. Who is more the intellectual on the island: Piggy or one of the other boys?
3. And after reading your classmates' responses above, have you changed your mind about anything?
Do you, for example, agree with Ning or with the majority about the civilized world of adults? Which side of this disagreement should perhaps change their mind(s)?
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