Entry #8

Lord of the Flies
Chapter 8 and 9
Gift for the Darkness
A View to a Death

In the chapter Gift for the Darkness, horrible things happen. I think the worst part is when they hunt the pig. The boys decide to go for the fattest pig that there is. The poor pig has its own piglets to look after. They hurtle the spears at the sow only injuring it. She let out a blood curling scream and limped off. That began the most blood thirsty hunt. Trampling through the forest the boys follow the trail of blood. I think that it is horrible that the hunters go crazy at the sight of blood. They track the sow to a peaceful meadow. She lay in the meadow, gushing blood everywhere. The hunters jumped her. Stabbing their spears where ever they saw flesh, the butterflies danced above. In the book the author says, “She squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror.” Jack found the throat and tore at it with his knife. The blood spurted all over the wrestling mound. At last the pig layed still. Jack, taking his knife, slammed down and slit off the sows head. He then took a spear, stuck it into the ground, then jammed the head on it. “This head is for the beast. It's a gift,” Jack declared. With the blood dripping down the spear, the boys left the meadow. I think that this part is horribly descriptive. This is my least favorite part because the images in my head are terrifying. Overall, this part is vividly descriptive of a horrifying part.

I think that Jack and his hunters were responsible for Simon's death. The book says, "Jack leapt on to the sand. "Do or dance! Come on! Dance!" This was right at the time when the storm broke out and Jack was getting uneasy. By him starting up his dance the boys went crazy. They started chanting, "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" The boys were unstopable. They wanted to kill anything that was in the middle. Jack was all a part of this too. He was the leader in the dance. Even if he did realize what he was doing, there was no way in stoping the chanting boys. In conclusion, Jack inspired his tribe to hunt down Simon.