Passage focus:
Characterization – Jack’s antithesis of Ralph
Excerpt from: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
(Page 90)
Jack shouted.
‘Make a ring!’
The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain.
‘Ow! Stop it! You're hurting!’
The butt end of a spear fell on his back as he blundered among them.
‘Hold him!’
They got his arms and legs. Ralph, carried away by a sudden thick excitement,
grabbed Eric's spear and jabbed at Robert with it.
‘Kill him! Kill him!’
All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy.
Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting
to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt.
‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’
Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable
flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.
Jack's arm came down; the heaving circle cheered and made pig-dying noises.
Then they lay quiet, panting, listening to Robert's frightened snivels. He wiped his face
with a dirty arm, and made an effort...
