Chapter 9: A View to a Death

[S2Lit2008HCI]

1) Why do you think this chapter begins with a weather report?

2) What is the function of rituals in this society (on the island)?

3) Why do Ralph and Piggy feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society"?

4) How is the title of this chapter a double entendre?

[2bongyuhao17]

1) Why do you think this chapter begins with a weather report?

With the brutal, animalistic murder of Simon, the last vestige of civilized order on the island is stripped away, and brutality and chaos take over. By this point, the boys in Jack’s camp are all but inhuman savages, and Ralph’s few remaining allies suffer dwindling spirits and consider joining Jack. Even Ralph and Piggy themselves get swept up in the ritual dance around Jack’s banquet fire. The storm that batters the island after Simon’s death pounds home the catastrophe of the murder and physically embodies the chaos and anarchy that have overtaken the island. Significantly, the storm also washes away the bodies of Simon and the parachutist, eradicating proof that the beast does not exist.

[2bwenkang04]

Hi everyone, I will be answering question 1 first.
1. I agree with Yu Hao for question 1 but I would like to post my opinions.
I think that this chapter begins with a weather report because the main gist of the chapter is that Simon dies. As discussed earlier, we say that Simon is a boy that loves peace, and is very much connected to nature. Thus, in this chapter, in which Simon dies, the island gets somewhat of a 'premonition' of Simon's death. This is evident in the text in which the build up of clouds continue. A steady current of heated air rose all day, by early evening the sun had gone and was replaced by a brassy glare, the air from the sea was hot and not cooling, colours drained from water, trees and pink surfaces of rock, white and brown clouds brooded and nothing prospered. This is significant as it highlights the fact that something was going (to be) wrong. Simon, who was close to nature, is the obvious target because something was going wrong with the nature of the island. Thus, William Golding begun with a weather report solely to warn the reader that something bad was going to happen and an alert reader can kind of predict that the unlucky person is Simon.
Thank you, I will be answering the other questions later.
Regards,
Wen Kang.

[2btaytianwen28]

Hi all,

I write in support of wen kang's post on question 1.

As he has said, this is evident in the text in which the build up of clouds continue. A steady current of heated air rose all day, by early evening the sun had gone and was replaced by a brassy glare, the air from the sea was hot and not cooling, colours drained from water, trees and pink surfaces of rock, white and brown clouds brooded and nothing prospered.

Such a weather report predicts bad weather, or in the context, a bad omen. It could have acted as a premonition to readers about Simon's death, as stated in the evidence above, everything was fading, the colours of nature, the warm sea air -- all hints of bad weather. This is a contrast to Simon's character. The lifelessness and loss of vibrancy of nature is exactly opposite to what Simon puts across to the reader.

All in all , William Golding begun with a weather report solely to warn the reader that something bad was going to happen.

[2bmarcel16]

I shall answer only question 3.

3.Why do Ralph and Piggy feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society"?

I think this question is pretty straightforward.If you were on an island, with only a pair of littluns and a fat weak boy,and a boy who says that the island has a beast, with common sense having just been abolished, would you want to join a society which guarantees you from being hunted like a pig and done in at every opportunity? I would. At this point of the story, Ralph and Piggy were alone with Samneric and Simon. Simon was not with them, and he was the embodiment of common sense in their little group. Hence, It is only natural that they would feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society".Mind you, I seriously cant think of the event that I would not reconsider my decision to join, especially after seeing the tribe gang up on Maurice . Jack had been with them for so long, that it might seem that savagery might be able to penetrate their defenses. And with the rest of the tribe behind Jack, and after seeing how Jack got meat , Ralph and Piggy would have been enticed to join the tribe, for safety and a sense of belonging that they definitely lacked. Being demented would have been the least of their concerns, at least it was 'secure'.

Have a nice day.ROFL.

[2balcanderseah01]

Hi all, I shall now be posting on question 4.

This is the definition given by wikipedia on entendre:
A double entendre is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. This can be as simple as a phrase which has two mutually exclusive meanings, and is thus a clever play on words. An example of this would be the title of the short story, "The Most Dangerous Game", by Richard Connell, in which the title can refer both to the "game" that is most dangerous to hunt, and "game" that is most dangerous to play. Most double entendres however, carry a sexual connotation made famous by Shakespeare.

I feel that the title is a double entendre because as the defination stated, had two meanings to it. One of it is that the ¡°View to a death¡± meant looking at death and understanding it while the other meaning acted as a foreshadowing that predicted Simon¡¯s death, thus viewing on how he died when Simon encountered the Lord of the flies as it promised to have some fun with him when he attempted to tell the rest of the boys that the beast was actually the innate human nature that exists within them and was not a physical being.

Thus, when Simon was killed by the boys, he was indirectly killed by the lord of the flies as the boys acted on the savage instincts taking over them, which was controlled by the lord of the flies.

All in all, the title of this chapter is a double entendre because it has two underlining meaning implied to it, one suggesting looking at death and understanding it while the other represented the foreshadowing of Simon¡¯s death, predicted by lord of the flies when it had promised to have some fun with it.

That is all I have to say. Thank You

[2balcanderseah01]

I agree with Marcel's point that Being demented would have been the least of their concerns, at least it was 'secure'. I will now express my own views.

When Piggy and Ralph felt the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society", it was going to rain and with Jack commanding everyone to dance to forget about their troubles, it made Jack's tribe look secure at that moment as everyone was cooperating with him, thus making it look cosy.

When they first arrived on the island, as mentioned by Ralph, there was a storm and therefore with this reoccurance, it sort of made Ralph remember the days where they worked together as a group and thus probably had tempted him to join Jack's group even though they were savages and occupied their minds with hunting all day long.

Thank You. That is all I have to say

[2bwenkang04]

I agree with Alcander for question 4.
Although I searched dictionary.com with the word entendre, what I got for entendre is that it's French for hear. Since it's not in context, so I would be using Alcander's definition.
I would like to add a point that 'The View to a Death' could mean (in the Lord Of the Flies' point of view) that Simon was 'condemned' to a death by the Lord of the Flies after finding out the truth about the Lord of the Flies, as it promised to have some fun with him when he attempted to tell the rest of the boys that the beast was actually the innate human nature that exists within them and was not a physical being.
The title could also mean a view to Simon's death. Note that I am emphasing on the view here, because it could mean about what the other boys thought about a death (Simon's) which was about to happen, their thoughts, their emotions, etc.
I agree with Alcander's points thoroughly.
Thank you
Regards,
Wen Kang

[2bmarcuschong03]

Hey all, I will have my take on Question 1.
After looking at the above posts on this question, I totally agree with you guys about the significance of the storm.

Yu Hao->"The storm that batters the island after Simon’s death pounds home the catastrophe of the murder and physically embodies the chaos and anarchy that have overtaken the island. Significantly, the storm also washes away the bodies of Simon and the parachutist, eradicating proof that the beast does not exist."

Wen Kang / Tian Wen ->"Thus, William Golding begun with a weather report solely to warn the reader that something bad was going to happen and an alert reader can kind of predict that the unlucky person is Simon."

Besides these 2 important points, I have thought of another one.

As we all know in this particularly significant chapter, Ralph finally loses his leadership over the other boys, who succumb to Jack's increasing charisma and the opportunity he gives them to indulge their violent and childish interests. Golding underscores the tragedy of this shift in power with the violent storm that ravages the island, a storm for which the shortsighted Jack was not prepared. Just when Ralph's calm judgment and practicality is most needed, he lacks the authority to bring the boys to safety. The storm on the island serves as a reminder of the perils they face; while Ralph has built shelters for the boys and is prepared for this situation, Jack has focused simply on hunting and entertaining the boys, to their detriment. Golding again directs the reader's sympathy towards Ralph, whose concern remains for the good of the group.

Regards,
Marcus Chong 2B03

[2bwenkang04]

I agree with Marcel's point about Ralph and Piggy having to feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society". I think that Marcel's point was very accurate.
Ralph and Piggy felt the need to be part of the demented society because of the 'uprising' of Jack. I think that Jack played a huge part in this. This was because of the fact that Jack was now in power. He had authority and everyone (his hunters) listened to him. Instead of getting on the other side of Jack, Ralph and Piggy made a huge strategic move to kind of 'get along' with Jack. It also made them safe because Jack would be unlikely to kill/injure/torture them if they were on the same side. Hence, I think that Ralph and Piggy wanted to be part of this demented but secure society was to curry favour with Jack and this made Ralph and Piggy feel safe because they were shielded from Jack's torture/killings since they were on the same side, and they were also provided food (meat) by Jack.
It's the same ideology as Survivor.
Thank you
Regards,
Wen Kang

[2afanyi10]

4)
I feel that the title of this chapter was a double entendre as it both suggested that Simon realised that the boys would die on this island due to the evil in their hearts, if noboyd rescued them in time, and also suggested that Simon himself was facing his own death as the lord of the flies told him that they were going to have "fun". This suggested that Simon would be killed after he received this piece of information. Also, it was some sort of an irony a well, as Simon later hurried to the boys to tell them that they would die on the island if they were not rescued in time, but got himself killed before he had the chance to tell them.

Openus,
Fan Yi

[2cgalileoyap07]

1) Why do you think this chapter begins with a weather report?

The weather, as many have said, a glimpse of what was to come in the chapter, which in this case was Simon's death. Now Simon's death was a particularly significant one in this novel, and the author goes so far as to describe the weather, giving a sense of impending doom for Simon. The death of Simon basically represents the spiraling of this society on the island, down into darkness and evil.
However, right before Simon is killed, it began to rain, from the book,
"The hunters were looking uneasily at the sky, flinching from the stroke of the drops." and " The littleuns began to run about, screaming."
This also partially reveals the weakness in Jack's hunters in their seemingly powerful and impenetrable group, in which Ralph and Piggy have the upper hand as the short term planning for Jack is exposed.

[2bongyuhao17]

3) Why do Ralph and Piggy feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society"?

Ralph and Piggy feel the need to be this part of this demented but partly secure society simply because they probably believe that they could still change Jack and his hunters. When Ralph had confronted Jack for Piggy's spectacles, Ralph still considered himself as the chief. He made use of that as a base against Jack. By thinking himself as chief, he still believes that he can use this authority to tower over Jack. Even at the end, he still tells the naval officer that he is the leader.

[2afanyi10]

3) Why do Ralph and Piggy feel the need to be a part of "this demented but partly secure society"?
I feel that this is due to the fact that the idea of the "beast" was still in the boys' mind and since there is "safety in numbers", Ralph and Piggy would rather stay closer to Jack to face whatever he throws at them than to be alone in the darkness with goodness-knows-what that might spring out from behind them. This also suggests to the fact that even though Ralph and Piggy knew that Jack was "unstable", they would rather be with him than with the "beast" which they felt was the real evil and enemy, thus this was the worst kind of friend-friend relationship: enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[2b27pangshiang]

2) What is the function of rituals in this society (on the island)?

Rituals play a part in the island society as the religion of the boys and it marks the boys' descent into savagery as the rituals get wilder and wilder.

Rituals are the main part of Jack's society as they perform it daily, or rather, nightly, after they kill a pig. This has become so obsessive to them that it is their religion and an intergrated part of their society. The ritual is important to them as it is a form of entertainment after their long hours of work (This is only an assumption, please correct me if I am wrong).

Also, as the boys become more savage, they have wilder rituals, and these require some sort of sacrifices (Wilfred is to be tied up and beaten) and even wilder when Simon was killed in one of them. Hence this shows that the rituals' intensiveness acts as milestones of the boys' descent into savagery.