Journal Entry 5
Review how Ralph, Piggy, and Jack react to Simon’s
death. Why is this significant? What is Golding
saying about human nature?
Piggy says that it was an accident and that it was no ones fault. He says that Simon was asking for trouble by sneaking in through the darkness. Ralph continues to blame himself for the whole incident as if there was something he could do to stop it. Ralph says it was murder and won’t let it go while Piggy just says it was an accident and disregards it. This shows the difference in their character. Jack on the other hand acts in a complete other way. He goes into denial and won’t believe it is Simon. He tells everyone that it was the beast in disguise and that the beast is not in fact dead. In addition, he does this to stay in control. As long as there is fear, people will trust in him to protect them. Here, Golding is trying to say that it is easier to make excuses than to confront what really happened. Ralph is the only one that is able to go out and day that “we killed Simon, it is our fault.” The Piggy blames Simon, sneaking out of the dark like he did, and Jack even goes to the extent to say that it was not Simon at all, but a monster. We can see, though he looks tough and ready to kill some one at the blink of an eye, that he actually is unable to cope with the fact that he actually took part in the death of another. Later in the book we see that he adapts to this idea and it becomes much easier for him when Piggy dies and when he is hunting Ralph, while setting the island ablaze.
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