Week 2 Journal - Lord of the Flies (Summative)

This week, our group analyzed chapters 3 and 4 of "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. Our discussion consisted of analyzing the concealed darkness slowly evolving as the boys continue living on the island. In chapter 3 we talked about how the mutual hatred between Ralph and Jack has been present ever since the vote for chief and has only been developing progressively. Now, during a meeting, the first verbal argument between the two individuals as their hatred ruptures out of concealment. Ralph believes that "[they] need shelters" (pg.52) and requests the assistance of the group to help build them but on the other hand, Jack neglects Ralph's demand for help and states that "[he'd] like to catch a pig first." (pg.54) We see that Ralph is a civilized character that's trying to mimic the setting of modern society while Jack is slowly transforming into a savage with his mind set on feeding his exhilarating bloodlust.. Without the presence of adults, Jack is slowly being consumed by his hidden, dark ,inner self and is changing into a savage as each day passes. But our group noticed another element that was present aside from all the conflict and darkness. Simon represents that there is still a bright side even at the darkest moment because even with so much hostility amongst Ralph and Jack, "Simon found for [the littluns] the fruit the could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, [and] passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands." (pg.57) I believe that this connects perfectly with Hotel Rwanda with Simon relating to Paul the hotel manager. Even in the midst of a genocide, Paul portrayed his sympathy and kindness towards the Tutsi refugees and aided them even though it meant putting his life at risk.

In chapter 4, we notice that the resentment between Ralph and Jack worsens. The struggle for power is becoming more apparent as the group is beginning to split into two. Ralph believes that the power should be used to maintain the welfare of the group while Jack has lost all his interest in the group and is only concerned about feeding his bloodlust. Furthermore, Ralph is attempting to use his power to create an orderly society for the the boys to live in while they're on the island but Jack's group of hunters is abusing their power by bullying and harming the littluns. They're being counterproductive to what Ralph wants to achieve and it's creating a vast gap between the two groups which is creating a very hostile environment. The irony is that initially, Jack says that "we've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages." (pg.42), but after living on the island for an extensive period, "he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling." (pg.66) I think this connects to the Rwandan genocide as two parties began splitting further and further apart due to the difference in beliefs until it finally turned into conflict.

Overall, I think our group is doing very well and we all have a very good understanding of the different layers in the book. We all have insightful input and we have great efficiency that allows us to usually finish our discussion before we're out of time.

The changes I made were that I added quotes and a few more things to help further explain my writing.

Response

YOu are on the right path. Ilike how you made your connection to the genocide. In future responses make sure you also bring in quotes to help futrther develop your wiritng as well.YOu have also connected to the darkness that exists, which shows you are using the guiding questions in your group. When you say that you are working well in your group you might want to expand a bit more on that by telling me exactly how.

Week 2 Journal - Lord of The Flies

This week, our group analyzed chapters 3 and 4 of Lord of the Flies. In chapter 3, we discussed about the two conflicting parties in the book which is Ralph and Jack. There was a mutual hatred between the two since the beginning but now the two have to cooperate in order for all of the boys to survive on the island. But the growing hatred between the two has resulted in their first verbal argument. Ralph wants the cooperation of the boys to create huts for shelter but on the other hand, Jack wants to hunt pigs and neglects Ralph's request for assistance. We see that Ralph is a more civilized character as he's trying to reconstruct a setting that represents the city while Jack is a more primal character that reacts according to instincts, which in this case is his exhilarating bloodlust to hunt for food. But aside from these elements, Simon brings forth an element of sympathy and genuine kindness into the story creating a very unique structure within the story. Simon assisted Ralph in building the huts when everyone else neglected the work and went to play and he helped reach for fruit for the smaller boys who couldn't reach it. Even with the hostility between Ralph and Jack, Simon represents that there is still a bright side even at the darkest moment. I believe that this connects perfectly with Hotel Rwanda with Simon relating to Paul the hotel manager. Even in the midst of a genocide, Paul portrayed his sympathy and kindness towards the Tutsi refugees and aided them even though it meant putting his life at risk.

In chapter 4, the resentment between Ralph and Jack worsens. The struggle for power is becoming more obvious and we see that the group is beginning to split itself into two. Ralph believes that the power should be used to maintain the welfare of the group while Jack has lost all his interest in the group and is only concerned about feeding his bloodlust. The signal fire that Jack and his group of hunters were responsible for keeping going allowed it to go out and they missed their chance to get rescued. Ralph was enraged but Jack was too thrilled about killing his first pig that he didn't bother to care. Furthermore, Ralph is attempting to use his power to create an orderly society for the the boys to live in while they're on the island but Jack's group of hunters is abusing their power by bullying and harming the littluns. Roger and Jack harass Piggy more and more and bully the littluns while they play. They're being counterproductive to what Ralph wants to achieve and it's creating a vast gap between the two groups which is creating a very hostile environment. I think this connects to the Rwandan genocide as two parties began splitting further and further apart due to the difference in beliefs until it finally turned into conflict.

Overall I think that our group is doing quite well in understanding the aspects of Lord of the Flies. We work well together and we are able to help each other understand the deeper meaning behind the words of the book.