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.