HW SET 1: BASED ON CHAPTERS 5 TO 8:
to be put up on the blog by 04 October
Chapter 5:
“Beast from Water”
1. What change has come over Ralph as a result of the signal
fire incident? How have his values
changed?
2. What points does Ralph make at the meeting? What general
point does he make that he wants
people to discuss? Why are these points so significant?
3. What does Jack say in response to Ralph‟s comments? Why
do you think Ralph is shocked?
4. What does Piggy mean by his claim that “life is
scientific”? What does he mean when he suggests
that “there isn‟t no fear, either[…]unless we get frightened
of people”?
5. What does Percival say when Jack asks him where the beast
lives? Why do you think he says this?
6. What does Simon say about the beast, and what do you
think he means? How does everyone else
react to what he says?
7. Why are the rules so important to Ralph? What are the
consequences of breaking them?
8. Why does Piggy say that Ralph should blow the conch to
call everyone back, and why does Ralph decide not to?
Chapter 6:
“Beast from Air”
1. What is the “beast from air”? How is it appropriate that
the boys mistake it for a beast—what
connection does it have with the novel‟s themes, and what
does it symbolize?
2. What does Sam and Eric‟s description of the beast tell us
about human psychology?
3. How does Ralph overcome Jack‟s challenge during the
discussion about what to do about the beast?
4. What significant thoughts does Simon have about the beast
while the boys are walking to the
“castle”?
5. Why do you think Ralph doesn‟t really expect to encounter
the beast?
6. How do most of the boys react to their discovery of the
“castle”? What foreshadowing takes place
at the end of the chapter?
Chapter 7: “Shadows
and Tall Trees”
1. What embarrassing thing does Ralph say to himself near
the beginning of the chapter that he‟s afraid someone might have overheard? What does he mean by it? What
change in Ralph does the act of talking to himself demonstrate?
2. What does Simon say to Ralph that makes them both smile?
Think carefully about Simon‟s choice of words—do you think it foreshadows something that might
happen later in the novel?
3. What disturbing thing do the group of hunters and Ralph
do immediately after their encounter with
the pig? How is Ralph‟s behavior surprising? What does this
behavior foreshadow?
4. Why do you think Simon is so eager to volunteer to go
across the island to tell Piggy and the littluns what they‟re doing?
5. Why do you think Jack insists on going up the mountain to
look for the beast even though it‟s
already dark when they arrive? What internal conflict does
Ralph feel about the decision to go up the
mountain in the dark?
6. Why do you think Golding (the author) plotted the story
so that the boys would go up the mountain
in the dark?
Chapter 8:
“Gift for the Darkness”
1. What does Ralph say that angers Jack? How does Jack
express his anger? How does Jack respond to his failure to get support from the group, and what does this
response suggest about the boys‟ future?
2.How does Piggy show “intellectual daring”? Why is this so
significant to the boys?
3. Why do you think the biguns wait until the other boys are
occupied to leave instead of supporting
Jack‟s challenge during the meeting?
4. What unusual thing happens to Ralph after Jack leaves and
after he realizes most of the biguns have left? What is the significance of his reaction?
5. What suggestion does Simon make, and why do you think he
makes it? What does he mean when he says, “What else is there to do?” What are the consequences
of the group‟s decision not to follow
Simon‟s suggestion?
6. What do Jack and the biguns first decide to “do” about
the beast, and what does this say about
human nature? Think back to question # 2.
7. What foolish decision does Jack make during the hunt, and
why is it foolish?
8. What happens to Simon after the hunters leave his
clearing? What is the “lord of the flies”? What
does it represent? How does it talk to Simon—what does its
speech really indicate?
HW SET 2: BASED
ON CHAPTERS 9 TO 12: to be put up on the blog by 07 October
Chapter 9:
“A View to a Death”
1. What are the purpose and effect of Jack‟s generosity with
the meat he and the hunters obtained?
What do you think his decision to give meat to even Ralph
and Piggy is meant to show?
2. Why does Jack command the boys to dance and chant, and
why is this an effective leadership tactic?
What psychological effect does dancing and chanting have on
the boys? Think back to the effect that
putting on makeup had on them in Chapter 4.
3. What is the “beast” that the boys kill? How is this event
ironic and especially tragic (not only for
the “beast,” but for everyone on the island)? How is it
symbolically significant?
4. Why do you think Golding decided to have the “figure” fly
over the boys on the beach and into the
sea? Why do you think he had Simon‟s body get washed away,
and what does this represent in a
psychological sense?
Chapter 10:
“The Shell and the Glasses”
1. How do Ralph and Piggy view Simon‟s death? How does each
of them react to it? Why does Ralph laugh as he says, “I got the conch,” and
why does Piggy react so strongly to his laughter? What
explanations do they have for their behavior, and what
excuses do they come up with? What do these reactions show about them and about
human nature?
2. What does the narrator mean to suggest when he says,
“Memory of the dance that none of them had attended shook all four boys
convulsively”?
3. How do the biguns seem to define a “proper chief”? What
does this criterion suggest about human psychology?
4. What
does Jack do that causes Roger to have doubts about his leadership?
5. What signs of stress and fear can we see in Ralph, Piggy,
and Samneric‟s behavior in this chapter?
Chapter 11:
“Castle Rock”
1. In what way are the twins “seeing Ralph for the first
time” before they all set off for Castle Rock?
2. Why is the boys‟ attempt to get back Piggy‟s specs and
get the other boys to maintain a signal fire
bound to fail?
3. Why do you think Roger pushes the rock off the cliff?
4. How is the destruction of the conch symbolically
significant?
Chapter 12:
“Cry of the Hunters”
1. Why does Ralph think that the boy he sees is “not Bill”?
2. Why does Ralph hit the pig‟s head?
3. Why do you think Samneric decide to join Jack‟s tribe?
Why do they tell Jack where Ralph is hidden?
4. What do Samneric mean when they tell Ralph that Jack has
“sharpened a stick at both ends”? What
do you think the reason for Jack‟s hatred is?
5. What foolish method do the boys use to ensure that they
find Ralph? What does this decision suggest
about the power of hatred and violence versus the power of
reason?
6. Where does Ralph decide to hide? What does this hiding
place symbolize?
7. Explain the significance of this quotation: “Percival
Wemys Madison sought in his head for an
incantation that had faded clean away.”
8. What is ironic about how the boys are saved? What is
ironic about the fact that the boys, who have
become savages, are British, and why do you think Golding
chose to write about a group of British boys?Consider what the naval officer says: “I should have thought
that a pack of British boys would have been able to put up a better show than that.”
