A social gathering scene can be used as a great method to delineate the values of novel and its character. Authors such as Jane Austen or Shakespeare had used the social scenes effectively to contribute a great deal in their works. Likewise, William Golding used a feast, the party of boys, as an important factor in his novel ¡°Lord of the Flies¡±. The feast held by antagonist Jack in chapter 9 both helps a development of the novel and raises the value of characters.
The feast converts the atmosphere of the novel drastically; we can clearly see that the power dynamic on the island has shifted completely to Jack¡¯s camp. ¡°Let¡¯s go to this feast and tell them the fire¡¯s hard on the rest of us¡±(142). Like Bill says, at first Ralph and his company decide to attend the feast in the hopes of keeping control over events. There were ¡°roasting pig meat¡±(148), ¡°coconut shells¡±(148), and ¡°laughing and singing¡±(148) in the feast. Many boys were easily fascinated by the joyfulness and opulence of the feast and decide to stay with Jack, rather than Ralph. Even more, Ralph and Piggy, the core of the civilization themselves also participated the frenzies of the feast; this eventually leads to the Simon¡¯s death. ¡°There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws¡±(153). All of the boys forget the civilization, order, and reason that sustained them so far. They eventually indulge in brutal assails toward the beast which actually was Simon. This was a great defeat for Ralph, who lost all his control, to Jack, who ¡°sat like an idol¡±(149) pompously. His participation of the feast eventually ends up with the complete collapse of the civilizations in the island.
At the same time, the feast elevates the characteristic value of Simon by his death. Ironically, by the death we can realize the importance of Simon more clearly. He says, ¡°What I mean is¡¦maybe it¡¯s only us¡±(89). ¡°The beast was harmless and horrible¡±(147). Simon was the only one who knew that the beast had not really existed in real, which is decisive since the information can eradicate all the turbulence throughout the island at once. Unfortunately, the feast makes Simon dead even before he spread out this crucial fact. Besides, Simon was the only character whose nature was innately good. Throughout the novel, he was always good to everybody; he was kind to littluns, he helped Ralph while nobody did. After the feast, in other word, without Simon, the circumstances of the island become extremely worse. There is no one to assure boys, reconciles the conflict between Jack and Ralph, and solve the complicated situation by the goodness. Since the frenzy feast took Simon outside of the novel, the readers are given the chance to think about Simon¡¯s role more seriously. It is obvious that his sudden and unpredictable death at the feast is intended for the further impact. Simon¡¯s presence feels even bigger after his death.
All things considered, indeed the feast is important social gathering in the novel. It plays as a great tool of conveying the author¡¯s intention. Even though the author does not directly mention, we can naturally feel the shift of power to Jack and Simon¡¯s characteristic importance. And we should go further; though Jack¡¯s feast is fully filled with the indulgence and cruel acts, the author didn¡¯t intend to stress that. Actually, Golding wanted to emphasize the importance of goodness through the straightforward description of brutality.
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