Lord of the Flies: Character Quotations (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Key word or phrase to memorise: “fear” and “nonsense”

What the quotation means: Ralph tells the group of boys that they need to discuss their situation so that their fear, which he believes is “nonsense”, can be managed properly

Theme: Power and leadership

• Ralph's character is juxtaposed against Jack’s, who prefers to use fear as a tool to dominate and command others:

  • Golding presents Ralph as a relatively empathetic and sincere leader

  • He uses any power he is given for the good of the group

  • He is the only one of the older boys to listen to Piggy’s sensible advice, although this does not stop him from behaving cruelly towards Piggy on occasion

Key word or phrase to memorise: “clever” and “shelters”

What the quotation means: Ralph is frustrated that the group’s division has put them at risk, and warns the hunters that they are not prepared for a storm

Theme: Civilisation versus savagery

• Ralph values preparation and civility as a means to survival:

  • He equates being prepared with being “clever”

  • Rhetorical questions, here, convey his frustration at their lack of planning

• His focus, however, on unglamorous domestic chores, like the fire and shelter, restricts his power:

  • Golding shows Ralph’s struggles to maintain control against increasing savagery

Key word or phrase to memorise: “together” and “then”

What the quotation means: At the end of the novel, Ralph tells a naval officer who has come to rescue them that, at first, the group worked together, but that “then” things changed 

Theme: Good versus evil

• Golding’s resolution offers no hope that good overcomes evil in uncertain, fearful environments:

  • Ralph’s unstable voice offers a sinister summary of events 

  • His short phrase implies the destruction that resulted when the boys stopped working together

• Ralph accepts that his attempt to maintain democracy and work “together” has failed:

  • The word “then” implies a change, the details of which are left unspoken, suggesting the horror of the events after the change 

  • The officer’s casual response suggests a normalisation of violence

  • Alternatively, the officer may simply not understand the full extent of the devastation 

Key word or phrase to memorise: “hardly move” and “creeper things”

What the quotation means: Piggy tells Ralph, when they are finding their bearings on the island, that he is struggling to make his way through the vines

Theme: Civilisation versus savagery

• Golding describes the island as hostile to the boys, especially Piggy:

  • Piggy is misplaced, amongst unidentifiable “creeper things”

  • He can “hardly move”, perhaps foreshadowing the loss of his glasses which restricts his movement  

• Piggy’s mistreatment by the others on the island presents ideas about civilisation and savagery:

  • Golding introduces Piggy, in contrast to Ralph, as physically weak 

  • This is one of the reasons that he is not respected by the others

  • Even Ralph, the boy who Piggy respects the most, abuses him; Ralph is the one who names him “Piggy”

• Golding draws attention to ableist philosophies which prioritise physical strength, particularly prevalent during World War II

Key word or phrase to memorise: “nobody don’t know”

What the quotation means: Piggy tells Ralph the bad news: they are stranded on the island and without any hope of rescue because nobody knows they are there

Theme: Power and leadership

• Golding’s presentation of Piggy conveys various perceptions of leadership:

  • Piggy’s acceptance of reality, or  “ill-omened talk”, is ignored by Ralph

  • Golding, perhaps, illustrates the group’s desire for an idealised version of the truth

  • Certainly, Piggy’s complaints do not win favour with the group

• Golding conveys ideas about status and power through Piggy:

  • In contrast to Ralph, Piggy speaks in a working-class London dialect (“Nobody don’t know”)

  • Piggy’s lower class is presented as another reason he is not respected on the island

Key word or phrase to memorise: “on the outside” and “never seen nothing”

What the quotation means: Piggy is keen to distance himself from Simon’s murder, telling Ralph that they were not involved because they were outside of the ring

Theme: Good versus evil 

• Piggy’s fear of the hunters makes him distance himself from the group:

  • As he was “on the outside” of the crowd around Simon, he is removed from the guilt of Simon’s murder

  • The moment reflects Piggy’s status throughout the novel, though, as one who is isolated from the group

• The anaphora, “never done nothing, we never seen nothing” alludes to a maxim:

  • The phrase may refer to a Western adaptation that suggests the three monkeys who see, hear, and speak no evil, ‘turn a blind eye’

  • Golding illustrates how going along with the crowd can perpetuate evil 

Key word or phrase to memorise: “talking too much” and “Fatty”

What the quotation means: Jack becomes frustrated with Piggy’s need to name the boys and, much to the amusement of the younger boys, he insults his weight

Theme: Good versus evil

• Golding immediately draws attention to the idea of mob mentality:

  • Jack’s control over the younger boys is first achieved by insulting Piggy’s physical appearance

  • This scene foreshadows conflict, as the littluns’ amusement encourages Jack’s bullying

• One of the criticisms that Jack has of Piggy and Ralph is their need to communicate:

  • Golding depicts how Jack’s desire to act rather than talk tempts the younger boys and wins them over

Key word or phrase to memorise: “don’t even know what it is”

What the quotation means: Jack describes the beast to the boys, although he emphasises that he does not know how to identify it

Theme: Power and leadership

• Jack’s uncharacteristic keenness to call a meeting in this scene is, ultimately, shown as self-serving rather than democratic:

  • The boys’ fear of the beast is exploited by Jack to gain power

  • Anaphora allows Jack to emphasise the unknown quality of the thing they fear, and stir further panic

• As Jack uses the “Beast” to further divide the group, Golding illustrates how easily leadership can change as a result of an invisible threat

Key word or phrase to memorise: “There isn’t a tribe for you any more!”

What the quotation means: Towards the novel’s climax, Jack isolates Ralph from the “tribe” and explains that Ralph is powerless, and that the “conch” and the democratic decision-making that it represented, is now “gone”

Theme: Civilisation versus savagery

• Jack’s transition to violent leader changes the group of British school boys into a ”tribe”:

  • Golding portrays the descent into savagery as a result of Jack’s authoritarian control

  • His threats show his tendency to alienate anyone who disagrees or wants debate 

• Golding depicts the division and isolation that results from oppressive leadership

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Like candles”

What the quotation means: Simon describes the flowers on the bushes in the forest as “candles”

Theme: Religion

• Simon appears in harmony with the jungle:

  • His romantic descriptions portray his spiritual nature, as his simile compares flower buds to flames

  • The reference to candles has religious allusions, indicative of Simon’s role as a Christ-like figure who dies while trying to save the group from their fears  

  • Arguably, Simon represents the idea of innocence and, perhaps, its fragility

• To highlight Simon’s gentleness, Golding juxtaposes his words with Jack’s slashing of the bushes:

  • This may foreshadow Simon’s murder later in the novel

Key word or phrase to memorise: “get back alright”

What the quotation means: Out of nowhere Simon tells Ralph, with some confidence, that he has an instinct that Ralph will make it back home

Theme: Good versus evil

• Golding presents Simon as kind-natured and spiritually gifted:

  • Simon’s prediction that Ralph will get home safely initially confuses Ralph

  • He repeats that Ralph will “get back alright”, but is unsure how he knows

• Golding illustrates how Simon’s spiritual nature is perceived by the others as “batty”:

  • Yet, he is the wisest, calmest and kindest of the group

• His death in Chapter 9 unnervingly exposes the implications of his predictions (that Ralph makes it home, but he does not):

  • It also presents Golding’s cynical portrayal of good defeated by evil

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Pig’s head on a stick” 

What the quotation means: When Simon is confronted by the “Beast” or the “Lord of the Flies”, he is bewildered, but reminds himself that the voice he hears is an illusion, and that the “Beast” is just a pig’s head

Theme: Civilisation versus savagery

• The narrator describes how “Simon’s mouth laboured, brought forth audible words” as he says this line:

  • This is uncharacteristic for Simon, who is mostly silent

  • This emphasises Simon’s determination to overcome his fear

  • Simon focuses on reality when he is faced with the “Beast”, demonstrating maturity

• In response to the voice (the “Lord of the Flies”), Simon reminds himself of the truth:

  • Golding implies that Simon does not submit to illusion and fear