In Chapter 1, Ralph meets Piggy. Ralph tells him that when his father (who's in the Navy) gets leave, he will come to rescue them. Piggy wonders how Ralph's father will even know where they are. Ralph answers that the people at the airport would tell him. Piggy replies, “Not them. Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.” This suggests that the boys were evacuated (from England) due to the threat and/or reality of a nuclear war.
This is a key part to understanding the themes of the novel. While the boys are trapped on the island, the exterior world of adults are engaged in a war. This creates two parallel societies: the boys and the adults beyond the island. Golding presents a thought provoking series of questions. For instance, if boys are stranded on an island, will they establish some senses of order and harmony or will they devolve into fighting and warfare? And, even if they do end up devolving into violence, are they more savage than their adult counterparts? The boys might be fighting with spears and rocks but does that make them more savage than the adults who fight with more technologically advanced weaponry?
No comments:
Post a Comment