Friday, June 14, 2013

Analyze the scene in which the boys kill the sow in the novel Lord of the Flies.

In Chapter 8, Jack and his hunters surround a group of pigs laying peacefully under the trees. He spots a big black sow that is nursing her piglets. After they initially throw their spears at her, she takes off, breaking through their line and into the forest. The sow runs and hides in a thicket, and the boys track her by following the pig's blood. Golding says that the boys followed her, "wedded to her...

In Chapter 8, Jack and his hunters surround a group of pigs laying peacefully under the trees. He spots a big black sow that is nursing her piglets. After they initially throw their spears at her, she takes off, breaking through their line and into the forest. The sow runs and hides in a thicket, and the boys track her by following the pig's blood. Golding says that the boys followed her, "wedded to her in lust" and then depicts the violent scene in which Roger and Jack brutally murder her. Roger sticks his spear up the sow's behind while Jack slits its throat. Roger says, "Right up her ass!" as the boys laugh and celebrate. (Golding 135)


It is important to note that sow is nursing, and is the only female present on the island. Golding uses sexually suggestive imagery to describe how they boys ravage the sow. The killing of the mother pig symbolizes their frustration with living "motherless" on the island. It also represents the degree of their separation from civility. A nursing mother is a beautiful image found throughout nature. The savage way in which the boys strip the mother of her piglets and brutally murder her conveys their complete loss of innocence. Jack's decision to attack the defenseless pig also foreshadows his choice to kill Simon and Piggy, who are also defenseless characters. The event is pivotal because it is the climatic moment that boys completely separate from civility to barbarism.

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