Read The Passages In Chapter 3 Where Jack And Simon Are Each In The Forest. How Does The Language Convey Their Contrasting Character And Roles In The Novel?

Lord of the Flies is a thought-provoking novel about a group of English school boys who are stranded on a desert island. The book follows the striking change from civilisation to savagery, to illustrate the need for law and order in a society. Without this, the malicious nature of humanity can be revealed and the morality and values of life will be lost.

Symbolism and imagery play an important role in the novel and through this, many themes are revealed. Throughout the book, the different characters and their roles are portrayed by a strong contrast in writing style and language chosen to describe them and their actions. A good example of this is Jack, described in the forest at the beginning of Chapter three, and Simon, described also in the forest, at the end of Chapter three.

Jack is a prominent character with an unpleasant personality. His authority is expressed by his leadership of the choir who are now his hunters, and his will to be called by his surname at the boys' first meeting. Jack loves ordering people around and constantly attempts to weaken others, with Piggy being his usual victim. The freedom of the island makes it possible for him to reveal the darker sides of his personality which he had hidden up to now. Because of this, he is able to quickly make the transition to savagery. Jack is a natural, self-assured leader who is always ready to fight. He is a symbol of evil and brutality and his natural desire to kill is brought out by his hunting of pigs.

Simon, on the other hand, is a curious figure who sees beyond the surface of things. We learn straight away, that there is something special about Simon. It was because of this uniqueness that he was chosen by Ralph to be among the three explorers of the island.

Simon enjoys being alone and is someone who spends much of his time observing the actions of others and learning from them. He keeps his thoughts to him and is a not very sociable with the other boys. Simon is a very kind and helpful boy and symbolizes goodness and hope within Ð''Lord of the Flies'. We soon realize that he is the most reliable of the boys and the peace-maker of the group. However, Simon is not weak and we see on many occasions later on in the novel, how he stands up to Jack, and shows compassion towards the weaker members of their society, such as Piggy.

In Chapter three, when each boy is alone in the forest on separate occasions, it is no coincidence that Jack and Simon are there in such different circumstances and using contrasting imagery. Golding writes the novel so that characters, who strongly dominate the plot at any given time, are associated with the mood and imagery of their surroundings. Therefore, by studying the language used to describe the boys in these passages, we are able to learn a lot about their character and role in the novel.

At the beginning of Chapter three, Jack has left the other hunters and instructed them to go back to the platform. He has entered the forest alone, and his yearning to kill is beginning to eat him up. Jack has lost his fear of blood and of killing living animals that we saw at the end of Chapter one,

"They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood."

Jack is the first boy in whom we see signs of savagery appearing in his character, as the bonds of civilisation that hold him down begin to break. When Golding writes about Jack in the forest, dark imagery is the key theme, and this is used to represent evil. Ever since the first description of Jack at the first meeting, darkness and gloom seems to surround him, "He turned quickly, his black cloak circling." I think Golding uses this to suggest the potential for evil which at that time lay dormant in Jack's character. By the beginning of Chapter three, we start to see this evil nature being portrayed. Darkness surrounds Jack in the forest: "in a green dusk", "into the semi-darkness". In addition to this, the humidity of the forest makes the reader feel uncomfortable, "the humid earth".

The feeling of the forest being separate to Jack is emphasised in the conjunction Ð''and' when, "The forest and he were very still." Also, the forest is silent suggesting hostility, and this silence is only broken when, "Jack himself roused a gaudy bird from a primitive nest of sticks." The cry which the bird let out is "harsh" which is quite a violent and unpleasant noise to come out of complete silence and it is relevant that Jack caused it to occur. Perhaps the forest is trying to suggest to Jack that he is unwelcome there. The forest appears to be threatening to Jack and makes him feel uncomfortable to be alone, "Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath." In this case, Jack is in fact reacting as an animal would. As I discuss later in the essay, Jack is taking on animal qualities. The smell in Jack's forest is also not very pleasurable. It is that of pigs' droppings which "steamed a little", yet Jack seems to relish this aspect.

When we learn about Simon's encounter in the forest at the end of Chapter three, similar things, such as the sounds and smells, are described, as in Jack's encounter. However, the slight differences create a different impression. When Simon entered the forest alone and unafraid he also walked with "an air of purpose". Simon wants to be alone in the forest and does not feel threatened by it at all. This is shown as Simon is found is a far more beautiful scene with fruit trees, flowers, and honey bees Ð''buzzing'. Through this, the good spirit always accompanying Simon is expressed.

In contrast to Jack's dark imagery, light, symbolizing hope and goodness, is related to Simon throughout the novel. At the end of Chapter one, we see Simon's first association with light, "Like candles. Candle bushes. Candle buds." When Simon is in the forest there are also many references to light. As dusk and night approach, light appears to surround Simon: "The candle-buds opened their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that prickled down from the first stars."

The description is filled with a sense of awe for nature which flourishes all around Simon. He is at one with the forest and its beautiful elements, "Soon high jungle closed in". Unlike in Jack's description, where the forest is threatening Jack, the forest is protecting Simon.

There is much noise when Simon is in the forest, in contrast to Jack's silence. There is "the booming of a million bees at pasture" and "the sounds of the bright fantastic birds." Once again Ð''gaudy'