Post Due Weds. 4/6

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In your first post, please answer and discuss the following prompt:

Here is a quote to start us off: “Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.” (P. 80)

 Recall how the boys acted when they first arrived on the island. How has the boys’ behavior on the island changed since they’ve been on the island, and how do they act now? Is there a word to describe the new “behavior”? Why do you think they have changed? Does the change only have to do with what Simon calls “mankind’s essential illness”, or do you think it is purely outside factors that have caused the boys to start acting this way? Finally, how come some of them are changing while others not so much?





Again, remember to use specific examples and quotes from the book. The posts are graded out of 25 points.

Also, don’t forget to reply to your classmates! Check in every once in a while to see if someone has responded to your posts.

Everything is due by 6:30 AM.

When the boys first arrived on the island, they were taking it very lightly. They were just meeting all the boys and everyone was calm and comfortable. They were all getting naked from the heat and trying to swim before they all gathered together introducing them. Ralph himself believed his dad would come find him until Piggy got him thinking about the reality of it. "This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as conch." (22) They young boys in this very same part of the story, start to transition to being serious about the matter. They start to make roles, vote to put someone in charge, and take on responsibilities. Their new behavior has become based on survival skills. I believe thay have changed and become less friendly based on their new circumstances. I do not believe the change only has to do with what Simon calls "mankind's essential illness," because i do not believe any of the boys are evil or have a dark side. I do believe that the outside factors have caused the boys to start acting this way. Some are changing like Jack's choir because living in the jungle has brought them to rely on primitive ways. Others are not changing as much because of who they are as characters and who they are looking up to as a leader. The boys began acting different from the time they arrived to this point in the story because they started off with hope of being saved and ended up just trying to stay alive and survive the island.

When the boys first arrived on the island they were very calm , and not worried about leaving.  They were just excited to meet each other, and make new plans.  The longer the boys stayed on the island, the more irritable , and anxious to leave they became.  Now, they are a lot more strict about rules, and plans.  For example; on page 69, Ralph says "You let the fire go out." He keeps getting angrier and angrier that the hunters let the fire go out, and they weren't able to signal the passing ship.  Ralph barely acknowledges that the hunters have killed a pig because he is so furious.  A word that can describe the new behavior is uncomfortable, and a lot of tension.  What I mean by this, is there is now a lot of tension between the boys, making things uncomfortable, where as in the beginning they were calmer, and happier with each other.  I think they have changed because before, they didn't realize how long they would be stuck on the island, but now that they have been stuck for a while, they are starting to get more nervous that they won't survive.  I think that some characters are changing while others are not because the ones who are changing (such as Ralph) have less patience, and more of a temper, while other characters are able to see the positive in most situations that come along, and stay calmer .

When the boys had first arrived on the island they were fine and not thinking too much about leaving. they were curious about who was there and the island in general. But the more time they spent on the island the more they became worried about leaving. They have made a lot more rules and there plan to survive is organized and set. they have people in charge of specific jobs, and everyone is assigned to a certain task. The boys have a lot of anger now and the island is becoming heated. At the beginning of this book, everything was calm and the boys weren't as crazy and wild as they are now. The boys at the beginning of the book, the boys did not realize how long they would actually be on the island together and now that they have they are almost getting wild and out of control. Being stuck in one place for a long period of time without any "real control" things are bound to get out of control. This is what is happening here. The boys are almost starting to go stir-crazy. Thoughts about not surviving Is also going through there minds making it even harder to stay sane and calm. Some of the characters we have already seen drastic changes in there moods and others we have not I think this is so because some of the characters have a different way of handling things.

When the boys first arrived on the island they are very calm. Piggy thinks that his dad will know where they are and that he will come to the rescue as soon as possible. As days go by the boys start to get more aggravated and annoyed being stuck on the island. Jack begins to think that he can control what everyones roll is, "'You're no good on a job like this.'" pg. 22. As time goes on they begin to realize that they are on the island for much longer than expected. They come to the conclusion that being on the island isn't about staying calm until they are found, its about trying to find food, shelter eat. to stay alive. I don't think the change only has to do with what Simon calls "mankind's essential illness," most of the boys get along and no-one seems to have negative feelings toward anyone.

When the boys had first arrived on the island, although unprepared completely, they were ready to take on what is to come. They made rules, elected a chief, and then continued on to make jobs and a sense of order around the island. As the book progresses, the characters and their acts change drastically. They are all handling stress and adapting to their new surroundings differently.The characters now are more stressed and their tensions are running high. Ralph is expecting a lot of "his people" and instead of following though, many characters, like Jack, stress out and take their anger out on an easy target, Piggy. "Who cares what you believe-Fatty!" (pg.90) Jack says to Piggy taking his anger out. Being on an island, with no escape, with the same group of people with stress, anger, and tensions everywhere, is a huge problem in itself. Many people are changing differently than others due to outside factors and their surroundings. Jack and his choir are bound to act different than the littluns on the beach because they have different day to day lives.

When the boys arrived to the island they were excited to not have adult around. The boys had a plan (to a degree), they voted on a chief, explored the island and created rules. When they arrive the boys have of the hope that they will be found. As they have been on the island they boys had been divided by age and have lost the sense of what those rules mean. "no one had any difficulty in recognizing biguns at one end and littluns at the other"(59). At the beginning they were willing to look out for eachother but now the littluns look after themselves on the other side of the island. For Jack and the hunters they have lessened their want to be helpful and have now replaced those emotions with the need to kill. Kids like Piggy however have realized the extremities of them being on the island and have decide to take charge and show reasoning on how to survive. Ralph says"we decide things. But they don't get done."(79). Ralph decides to do something to civilize them. No one wants to listens and does not take what he is saying seriously.I think it's a combination of what Simon is saying along with the outside factors, they have changed because it's their reaction to the need to survive. Some of them are changing while others aren't because some are starting to loose hope and are just focused on surviving.

When the boys first arrived on the island they were not worried about being by themselves, they were acting calm and were not scared. they don't know where they are but they know that they are going to be there for a while and begin to explore the island. once they have there first meeting they agree to set up a list of laws that keep everyone in line and punishes them if they break them. they also have jobs for everyone to do so that they can survive. As they days go on they begin to change and act differently. somethings don't go the way as planned and some kids get mad while, the older more mature kids know how to handle things the correct way. The kids are changing because certain kids are losing there temper at the smallest things that are said towards one another. I don't believe in the "mankind's essential illness" because not everyone on the island has a beast inside of them, they are not mean and only some work together to do the right thing.

When the boys first arrived on the island they were careless, calm, and thought their whole situation as play. Now they have become more stressed and anxious, especially with the idea of a beast looming about. Kids start to argue out of fear and the disorganization of rules "the platform was full of arguing shadows. To Ralph, seated, this seemed the breaking of sanity. Fear, beast, no general agreement"(PG 88). I think what Simon calls "mankind's essential illness" has been the cause of the boys change in behavior. The beast is within the boys rather than any outside forces. Anger, fear, and building tensions could be the reason the boys start acting why they do, for example how Jack continuously picks fights with other boys. The beast is chaos and destruction and will appear when they don't pull together and become organized and confident. While some characters have drastically changed while being on the island, others have stayed the same. Jack has become a vicious hunter, while Piggy remains a smart and reasonable character. Each boy handles their situation differently, therefore creating some dynamic characters and others static.

Went the boys first arrived on the island they were very naive. They thought of what they had to do in order to survive. They build a fire and find food and water. Jack Merridew wants his choir to be hunters and get meat from the pigs on the island. The boys also build a signal fire. After everything seems all good for the time being. However when Ralph sees the fire go out unattended and proclaims: "...ought to die before we let the fire out?" (P.81). We can assume from this quote that Ralph has identified that there is a problem with the group. He begins to get his priorities strait by gathering the groups together and scolds those who are at fault. He begins to tell the others that the fire is a priority.

When the boys first arrived on the island they were very frightened. They were trying to get the basic resources like food and water. There were no problems between any of the boys when they first got there, but as the story keeps progressing, more and more problems keep occurring. Most of these problems are from how the boys are acting. Jack and his choir boys were set to be the hunters of the group. They were also in charge of keeping the signal fire going. So far they haven't kept the fire going and they have only cane back with one pig. Jack doesn't feel like doing any work and I feel like his behavior has changed because he wants to be the leader of all of them. Ralph's behavior has also changed from being a nice calm person, to being a wild short tempered person. I think he has changed because he wants everyone to be doing work but so far no one is so this makes him mad.

When Ralph and Piggy first arrived on the island, they were more curious than scared. Their main goal was to find the others who recovered from the crash. As time passed, the boys grew lazy and refused to complete their chores. These chores included watching the signal fire and building huts for the younger boys. Their new behavior is irresponsible because they are lacking maturity and they are also disobeying Ralph- whom is the leader/commander. I think the boys have changed because they are afraid they will never be rescued. I agree with Simon's statement because people often lack courage in a crisis. Their new behavior can also be a result of a lack of direction or encouragement from Ralph and the older boys. Everyone except Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are misbehaving because they don't understand that they need specific skills and routines in order to survive on a deserted island.

When they arrived they were very scared. They are looking for resources. At first everything is pretty much ok but after a little while problems occur. Ralph is an angry little man

i think that the beast stands for the inner savage, and by this i mean they are becoming uncontrolled and violent with each other and are losing their human touch(feelings). They are so scared because its the fear of not knowing. When you dont know if its there you can make the worst up even if its not that scary or frightening. i think that the beast represents the civility of the kids as the continue to be on the island. He
Ralph goes on the hunt because he doesnt want to be alone incase the beast is real.

Admin, i have answered this prompt before but i dont see my answer on it, is it me or did it really not post and show up?