Having realized that they are free from the dominion of
adults, in Chapter One the boys are elated in what they perceive as their acquired
paradise: "Here was a coral island" (like the book about Victorian boys stranded on an
island). As they ascend, Ralph gleefully stands upon his head; the others shot words of
exclamation and joy: "Wacco!" "Wizard!" and "Smashing!" Then, they actually discover a
coral reef, and Ralph turns to the others, declaring, "This belongs to
us."
After they reach the summit, the three boys, Ralph,
Jack, and Simon, feel a sense of fraternity:
Eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they
savoured the right of domination. They were lifted up: were
friends.
Their exploration is
interrupted by a childish desire to push off one of the pink granite rocks. Jack is the
first to lean against it. The others sway back and forth in rhythm. One of them yells,
"Heave!" and
the great rock loitered...moved through the air,
fell, struck, turned over, leapt droning through the air and smashed a deep hole in the
canopy of the forest. Echoes and birds few,...the forest shook as with the passage of
an enraged
monster....
The boys
again exclaim, "Wacco!" "Like a bomg!" "Whee--aa-oo!" in triumph. Then, they look
from this vantage point to the platform where they see the "insect-like" forms of the
other boys. Ralph declares, "All ours" as he spreads his arms. Suddenly, they see the
pigs and Jack hesitates to kill one. "Next time." Jack vows that the next time he will
show the pig no mercy. He will not forget his public shame.
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