The twins stood with the pig swinging between them, dropping black gouts on the rock. They seemed to share one wide, ecstatic grin. (Chapter 4: 'Painted Faces and Long Hair')
The derisive laughter that rose had fear in it and condemnation. Simon opened his mouth to speak but Ralph had the conch, so he backed to his seat. (Chapter 5: 'Beast from Water')
"Don't you understand, you painted fools? Sam, Eric, Piggy and me--we aren't enough. We tried to keep the fire going, but we couldn't. And then you, playing at hunting. . . ." (Chapter 11: 'Castle Rock')
Ralph answered in the cautious voice of one who rehearses a theorem.
"If I blow the conch and they don't come back; then we've had it. We shan't keep the fire going. We'll be like animals. We'll never be rescued."
"If you don't blow, we'll soon be animals anyway. I can't see what they're doing but I can hear." (Chapter 5: 'Beast from Water')
Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering. (Chapter 7: 'Shadows and Tall Trees')
"I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things." (Chapter 2: 'Fire on the Mountain')
Jack slammed his knife into a trunk and looked round challengingly.
The meeting settled down again.
"So you see," said Ralph, "We need hunters to get us meat. And another thing."
(Chapter 2: 'Fire on the Mountain')
For a moment he had a fleeting picture of the strange glamour that had once invested the beaches. But the island was scorched up like dead wood--Simon was dead--and Jack had... The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. (Chapter 12: 'Cry of the Hunters')
"They hate you, Ralph. They're going to do you."
"They're going to hunt you tomorrow."
"But why?"
"I dunno. And Ralph, Jack, the chief, says it'll be dangerous--"
"--and we've got to be careful and throw our spears like at a pig." (Chapter 12: 'Cry of the Hunters')
"I hit him," said Ralph indignantly. "I hit him with my spear, I wounded him." (Chapter 7: 'Shadows and Tall Trees')
He was safe from shame or self-consciousness behind the mask of his paint and could look at each of them in turn. (Chapter 8: 'Gift for the Darkness')
Jack's face swam near him.
"And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing--"
"I'm chief. I was chosen."
"Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense--" (Chapter 5: 'Beast from Water')
"There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast."
Simon's mouth labored, brought forth audible words.
"Pig's head on a stick."
"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!" said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. (Chapter 8: 'Gift for the Darkness')
"Conch! Conch!" shouted Jack. "We don't need the conch any more. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It's time some people knew they've got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us." (Chapter 6: 'Beast from Air')
"The thing is--fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island." He looked along the row of whispering littluns. "Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies! But there is no animal--" (Chapter 5: 'Beast from Water')
Now the painted group felt the otherness of Samneric, felt the power in their own hands. They felled the twins clumsily and excitedly. Jack was inspired. He knew that Ralph would attempt a rescue. (Chapter 11: 'Castle Rock')
"We spread round. I crept, on hands and knees. The spears fell out because they hadn't barbs on. The pig ran away and made an awful noise--"
"It turned back and ran into the circle, bleeding--"
All the boys were talking at once, relieved and excited. (Chapter 4: Painted Faces and Long Hair')
Only Percival began to whimper with an eyeful of sand and Maurice hurried away. In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now, though there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand, Maurice still felt the unease of wrongdoing. (Chapter 4: 'Painted Faces and Long Hair')
The littluns who had seen few fires since the first catastrophe became wildly excited. They danced and sang and there was a partyish air about the gathering. (Chapter 8: 'Gift for the Darkness')
"Coming in the dark--he hadn't no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it." He gesticulated widely again. "It was an accident."
"You didn't see what they did--"
"Look, Ralph. We got to forget this. We can't do no good thinking about it, see?"
"I'm frightened. Of us. I want to go home. Oh God, I want to go home."
(Chapter 10: 'The Shell and the Glasses')
Simon stayed where he was, a small brown image, concealed by the leaves. Even if he shut his eyes the sow's head still remained like an after-image. The half-shut eyes were dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life. They assured Simon that everything was a bad business. (Chapter 8: 'Gift for the Darkness')
Now the fire was nearer; those volleying shots were great limbs, trunks even, bursting. The fools! The fools! The fire must be almost at the fruit trees--what would they eat tomorrow? (Chapter 12: 'Cry of the Hunters')
"I'll blow the conch," said Ralph breathlessly, "and call an assembly."
"We shan't hear it."
Piggy touched Ralph's wrist.
"Come away. There's going to be trouble. And we've had our meat." (Chapter 9: 'A View to a Death')
Piggy spoke softly to Ralph.
"We got to get out of this."
"What d'you mean?"
"Get rescued."
For the first time that day, and despite the crowding blackness, Ralph sniggered.
"I mean it," whispered Piggy. "If we don't get home soon we'll be barmy." (Chapter 10: 'The Shell and the Glasses')
"They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if--"
"As if it wasn't a good island." (Chapter 3: 'Huts on the Beach')
While Roger mimed the terror of the pig, the littluns ran and jumped on the outside of the circle. Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable. (Chapter 9: 'A View to a Death')
Presently they were all jabbing at Robert who made mock rushes.
Jack shouted.
"Make a ring!"
The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain.
"Ow! Stop it! You're hurting!"
(Chapter 7: 'Shadows and Tall Trees')
In front of them, only three or four yards away, was a rock-like hump where no rock should be. Ralph could hear a tiny chattering noise coming from somewhere-- perhaps from his own mouth. (Chapter 7: 'Shadows and Tall Trees')
