Christmas Symbolism

The Christmas tree represents the spirit of Christmas. It represents how Christmas brings joy and happiness to people's lives. It shows the festivity of the holiday. Presents and gifts are also big symbols for Christmas. Most families gather around a Christmas tree to unwrap presents on Christmas day.
Being with family is also a big part of Christmas. When I think of the holidays I think of sitting around the Christmas tree in our living room with my parents and grandmothers. Christmas brings families together. Each year I see some of my relatives that I haven't seen all year.

Comments

JordonianRNovember 16, 2016 at 8:29 PM

I agree that Jack uses fear to start his tribe. People think that he will kill the beast, so they do what he wants them to do.

JordonianRNovember 16, 2016 at 8:31 PM

That is true that they were shocked. I think that the boys realized they were about to kill a kid because they realized they were being rescued and won't live on the island anymore.

Quarantine

The concept of having children exiled from society due to a disease is very interesting to say the least. In many ways I could compare it to Lord of the Flies due to the representation of children gone savage. The author uses gruesome and horrifying language when describing one of the gangs in the book. He then uses peaceful language and describes the other gang as the good guys in the book. This can compare to the narrator in Lord of the Flies referring to Piggy as fat and describing Ralph's fair hair constantly. Whoever is narrating the book is biased, for some reason not provided in the book.

Will loses his brother in a high school that was quarantined due to the kids getting a deadly plague that only harms adults. It is very hard to imagine this happening in real life, but the writer just wants the reader to assume that it all did. The school is described as ginormous and never-ending. There are different gangs scattered across the halls, many of which are capable of murder. This shows how kids form groups and if nobody stops them, will fight another group. This book reminded me of Lord of the Flies as I read constantly, and was a very enjoyable read.

Important lotf section

Simon saying "what I mean is, maybe it's only us", sums up the reasoning behind the belief in a beast. It shows symbolism for the Lord of the Flies. Simon understands how the boy's brains work more than even Piggy. This represents Simon's insight and knowledge. He is meaning to say that what the boys think of the beast is really in their minds.

This passage foreshadows how the boys become savage and join Jack's tribe. This is also slightly misleading, because we think that Simon understands that there is no beast. Then, he hallucinates and thinks that a pig's head is talking to him. Simon does have great wisdom compared to the other boys, but in my opinion, that doesn't make up for his mental illness and hallucinations. Simon is very accurate in describing how the beast was imaginary. He is supposed to be younger than Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, but somehow knows more than they do.

Comments

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exerpt response

The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.  Once there was this and that; and now--and the ship had gone. [... Jack refusing to give Piggy the floor when he has the conch...]
"The rules!" shouted Ralph.  "You're breaking the rules!"
"Who cares?"
Ralph summoned his wits.
"Because the rules are the only thing we've got!"
But Jack was shouting against him.
"Bollocks to the rules!  We're strong--we hunt!  If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down!  We'll close in and beat and beat and beat--!" (91)

This short passage represents how Ralph is in support of a civilization and rules. It also shows how Jack wants to have chaos and no order or rules on the island. It briefly shows how Ralph wants to cling on to the rules because it reminds him of how his life used to be and he realizes the rules keep the boys from going crazy. Jack doesn't agree with Ralph on most topics, including the rule that whoever has the conch can talk. Using the conch as a talking stick not only helps the boys agree on decisions, but gives the children a general sense of order and security while on the island.

This passage briefly explains how Jack thinks that since he can hunt, he shouldn't have to abide by the rules on the island. In Jack's opinion, he should be the leader because he occasionally brings everybody meat. He intends to take power by force and intimidation. This is foreshadowing to how Jack will form a breakoff group in protest of Ralph's rules. Ralph would like to restore peace and order, but Jack wants to live by his own standards.

Lord of the Flies has certainly gained my reading attention lately. Even though it is a required read, it has me confused and excited about what is going on. The writer picks some interesting words to describe the setting. The most entertaining parts of the novel in my opinion are when each kid attends the meetings every day. The conversations had between them represent how incredibly hard it is to keep kids under control while in a survival situation. The common use of the phrase 'shut up,' shows how children are very rude and do not take kindly to people who disagree with them.

The way that Jack talks and acts while hunting is brought up [most of the time by Jack], he gets a crazed look in his eyes. Jack talks slightly frantically at some points and dismisses other parts of the conversation he is in. Ralph is a mediocre leader, mainly because of the way he bullies Piggy. The lack of  work put forth by most of the kids is very pathetic. This makes me worry that the leadership will take a turn for the worst and the kids will be left with break off groups and fights for food and shelter.