LORD OF THE FLIES—STUDY GUIDE
Chapter 1—The Sound of the Shell
1. What is the “scar”?
2. How old is Ralph?
3. What prevents Piggy from running and swimming?
4. What does Ralph find that Piggy sees as valuable?
5. What does Piggy suggest be done with the treasure Ralph has found?
6. What does Ralph do for Jack to maintain peace?
7. What excuse does Jack give for not killing the pig?
Chapter 2—Fire on the Mountain
1. What does the small boy with the mulberry birthmark tell the assembly?
2. How does Ralph calm the small boys?
3. What does Ralph plan to do to help the boys get rescued?
4. Why do the boys suddenly need Piggy’s “specs”?
5. For what job does Jack volunteer his choir?
Chapter 3—Huts on the Beach
1. How has Jack’s appearance changed since the last chapter?
2. What is Jack doing in the woods?
3. What is Ralph doing while Jack is in the woods?
4. What reason does Ralph give for needing shelters?
5. Who first suggests they might not be on a “good” island?
6. Where does Simon go when he leaves the boys?
Chapter 4—Painted Faces and Long Hair
1. What gives Littlun Henry so much pleasure as he pokes at the small forms of life in the pool
with a stick?
2. What keeps Roger from actually hitting Henry with the stones he throws at the smaller boy?
3. What reason does Jack give for applying the colored clay to his face?
4. Why couldn’t the boys signal the ship that Ralph spotted on the horizon?
5. Where were Jack and his choir when Ralph spotted the smoke from the ship?
6. Why does Jack attack Piggy and what is the result of the attack?
7. What is Jack’s reaction when Simon gives Piggy the meat?
Chapter 5—Beast from Water
1. Why does Ralph choose an easy path of firm ground to return to the platform to call an
assembly?
2. What is Ralph discovering that he dislikes about the way he is living?
3. How does Piggy show disapproval as Ralph’s assembly is called?
4. What four complaints does Ralph bring up at the hastily called assembly?
5. Littlun Phil reports he saw something at night in the jungle. What was it?
6. What does Littlun Percival Wemys Madison reveal to the assembly?
7. What rationale does Piggy give for not believing in ghosts?
Chapter 6—Beast from Air
1. What falls to the island during the night?
2. What has happened above the island to make this thing descend?
3. Who discovers it?
4. What do they think it is?
5. What excuses does Ralph give to let Piggy stay behind when the other boys go hunt for the
beast?
Chapter 7—Shadows and Tall Trees
1. What does Ralph long for?
2. What distracts the boys from the search for the Beast?
3. What does Ralph daydream about?
4. When the boar charges, what does Ralph do?
5. Who volunteers to go alone through the jungle to tell Piggy the boys will return after dark?
6. What do Ralph, Jack, and Roger find when they get to the top of the mountain?
Chapter 8—Gift for the Darkness
1. How does Jack respond when Ralph calls his hunters “boys armed with sticks”?
2. What does Jack do when the boys don’t respond to his demand to be chief?
3. Why does Simon suggest they go back to the mountain?
4. What does Piggy suggest they do, since they can’t return to the mountain to build a fire?
5. What happens to most of the biguns while Ralph and Piggy are busy?
6. What gift does Jack offer to help pacify the Beast?
7. What does Jack ask Roger to do to a stick?
Chapter 9—A View to a Death
1. When Simon awakens and goes up to the mountain, what does he discover?
2. Why does Jack organize the feast?
3. What is the “thing that crawls out of the forest”?
4. What does Simon try to tell the boys?
5. What do the boys do to Simon?
6. What happens to the parachutist?
7. What happens to Simon’s body?
Chapter 10—The Shell and the Glasses
1. How does Piggy place the blame of what happened to Simon on Simon himself?
2. How does Ralph classify Simon’s death?
3. What does Piggy call Simon’s death?
4. What clues does Golding give that Ralph and Samneric might have been involved in the
dance even though they deny it?
5. How do the boys in Jack’s tribe protect Castle Rock?
6. How does Golding show that Ralph is beginning to forget what, up to now, he has
considered to be their most important goal?
Chapter 11—Castle Rock
1. Why do Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric venture to Castle Rock?
2. What do they take with them as a symbol of their authority?
3. What happens to Piggy and the conch?
4. What happens to Samneric during the confrontation?
5. Why does Ralph run away?
Chapter 12—Cry of the Hunters
1. What preparation have Jack and Roger made, and what plan do they have for Ralph,
according to Samneric?
2. What is used in the first attempt to flush out Ralph from the thicket?
3. When the first attempt to flush out Ralph fails, what is the next attempt?
4. What has drawn the naval captain to the island?
SYMBOLS
Ralph
Jack
Piggy
Simon
island
conch
glasses
mask/face paint
fire
Lord of the Flies
the “flies”
darkness
the sea
the scar
Castle Rock
others ______
CHARACTER STUDY
Characterization: the various means by which an author describes and develops the characters in a literary work
Direct characterization – the author directly states the physical and/or personality traits of a character
Indirect characterization – the reader infers aspects of the characters personality from any or all of the following: what the character says and/or does, what other characters say about the character,
how other characters respond to the character
Flat character – a character who is simple and unchanging, defined by a single idea or quality; a stereotype
Round character – a character who has the three-dimensional complexity of a real person
Static character – a character who does not change significantly over the course of the work no matter what action takes place
Dynamic character – a character who changes (for better or worse) in response to circumstances or experience
NAME
/ Physical description / Character’s words / Characters actions / Responses/words of other charactersRalph
Jack
Piggy
Simon
Samneric
Roger
HLordofFliesStudyGuide2009