Cry Journal #2

The author doesn't give the women in this story any names; the only people he names are the men. This is so different from our society (even our society in th 1950's) that it further distances us from relating to the story. The woman also seem fearful. They seem oppressed and their rules are strict; do something wrong and you're punished.

Cry Journal #1

I tabbed the first page because the tone at first is admiring and it talks about how strong is beautiful the land is. Suddenly, the tone changes to disgust as it describes another part of the country. I think that there may be foreshadowing or symbolism in that passage.

Another passage that I tabbed The first page of chapter one. It describes how the little girl with the letter treats the reverend's house with extreme care. The girl acts very timid, and all of this implies that the reverend holds high prestige in the society.

On pages 35-36, it shows the first of the dialogue. It is unique because the author uses dashes instead of quotation marks to indicate someone speaking. Sometimes, he uses nothing except a comma. It gives an overall sense of detachedness from the story.

I also tabbed the end of page 38. In this passage, the wife says, "He is in Johannesburg...when people go to Johannesburg, they never come back." This could foreshadow that the attempt to bring back their son from Johannesburg will be in vain.

LOTF-Journal #3

One apparent theme is "There is nothing to fear but yourself."

William Golding most obviously portrays this theme with the plot. The plot is the rise of the antagonist, Jack, which is made possible because of the fear of the beast and Jack's promise to kill it (like Hitler). But, as we know, the beast was merely an illusion, starting with littluns. First, the littluns started to see a moving shadow in the forest, and when they told this story to everyone else, the boys lost control and lived in constant fear of "the Beast" (like Swine Flu). Then Samneric "see" the Beast on the mountain, which is just a dead fighter pilot, and they run down and exaggerate the tale. That is when Jack takes control. He takes advantage of the fear in humans caused by other humans, and makes promises of being able to destroy the beast, and nobody doubted him for he was a hunter.

Another way that Golding portrays this theme is by the use of characters in the story. In fact, he uses a specific character, namely Simon. He has Simon explore the island at night, causes the littluns to see things after they have a nightmare. Then he even has Simon attempt to explain that maybe the fear is all in there heads, that maybe the boys just fear each other. Then Simon finally climbs the mountain and sees "the Beast". But, when he climbs back down to tell everyone that there's nothing to be afraid of, they think that hes the Beast and murder him.

LOTF-Journal #2

If William Golding had introduced female characters in the book, he would have complicated the story more. Young boys tend to stay away from girls ("Eew cooties!"), which would have created an automatic fissure between the boys and girls, adding to the conflict so that it wouldn't be just Jack and Ralph, but Jack vs. Ralph, who both vs. the girls. Also, I think Jack is sexist, so he would have probably killed all of the girls first,which would have made having the girls there at all unnecessary.

Of course, it could have also been the other way around, with Jack still vs. Ralph, trying to impress the same girl they happen to like. But the overall theme and story would have been immensely different. The girls might also have been much more responsible, lessening the isolated feel.

One important scene that would definitely have been taken out or changed was when the first ship passed by. That was the small spark between Jack (who was already mad for not being chief) and Ralph turned into a strong flame. With the girls there (assuming that they were responsible girls), the fire would have never gone out.

LOTF-Journal #1

How Piggy imitates the witch-like cry of the bird might foreshadow bad things to come around Piggy. It also adds an unpleasant air to him right off the bat. It might seem like Piggy has bad lick and that he's annoying.

How the author vividly describes a jungle layout and has Ralph jerk his stockings gives to the feeling of isolation. The habit of pulling his socks also shows that the boys aren't American.