It symbolises the evil and darkness that is within all of them, and the willingness to give into it.

The pig’s head represents the boys’ descent into barbarism and the loss of their humanity. The phrase represents the boys’ descent into savagery and their willingness to sacrifice the innocent in order to protect themselves from a perceived threat. Jack cuts off the pig’s head and offers it to the “beast” as a gift to appease it. It’s a gift,” is spoken by one of the boys, Jack, after his group kills a pig.

Techniques: Conch motif, deliberate vagueness.

He held the shell up instead and showed it to them and they understood.” #6: “Ralph took the conch from where it lay on the polished seat and held it to his lips but then he hesitated and did not blow. It is a powerful example of how language can be used to convey the themes of a story and the inner workings of its characters. Overall, the quote represents the loss of civilisation and the rise of barbarism in the novel. The phrase also foreshadows the violence and bloodshed that will occur later in the novel, as the boys’ primal instincts take over. The pig represents innocence and goodness, and the boys’ act of killing it represents their rejection of these values. The repetition of the phrase creates a ritualistic, almost religious quality to the boys’ actions, as they become more and more removed from the norms of society. The phrase represents the boys’ descent into savagery and the loss of their civilised values. Spill her blood,” is a chant that the boys repeat while they are hunting.

Techniques: Repetition, parataxis, incantatory tone.

Techniques: Polysyndeton, foreshadows Rogers killings later in the text.

Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.” Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. #4: “Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them.

Techniques: Simile, ominous imagery, foreshadowing.

#3: “This last piece of shop brought sniggers from the choir, who perched like black birds on the criss-cross trunks and examined Ralph with interest.”

Techniques: Foreshadowing, alliteration, ominous imagery.

#2: “The creature was a party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed in strangely eccentric clothing.”

Techniques: Simile, recurring motif, circular imagery, biblical allusion.

#1: “Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake-blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple.” Download our list of Lord of the Flies quotes now!

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