Lord of the Flies Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Everyone starts adjusting their lives according to the island. They start calling younger boys “Littluns” and older boys “Biguns”. The littluns play all day and are terrified of the unseen beast when it gets dark. Three younger boys are making a sandcastle on the beach when two elder boys appear from the forest and run towards the water, destroying the sandcastles in their way. One of the younger boys leaves the beach and goes to the edge of the ocean, playing with little creatures. Roger, one of the older boys who saw him from a distance, follows him and starts throwing small stones and nuts at him. Jack comes up with a new strategy to get better at hunting in the forest. He instructs his hunting army to use charcoal to color their skin in order to hide more easily in the dark. He then gathers some of the boys, including Roger and Samneric, and takes them into the jungle for a hunt. Ralph, Piggy, and some other biguns are lying on the beach and taking a rest. Piggy suggests that they should make some device to keep track of time, and all of the other boys laugh at him, making him feel like an outsider. Suddenly, Ralph spots a ship on the horizon. He believes that its crew can see the smoke of their signal fire and will come to rescue them, but then they realize that their fire is dead, as it had not been rekindled. Piggy and Ralph quickly go to reignite the fire, but the ship passes before they can light it. The group of hunters returns to the beach after having a successful hunt and finds Ralph discouraged, sitting by the huts. Ralph complains to Jack that they agreed to take responsibility to keep the fire alive, but they left the fire and went for a hunt. Jack is apologetic, but he defends himself saying the he needed more hunters to kill the pig. Everyone, including the hunters, starts criticizing Jack. Jack feels humiliated and gets angry. They cook the pig and serve it. While eating, Jack and his boys celebrate the hunt of the pig by dancing. Ralph announces that there will be another meeting after the feast.