Chapter 12 Summary

9)Chapter 12 summary

    The chapter starts with Ralph hiding in the jungle injured. Ralph was very frightened and nervous of Jack and the boys. The fact that Jack and the boys had turn against Ralph by killing his only friend and ally on the island and even hurting Ralph, it shows that the boys lose all their sense of morality. The boys are also planning to find and kill Ralph. This made Ralph very frightened as the boys commit to yet another murder and they will come for him next. From his hiding place, Ralph saw Bill but did not want to admit it because of the dramatic change from his old self due to the savagery. "This was a savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and shirt.". This shows that the boys are so into savagery that their image has changed. this symbolizes that the boys are not themselves any more, they adapt and change with their surroundings for survival. The author uses "ancient picture" and it shows that they were nice innocent boys once upon a time ago. Ralph stumbles upon the 'Lord of the Flies' in the form of a pig's skull. The 'Lord of the Flies' 'teeth grinned, the empty sockets seemed to hold his gaze masterfully and without effort'. This aggravates Ralph as it seems to be mocking him as it was like it was 'one who knows all the answers and won't tell'. This brings out Ralph's fear and anger causing him to hit the 'Lord of the Flies' and destroying it in the process. With this, the two most important symbols in the story, which is the conch and the 'Lord of the Flies' have been destroyed. Then, Ralph heads back to Castle Rock and finds out that the twins were now part of the tribe, guarding the Castle Rock against him.
    Ralph then tries to talk to them, which made Eric silent while Sam tries to do his duty to guard the place. Ralph finally manages to make them tell him what the tribe did to them. Sam and Eric then says 'never mind what's sense. That's gone'. This shows how the boys have no sense of morality anymore. The twins also warn him of the danger that he would be facing tomorrow, as the whole tribe would be hunting him down. Also, they then states that they would throw their spears at him 'like at a pig', which means that they would show no mercy and would hunt Ralph ruthlessly. Then, the twins heard someone coming, which made Ralph hide in a thicket near the Castle Rock, thinking that 'they'll never think to look so close'. The twins then show how they still have a little civilization and sympathy as they pushed 'a chunk of meat' to him.
    Ralph then falls asleep, and when he wakes up he hears Jack's and Roger's voice, speaking to one of the twin, forcing him to tell them where Ralph was hiding through means of torture. Ralph then 'felt the point of his spear with his thumb and grinned without amusement'. This shows how Ralph does not like to use weapons and was only forced to for his own survival, and would not hesitate to hurt others. Then, several boys started to heave and ho and pushed down a boulder to attempt to break through the dense thicket, which failed. Then, they tried to stab their spears into the thicket, once again trying to break through the thicket and hurt Ralph. However, Ralph fights back and lunges his spear 'through the crack and struck with all his might', hurting one of Jack's hunters.
    Ralph then smells smoke, and realizes that they were setting fire to the thicket. He then emerges out of the thicket and fights through the boys, 'running with the swiftness of fear through the undergrowth'. Ralph then finds out that the whole forest was burning, and that they were desperately searching for him. Then, he sees one of the boys. 'The seconds lengthened. Ralph was looking straight into the savage's eyes'. Ralph screams, 'a scream of fright and anger and desperation'.
    Ralph escapes to the beach, in which an officer stood at. The officer was there because he saw the fire that was caused by the burning of the forest. This shows irony because their first plan was also to use a fire and the smoke as a signal to show passers-by of their existence on the island. This also shows their innocence and civilized behavior. However, they managed to attract attention to the island also by using fire, but by burning the whole forest down, which only happened because they were like savages and wanted to hunt Ralph down. At first, the officer thought it was all 'fun and games', however, he finds out that it was not when Ralph informs him that two of the boys had died. He then 'whistled softly'. This shows the shock that the officer was experiencing as he did not know that the boys would be capable of killing others. Then, the story ends with the officer agreeing to bring them back to land, away from the island, and giving the boys a time to 'pull themselves together', as they weep and sobbed.