Exposition – Lord of the Flies

The first lines of the novel

The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.

These are the three first sentences of the novel. The first lines do not really catch my interest, because they do not tell me a lot about what will happen in the book. According to me, there is nothing interesting mentioned in those lines that makes me want to continue reading the book.

After having read the first sentences of the book, I do not know what will happen in the novel or what to expect from it. The only thing that these three sentences tells me, is that the book is about a boy who goes to school, and that this boy is lost somewhere in the jungle. Therefore, I do have a feeling that the book is going to be about something adventurous.

The Plot

The book Lord of the Flies is written by William Golding. In the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to two British boys, Ralph and Piggy, who has survived a plane crash, and they are now stranded on an uninhabited island. There were also other schoolboys from Britain on the plane. However, Ralph and Piggy do not know how many they were, what happened to them or where on the island they might be. They were separated from the other students after the incident. While Ralph and Piggy discuss what to do next, they find a conch, a shell. They use it to call the other boys, by blowing into it. When Ralph blows the conch, one child after another appears among the palms. Some of the boys are six years old and others are about 12 years old. When all the boys are gathered, they feel that they need to collaborate with each other in order to survive on the island, since there are no grown-ups. They decide to vote for a chief, someone who will lead the whole group and make all the decisions. The boys have to decide between Ralph and another boy named Jack. Ralph wins the election and therefore, he becomes the leader of the group. Furthermore, the boys agree on several rules that they must follow, in order to not create any problems. For example, only the person who is holding the conch, is allowed to speak. All the other ones must be quiet.

The boys are desperate to be rescued. If a ship comes near the island, the people on the ship may not notice the boys. They feel that it is necessary to make smoke on top of the mountain. They make a fire by building a pile of wood and then they use Piggy’s spectacles to light the fire. Jack and his group are responsible for keeping the fire going. In addition, Ralph appoints Jack to be in charge of the boys who will hunt food for the entire group. Jack and his group are the ones who have to go and hunt for pigs to get meat.

One day, there is a ship that sails by the island. However, the people on the ship can not see the boys on the island, because the fire has burned out. Ralph becomes furious, because it is the hunters’ responsibility to maintain the fire, but instead, they are out in the woods, hunting for pigs. Ralph decides to call the boys to a meeting.

Characters

There are many characters in the book. The two main characters are two British boys called Ralph and Piggy. These boys are about the same age, approximately twelve years old.

Ralph

Ralph is a boy with fair hair. He is the first guy that we are introduced to in the book. He receives the role of a leader of the group after a voting. This means that he has the responsibility to make sure that everything goes well and he is the one who makes all the decisions. He is very brave and versed in his role as a chief. He is not afraid to take charge or tell someone if they are doing something wrong. He is a strong person, but at the same time, I think he is very scared inside, but he does not dare show his fear to anyone now that he has become the leader of the group. He is also a kind and positive person, because he is constantly saying to the other boys that they will be rescued and that they should not worry about anything. This shows that he cares about others. Although he is caring, I think that he is a little mean, because he treats Piggy bad and is cruel to him. For instance, he sometimes tells him to shut up, and that is mean.

Piggy

Piggy is described in the novel as a fat boy, with thick glasses. He has been wearing spectacles since he was three years old. Furthermore, he has asthma. When Piggy was a little boy, his father died and we are not told what happened to his mother. Piggy used to live with his auntie. In my opinion, Piggy is a really nice person, because he does not swear and do not start a fight with someone else. Moreover, he is the only one who asks all the boys what their name is. I feel a little bit sorry for Piggy, because all the other boys are so mean to him. They pick on him and call him Piggy, even though it is not his real name. He does not like to be called Piggy, but they still call him that. They also call him Fatty. Piggy is very hurt by this and wants them to stop. However, nobody cares what he thinks or wants. They just laugh at him and tell him to shut up.

The title

The title of the novel Lord of the Flies, did not quite catch my interest. I am not sure why the author has chosen that title and I can not find any evidence in the text of why the writer chose it. I guess that he chose that name, because Ralph is the lord, since he is the leader of the group, and all the other children are the flies. Ralph is the lord of the flies.

Reading Log 3: Brave New World

The Turning Point

As I see it there are two events in the novel that could be considered to be turning points, one for each of the protagonists, Bernard and John. The common factor between these events is that they are both life changing for the characters.

The first turning point, Bernard’s, is when John refuses to attend one of his parties. After bringing John back from the reservation Bernard has gained respect and he is no longer judged as an outsider. Obviously, this has helped his confidence and for once he feels wanted and powerful. However, the instant John refuses obey Bernard’s all that he has gained is lost and he goes back to being a “nobody”. If this would not have happened I do not believe that the novel would have developed as it did, therefore I think it is a turning point.

The second one, John’s, occurs when his mother Linda dies. At the time of her death he is absolutely devastated. However, as he grief the rest of society and its residents remain indifferent to her death. They act like they do not care at all, some might even have been relieved when she passed, as she was the direct opposite to how the people of the new world were supposed to be. The indifference and the lack of empathy make John blame society for her death. This eventually leads to his own, Bernard’s and Helmholtz’s arrest and consequently affects the continuation of the novel gravely. 

The Ending

In the end, as I mentioned above, John, Bernard and Helmholtz are arrested due to John’s mental breakdown after his mother passes. During which he eagerly share his opinion about society with a room full of people as he throws their soma out through the window. Consequently they are all brought to the office of Mustapha Mond. At the office Mond answers all the questions that John has about society; why it works the way it does etc.  Moreover Bernard and Helmholtz are exiled to an island because of their irrational way of thinking. At the island they will live alongside likeminded people who do not think the way the controllers want them to. This sounds very compelling to John who is sick of the world he is forced to live in and he therefore begs Mond to exile him as well, however Mond won’t let him. As desperation grows within him, John tries to escape society and its scrutinizing eyes but fleeing to the countryside. Even so, there is no escape for him and as a result he commits suicide.

In one way I really like the ending of the novel, Mustapha Mond finally answered a lot of the questions I had when I read. In addition I believe that even though the ending for John might be tragic his dead was the thing that tied everything together in the end, his dead was necessary for the novel. In spite of these facts I feel like there are a lot of characters that does not really have an ending, but simply disappears gradually throughout the end. For instance Lenina is a rather important character in the beginning and the middle of the novel, but after the incident with John she just disappeared. Although I realise that she might not be that important for the continuation of the novel after that I still feel as if it would have been nice to know what happened to her.

The Title

In my first reading log I thought that the title Brave New World might have been chosen because the author Huxley presented a view of the future, which was rather radical and different. This was, in my opinion, a brave act, hence Brave New World. I still believe that this might be the main reason for him to choose it, however I was a bit confused when I realised that the title is, in fact, a quote from a Shakespeare play. The protagonist, John, who is a huge Shakespeare enthusiast, quotes the part containing Brave New World on several occasions in the novel. Even so I believe the title is connected to the society and the world presented in the novel, since it is my belief that John, when he quotes Shakespeare, uses the quote as a way of expressing how he feels about the society and the world that he is forced to live in.

The Message

The novel was written in the 1930s and as I see it, it is possible that Huxley felt as if our society was on its way to develop into the one that is described in the novel. Therefore he could have written it as a warning to us, that this is what is going to happen if we continue living the way we are currently doing, of course he might have exaggerated a bit to make it even more powerful. Nevertheless I believe that the message is clear; we should appreciate all the things the majority of us take for granted today, such as genuine feelings and freedom of though as well as freedom of speech. 

Peripety Lord of the flies

The peripety

The most significant turning point in Lord of the flies is when Jack and Ralph decides to go separate ways. Jack wants nothing more than to have fun and hunt, and Ralph wants to be rescued and believes that in order to be rescued they need to have rules and follow them. This is the main reason that the boys choose to go separate ways. The separation leads to a feast thrown by Jack and his hunters, and during this feast the boys kill a boy named Simon, due to them thinking he was the beast that they had been afraid of for a long time. The murder changes a lot in the novel, and the incident makes the boys realise that they are not on a vacation where they can just mess around and have fun. This also makes the boys think more about the situation.

The ending

All the boys have left Ralph to be with Jack, and Simon and Piggy are dead. All the boys are hunting Ralph, and they are about to kill him when an officer finds them. All the boys stop doing what they where doing, and starts to cry from relief. They realise what they have done.

I think that the ending of the novel is really good. I am satisfied that Ralph isn´t killed, and that the officer rescues the boys. The ending also leaves you wondering what would of happened if the officer didn’t show up, or if he had shown up five minutes later. Maybe Ralph would have been killed, or maybe some of the other boys would have been killed?

The title

In the beginning of the novel I thought that the title of the book represented Ralph as the lord and al the other boys as the flies since Ralph was named the leader by the other boys. After reading the whole novel I am pretty sure that Jack is the lord, and that the other boys are the flies. Although another reason for the name could be what Simon sees during his hallucinations. While hallucinating Simon sees flies eat from a severed pig head that Jack and his hunters has left behind.

The message

I believe that the message of the novel is that in order for a society to be able to function there has to be an appropriate amount of ground rules. I also think that the message of the novel is that no one is perfect, and that anything can happen to a person’s behaviour in extreme circumstances. You do not know how you will react in some circumstances, until you have experienced them yourself.

The Color Purple – The peripeteia

As most novels and movies made today, Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” contains a peripeteia, a sudden change, which differences the storyline remarkably. In the story of “The Color Purple” the most unexpected change occurs when Celie decides to leave Mr._____ whom she has been married to since leaving her father and her family home.

Already from the beginning of the novel, Celie feels miserable and she keeps praying and blaming God for all of the bad things that has happened in her life. By reading the first three sentences once again, I now understand that they are words spoken from her father, warning her about what would happen if she ever told anybody about the abuse he has been putting her through. Therefore, Celie addresses all of her letters to God since she cannot tell any human being what she has endured. However, one day when the main narrator no longer finds any faith in God, she complains to Shug who gives her advice and makes her realize that God is everywhere and that he sees every fight that she puts up. It made Celie understand how her view of God really should be and she finally found faith once again. Along with her faith, she also gained confidence and decided to leave what had hurt her, in this case Mr._____,  

From this moment on, Celie was portrayed as a stronger woman, whom everything depended on. Even if she now lived with Shug Avery, the rest of the characters saw her as a motherly figure and they asked for her advice and help as soon as they had the chance to. The drastic change also led to Celie, finally taking care of herself instead of constantly running after everybody else in her life. She begins providing herself by making pants that are mostly made for and worn by women, showing power and position in a time era when only men wore pants. This is another indication of Celie’s personal growth and determination on creating a new, empowered life where no men are allowed to control her or let her down.

Moreover, another turning point in the novel is presented even before Celie’s resolution to leave Mr. _____ as an underlying reason to why she decided to leave him. The change occurred when Celie and Shug found Nettie’s letters hidden in Albert’s trunk. Celie realized that her sister had been alive all along and she felt like it was the last straw when it came to her life with Mr.____.

The main change happens quite suddenly, however, in the back of my mind, I always hoped for Celie to leave Albert due to the fact that he constantly mistreated her and never paid attention to all of her good qualities. With the help of Shug, Celie had gained confidence and she did not want to be treated like a punching bag for the people around her to take out their personal aggressions on. When Celie finally left him, the story found a new direction in which it developed just as the main character did.

Additionally, I believe that the ending was very good but it was somehow expected, particularly the reunion Celie finally got with her beloved sister Nettie, whom she had not seen for approximately thirty years. The relationship between the two women showed a remarkable difference concerning the connections all of the other women had between one and other. No matter how different their lives were, they never envied their other half, nor did they ever wish the other sister anything harmful. The rest of the women were very envious of one and other and a lot of comparisons were made, especially about the women’s wealth and families.

Moreover, at the same time some parts of the ending were very surreal. I am specifically thinking about the friendship Celie initiated with her ex-husband Albert. Firstly, I found it strange that she now bonded emotionally with the man she had earlier left for his abusive and unfair behaviour towards her, however, at the time, they only had each other left and their common love for Shug, before Nettie finally arrived.

Moving on, the title of the book confused me throughout the novel, however, I did try to find small details that could explain why the book is called “The Color Purple”. Firstly, I noticed that colours overall, play an important role in the story. The writer described for instance Mr. ___ renovation of his house when he painted the interior “fresh and white, indicating his new beginning. Furthermore, the colour purple was mentioned a couple of times, for example when the narrator talked about Sofia’s bruises in the colour of an eggplant as well as the purple flowers in the fields that Shug reminded her would anger God if they did not notice and appreciate them.

To conclude, the final message of the book mainly discusses the gaps between white people and people of colour as well as between women and men. The importance of always standing up for yourself and the people you love, even if you are seen as a insignificant minority in the society, is indirectly explained throughout the novel. This is demonstrated in the role of Celie, a black woman who gets treated very badly for the sake of her ethnicity and gender. However, Celie finally understands the importance of defending and standing up for herself, which develops the story and her character remarkably.

Pride and Prejudice 1

''Pride and Prejudice'' takes place in England around the 19th century and the novel begins with introducing the Bennet family, the main characters. Everything starts with Mrs Bennet telling Mr Bennet that a wealthy young man, named Charles Bingley, is moving into Netherfield Park in their neighborhood. Mrs Bennet sees this as an opportunity for marrying away one of her five daughters which is basically her only occupation (getting her daughters married). She pleads with Mr Bennet to call on Mr Bingley so that she can introduce her daughters to him. This leads the Bennet family to become invited to a ball where Mr Bingley instantly become well-liked due to him being personable and polite to the local folk. On the other hand, his friend Mr Darcy who is handsome and noble looking makes a less favorable impression by acting proud and condescending.

The eldest daughter of the Bennet family, Jane, instantly gets drawn by Mr Bingley who also seemed equally attracted to her and they form an attachment to each other at the ball. By contrast, the main characters in the novel, Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy, begin their resentment for each other. This is started by Mr. Darcy who says ''she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who slighted by other men.'' about Elizabeth to Mr Bingley who suggests Mr Darcy to dance with her. Elizabeth overhears this and jokes about it dispute feeling a budding resentment.

Alot of characters are introduced in the beginning, such as the Bennet daughters; Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine, Lydia. Mr. Bennet and Mrs Bennet who are their parents and also Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy. These are the characters which the story circles around but there are also some minor characters.

The novel's protagonists are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. The novel plot and the other characters are mostly seen from Elizabeths viewpoint, she is the second daughter of the Bennet daughters. She is described as intelligent, lively, attractive and witty like her father. She, of all the Bennet daughters, has the closest relationship with Mr Bennet on the contrary to her mother which she is her mothers least favorite of all daughters. She is very outgoing, and independent, which you can tell by the way she says whatever is on her mind and she is also quite different from all her sisters.

Mr Darcy is a wealthy bachelor who is considered very handsome by most of the people in the novel. He is described as tall, intelligent and from what I have read it seems as if he is rather unsocial, given that he detests dancing and is not much for light conversations. This is also the reason why people didnt care for him very much during and after the ball. However, Mr Bingley doesn't seem to be bothered by it since they are very close friends.

''It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possesion of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feeling or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this thruth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters''

This quote represents the very first lines in the novel, they actually caught my interest (which isn't an easy task since i don't like to read) beacause they were very intriguing and I believe that the entire plot will centre around these sentences. They breifly tell us about Mr Bingley but also that, as i just said(wrote), the novel will be about women (or more likley their mothers) pursuit of ''single men in possesion of good fortune'' for themselves/ their daughters.I believe that Jane Austen chose this title due to Elizabeth represents ''Prejudice'' and Mr Darcy ''Pride''. Futhermore, the title ''Pride and prejudice'' is very fitting for many reasons, one of which is that it refers to the ways that Elizabeth and Mr Darcy view each other from their first meeting where Elizabeth forms a prejudice against him because he hurt her pride by saying  ''she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me...''. 

The Peripeteia - Pride and Prejudice

The sudden change

Every great novel has a turning point. In Pride and Prejudice the turning point starts when Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy have one of their huge fights. Mr Darcy will end up proposing to Elizabeth which she clearly could not comprehend. How could he have the guts to ask her to marry him after all that he have done to her and her family? How ever, after the fight Elizabeth will receive a letter from Mr Darcy where he explains everything. The letter shows us that behind all that pride Mr Darcy actually is a great person. This made Elizabeth confused. She started to question her feelings towards him and finally understands that she does not hate Mr Darcy, she loves him.

The end

The end of the story was not particular shocking. Like I predicted it ended as most of the love stories I have read, the boy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. In this case, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy finally faced their true feelings and got each other. So did Jane and Mr Bingley too. Even though I could predict the ending I have to say that I liked it. Personally I think that it is not a good love story if it doesn't have a happy ending.

The title

I believe that ''Pride and Prejudice'' is a suitable title. It seems that the author, Jane Austen, has put a lot of thought into it. The title is very meaningful because pride and prejudice are exactly what the enitre plot is about. The main character Elizabeth Bennet is a prejudiced person who has a bad habit of quickly judging people. Meanwhile, Mr Darcy is a person with alot of pride and therefore the fantastic title - Pride and Prejudice.

The message

It is noticeable that the author had a clear message when she wrote this story. In fact, I believe that she had a several messages she wanted to point out in her writing. One of the primary messages in this novel is kind of a hidden message through the character Elizabeth. In fact it is Austen critizing the unequal society she lived in by the main character. She is a fantastic author since she does this in an ironic way. How ever, the message is clear, the women during 18th century did not have the same rights as men. Therefore, they should stand up for themselves. They shouldn't have to feel that they have to marry someone for their great fortune instead of love. Another clear message in this novel is that you should never let your prejudices or pride get in the way of what you truly feel.

The peripeteia- the color purple

Every person goes through some kind of change in his or her lifetime, sometimes for the better but other times for the worse, nevertheless it is important for people to always believe in themselves and to know that all change happens for a reason, but it is the reaction towards that transformation that will decide the outcome of the individuals future.

Firstly the change in this novel is very sudden and it happens when Celie chooses to move away with her new beloved friend Shug, who is the only person Celie loves besides her sister Nettie. It was in this precise moment that Celie stopped being the withdrawn women who does not know how to defend herself, she was know ready to stand up for herself in front of her abusive husband and show him that she will not tolerate to live under the circumstances she has lived so far, abused and mistreated. This was the moment that I was waiting for throughout the novel and I knew that Celie had the strength and courage within herself to do something that she wanted to do for once in her life.

Secondly she was not the quiet and stupid little woman that people in her life had told her she was. This was the moment when she realized that she was worthy of something and someone better and based on that she decided to change the outcome of her future. Celie took control of her destiny and no one could stand in her way. This particular situation left everyone surprised and amazed and no one could believe that Celie was taking destiny into her own hands.

Moreover even though the change came suddenly I personally believe that it had been building up in her for a while, but that she waited for the right moment to show everyone that she was not just a doormat they could step over and also to show her “husband” that he did not control her anymore and that she was the boss of herself.

Furthermore when it came to the ending I was very surprised that Celie and her ex husband actually became friends and shared long conversations with each other. I thought that they would not talk or spend any time together after she left him, but he became very nice towards her and they had one big thing in common, they both loved Shug very much and that was one of the factors that brought them closer. In the very ending Celie finally reunited with her sister and I was so glad that the reunion happened and that they finally got to meet each other after all these years, it was wonderful.

For a while Celie did not know if Nettie was alive or dead and I feared that she would never get the chance to meet her beloved sister again, however not only did she reunite with her sister but she also got to meet her children for the first time. The novel ended with a huge barbeque and the whole family was gathered, furthermore I was very content with the ending because Celie became a stronger person and finally had all of her loved ones at her side. 

To conclude I believe that the message of the title is, that it is important for people to always stand up for themselves in various situations. In the novel it is mostly woman that are mistreated by men and they are also very powerless and are supposed to obey their husband and not have any opinions of their own, however there is also a mistreatment towards the black population. In that way the novel does not only show the mistreatment of women but also  racism that existed in society.  The novel shows the injustices that occurred among people with different gender, ethnicity and so on, these problems still exist in some countries sadly enough. To continue the book wants to convey the message that people should always fight for their own rights and stand up for themselves even though there are many injustices, just like Celie did.  

Finally the color purple was mentioned a couple of times in the novel but I still do not know why the author chose this particular title for the novel, it was not revealed in the book as I thought it would be.