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   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   Jack's group honors the beast as a way to placate, or appease, the beast. Ancient civilizations and uncivilized tribes have offered sacrifices to gods and other entities as a way to create harmony between the ones presenting the sacrifice and the one receiving the sacrifice.  It was thought that if a gift of a sacrifice was given to the entity, then the entity would look kindly upon those presenting the gift.  Jack's group, as well as the other boys on the island, fear the beast whether they openly admit to its existence or not.  In chapter 8, when Jack and his group put the head of the pig on the stick, Jack says, "This head is for the beast.  It's a gift."  He figures that as long as he keeps giving the beast a gift, the beast won't bother him.  Golding is showing, in this part, how much the boys have regressed in their civility.  They have become primitive man, offering sacrifices to unknown and unreal entities.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-8-summary-analysis

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/character-analysis

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/themes

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   Posted by luannw on Tuesday April 14, 2009 at 3:58 AM