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1. 
   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   The "taboo of the old life" that Golding refers to here is the taboo against hurting someone unnecessarily; against being savage.  Roger is throwing stones at another of the children, Henry.  Roger intentionally throws the stone to miss Henry. He throws it to land a few feet from him.  His arm, according to the story, is conditioned to avoid hitting the boy because of that taboo against harming another person.  The stone itself, a relic formed in ancient times, is symbolic of those ancient times when savagery was the norm because savagery often meant survival. It is only the remembrance of civilization that keeps Roger at this point from hitting Henry.  Sadly, that civility will leave Roger soon.

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   http://www.enotes.com/flies

   http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-4-summary-analysis

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   Posted by luannw on Friday April 4, 2008 at 4:15 AM
   
   

2. 
   blametherain Student
   High School - 11th Grade

   The word "Taboo" can be seen as prohibition from religious or social conventions, making this part of the novel all the more evidence for Golding's book as a microcosm of World War 2. Here taboo could be seen as a comparison to the military background and is synonymous of the way many people are fighting in something that they don't undestand. Similarly Maurice and Roger are still attached to the "taboo of old life" that they were forced to live by previously and have kept these rules because they are bound by the constraints of society despite not understanding their purpose.

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   Posted by blametherain on Sunday April 6, 2008 at 10:47 AM