Lord of the Flies Group

Question:

xn0t0ri0usx
xn0t0ri0usx
Student
High School - 11th Grade

Why is Percival unable to remember his name in Chapter 12 of Lord of the Flies?

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Posted by xn0t0ri0usx on Sunday March 23, 2008 at 9:09 PM and tagged with chapter 12, characters, lord of the flies, name, percival.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    As one of the two smallest littleuns, Percival's ability to recite his name and address as he has been taught is a sign of the morals and civilized manners ingrained in him by nurturing in his former life.  In Chapter 4, his rote repetition of this information reminds him and the other youngest children of their homes and families, and they begin to wail in miserable longing for their past situations.  Percival is representative of the boys' gradual and progressive loss of all they have learned previously, the longer they run wild on the island.  When Percival is unable to remember his name in Chapter 12, it is indicative of the total loss of innocence of all the boys, and is illustrative of how far they have come from their former reality in their descent into savagery.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-12-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-4-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/characters

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Sunday March 23, 2008 at 10:38 PM

  2. sdees
    sdees Teacher
    High School - 9th Grade

    Percival's ability to recite his name, address, and telephone number at the beginning of the story is a symbol of his connection to civilization. By the end of the novel all thought of things civilized is lost. His inability to remember what was important in civilizes society shows the reader how he and the other boys on the island have disconnected from the civilized world.

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    Posted by sdees on Monday March 31, 2008 at 6:38 PM

  3. georgewizziwig
    georgewizziwig

    As one of the two smallest littleuns, Percival's ability to recite his name and address as he has been taught is a sign of the morals and civilized manners ingrained in him by nurturing in his former life. In Chapter 4, his rote repetition of this information reminds him and the other youngest children of their homes and families, and they begin to wail in miserable longing for their past situations. Percival is representative of the boys' gradual and progressive loss of all they have learned previously, the longer they run wild on the island. When Percival is unable to remember his name in Chapter 12, it is indicative of the total loss of innocence of all the boys, and is illustrative of how far they have come from their former reality in their descent into savagery.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-12-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/flies/chapter-4-summary-analysis

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    Posted by georgewizziwig on Sunday May 10, 2009 at 8:10 AM