Post #3 - Important Quote

“Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief? He looked expectantly at the boy’s ranged round, who had frozen. Under the palms there was deadly silence. Hand up said jack strongly, whoever wants Ralph not to be chief? (Golding 139)

This quote symbolizes a drastic change in the story. It is the beginning of segregation and nearing the point of two opposing enemies on the island. Jacks over confident and head strong personality is starting to get the best of him and his arrogance about his superiority to Ralph is increasing. This quote is very important because it gives the reader the idea of the events to follow. It almost foreshadows that there is going to be segregation between the boys from this point on. While this constant battle for power between Ralph and Jack has been going on consistently throughout the novel, I believe that this is the turning point where things will actually start happening between the two of them instead of just talk. Also when Jack leaves and some of the boys from the choir join him it demonstrates where their loyalty lies. When Jack and the two boys return to the camp and steal part of the fire and as he leaves he says “The chief has spoken” (155) one starts to understand Jacks desire for power which he could never achieve under Ralph. It seems now as though there are two teams, with Ralph leading one and Jack leading the other. While it was surprising that Jack left so abruptly, it also seemed that this event was inevitable. Both Ralph and Jack are very confident and stubborn. They like having things done their way, and with Ralph as chief Jack was forced to abide by what Ralph said even when he did not agree with it. It would only be a matter of time before Jack became fed up and rebelled against Ralph.