In Chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies, Golding writes
that
There was
a long pause while the assembly grinned at the though of anyone going out in the
darkness.
Significantly, this
line bespeaks of the weakness that lies in mankind when faced with its own shortcomings
and dark nature. Too quickly, it is much easier to laugh and deride the grim truth or
find other explanations for what is too uncomfortable a truth. For instance, the boys
try to label the beast as a sea creature. But, after Ralph gives Simon the conch, Simon
explains, "What I mean is...maybe it's [the beast] only
us."
"Shocked out of decorum," Piggy, who has said that he
seeks a solution, rejects Simon's intuitive answer since he represents the rational side
of man: "Nuts!" Piggy's reaction causes Simon to become "inarticulate in his effort to
express mankind's essential illness."
When Simon attempts
to explain to the boys by using the analogy about "the dirtiest thing there is," his
efforts are parodied, and he shrinks back to his seat; symbolically, Ralph peers "into
the gloom," the darkness of the boys' minds that will not open to Simon's insightful
observation.
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