Significance of the Mock - Hunts in Lord of Flies
The
mock-hunts in Lord of the Flies are symbols of primitivism and barbarism. The
mock- hunt begins as a pure sport for the sake of fun but gradually it turns
into savagery and cruelty. There are three mock hunts in the novel.
The first mock hunt is really a pure fun.
It occurs after the dinner arranged by jack on having killed a pig and roasted
it to be eaten by the boys with great relish.
Though Ralph is a mood of annoyance, jack goes on describing his hunting
adventure. While Maurice pretends to be a pig, the boys, forming a circle round
him begins to dance, singing, "Kill the pig, cut her throat, bash her
in!’’ This is a pure fun and the participants enjoy it even though Ralph
remains resentful during this game.
The
second mock hunt is held by the boys in the course of their search for the beast
which has been reported by Sam and Eric. Finding no beast they begin to enjoy a
mock hunt. This time Robert pretends to be a pig and squeal, while the boys
forming a ring round him, shower blows upon him with singing and dancing. The
blows are two severe for him and with much difficulty he frees himself from
their clutches, sustaining some injures. Thus the second mock hunt marked as a
primitive ritual. Here jack becomes so spiteful that he proposes to treat one
of the Litt’luns as a real pig and beat him to death. This shows the savagery
that lies hidden in Jack’s nature.
The
third mock hunt takes place later in the story after jack has established
himself as the chief of a large number of Biguns who have deserted Ralph. Ignoring
Ralph’s leadership, jack invites all the boys to hold a mock - hunting and this
time roger pretends to be the pig and the hunters, dancing in a ring pretend to
attack him. As they become more and more excited, Roger saves himself by
leaving the centre of the ring empty and joining the party of the hunter’s. Now
the attention of the hunters is turned to a figure crawling out of the forest.
This is Simon, the Christ figure who has just come down from the mountain top
to rid the boys of their fear of the beast. But ironically he himself is taken
to be the beast and becomes the victim of their cruelty. He is killed by their
blows. Thus this mock-hunt marks the climax of the series. The participants
have now developed a lust for blood.
To
sum up, the successive mock-hunts show the boys gradual alienation from and
moving farther and farther from civilized behavior, and going backward to barbarism.
In fact, Golding’s purpose behind the mock-hunts is to display the degeneration
of human heart under favorable circumstances.
so helpful.
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