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' Ralph wept for the end of childhood, the darkness of man's heart and the fall through the air of the true and wise friend Piggy.'
He always said that the fire was the most important thing. Without fire, they would not be rescued. There was a lesson to be learnt from that. Jack had been blinded to the entire situation through his one-track mind of hunting and meat. Like a caveman, he bounded through the jungle, pouching the wild boar. Had he gone on there would be no meat and he would have lost his purpose; the island was big to twelve-year-olds but small to nature. It was the ultimate irony that it was Jack's tribe's desire to hunt and kill him that finally encouraged them to light a fire.
Ralph had felt humanity die slowly around him, even in his own heart. Sweet little Simon's death had been the death-knell of kindness, and wisdom had perished with Piggy, his noble and true friend whose real name remained a mystery to him. He had died clutching the last hold of law and order to him, the conch. The broken conch meant the breaking of order. The death of Piggy meant the end of reason. What happened to the voice of reason in Roger when he chose to snuff out the life of humanity personified so intentionally? What happened to human goodness when they all slaughtered Simon in blind panic? Could it be that such brutality and darkness had was innate in man's heart? Those who still breathed had to live with the guilt of witnessing and causing the death of wise Piggy and shy Simon.
As they got on the boat, Jack had hastily leant over the side to wash the savage make-up off. It was as if it had all been just a game. He changed straight away, back to the choir boy who had walked down the beach on that first day when they realised they were on an uninhabited island. It was as if it didn't matter. It seemed that childhood had not died in Jack's heart but was ever-present; he could wipe off the battle make-up and pretend for a while, it had been a game. But Ralph knew the truth. He had seen what indeed lay in Jack's soul, what he had ordered their fellow children to do. They had seen horrors that the grown-ups couldn't understand. They had not seen such things when they were twelve.
"You wanted to kill me," Ralph suddenly accused Jack.
Jack sniffed. "It was just a game."
"You sharpened the spear at both ends," Ralph pointed out, glaring. "You wanted to kill me."
"Shut up!"
"You wanted to kill me the way you did Simon."
"It was an accident."
"You killed Piggy, too."
"Piggy, Piggy, Piggy! Honk, konk, honk! I didn't kill Piggy."
"You stole his specs. That was a dirty trick." And now your hands are dirty with blood, thought Ralph. He wanted to cry again. There was such darkness. There was guilt in Jack, he could tell, but there was denial, too. Roger was sitting not too far away, listening, but he showed no remorse whatsoever. He just sat and looked with no emotion. He looked at Roger and said again, "A filthy, dirty trick!"
" I didn't steal his specs," said Roger.
Ralph stared at him. What was going through his head? It was as if the stealing of the specs mattered more than the death.
At that moment Jack handed Ralph something. It was the specs. They were scratched, broken, and close to falling apart complete from Jack's attack on Piggy to running through the forest after Ralph with them. But still, there they were, the precious fire giving specs worn by the voice of reason who Ralph had poked fun at and told to shut up so many times. Yet he had always stayed loyal to him. When everything went pear-shaped, Piggy never left his side. Had Piggy been born with a different body, that was stronger, taller and had not been hindered by blurry eyes, he would have been the leader. The way he held that conch it was as if he had been given a voice. People would listen to him. He had clutched the conch to him before he died and spoke with the reason of a grown-up. His wisdom went above Jack's head. The wiser he became, the more primitive the second tribe became. He stood up despite not being able to see and spoke up to the beasts of that island. At least he didn't see the bolder coming…
"He was stronger than you all in the end," Ralph said looking up from Piggy's specs. He spoke to Jack, to Roger and to himself. Ralph spoke to any of the other kids who might be listening. "He was wise. And noble. He never forgot the rules, and he stood up to you even though you stole his eyes. He was braver than us in the end."
Jack said nothing. He was too ashamed.
"I still didn't steal his glasses," said Roger.
Ralph looked at him with complete contempt, "You broke the conch."