Saturday, November 14, 2015

In chapter 7, what contrast is presented by Ralph's daydream?

The contrast here is between the idealism of Ralph's dream, & its reflection of the lost society from which the boys came, & the reality of their lives on the island. Ralph's dream is of a cottage in which his family once lived, where wild ponies would visit at their walls. He remembers:



When you went to bed there was a bowl of cornflakes with sugar and cream. And the books-they stood on the shelf by the bed, leaning together with always two or three laid flat on top because he had not bothered to put them back properly...Everything was all right; everything was good-humored and friendly.



These recollections of the peaceful, contented life he had lived before the island swarm up before he is unable to stop them. They are also destroyed by the appearance of a wild boar, which Ralph attempts to kill. This moment of the novel reveals Ralph's weakness-his easygoing attitude and inability to see the evil in others. Instead, he dreams of peace without making the effort to establish it on the island.

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