LOTF Chapter 4 Select one of the events

LOTF Chapter 4

Select one of the events from chapter 4 1. Find a passage from the text that connects to the event. Choose a passage that you think is really powerful or insightful. 2. Do a close reading of the quote— Explain what the quote says about the event and how the event is connected to the concepts. Be sure to identify and explain the specific words in the passage that help make the meaning.

Selected Event: Henry pokes his stick in the water to try and capture the small transparencies—fish or sea creatures—and prevent them from returning to the sea (61). Sample Response: “He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things. ” This is significant because one of the concepts in the novel, power, is evident. Henry is intrigued and pleased with the control he has to torment and disrupt the lives of the little critters. He is bigger and more powerful with “the illusion of mastery, ” and as a result, he can hurt the fish (61). People who possess power can abuse it and their actions can be very destructive. This event was disturbing because Henry is a small child who takes perverse pleasure in exercising his “control” over smaller things. It suggests that part of the basic instinct of humans is to be destructive, especially when they have power over others. We have seen the struggle for power between Jack and Ralph, and this small incident seems to represent the larger issues on the island: who will have the power and how will they use it? Are humans inherently bad and how far will they go if they have power and societal constraints are disregarded?