NovelGuide: Lord of the Flies: Novel Summary: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

This chapter begins with Ralph, Piggy, and the twins recovering from the previous night’s battle with Jack and the hunters. Ralph blows desperately at the fire, but there are no sparks. Without Piggy’s glasses there is no way to start another fire either. The situation has become hopeless for Ralph and his few remaining followers.

Piggy soon shows his rage and contempt for Jack when he tells Ralph, "I got the conch. I’m going to that Jack Merridew an’ tell him, I am." Ralph and the twins decide to follow Piggy’s lead and confront Jack and the hunters at Castle Rock. They decide to carry spears while Piggy brings the conch, his last semblance of order.

When the two tribes meet each other at the hunter’s fortress of Castle Rock, words and stones are hurled back and forth, eventually leading to a fight between the two chiefs. This fight ends in a draw, but Samneric are quickly taken as prisoners. This inspires Jack and his hunters to become more aggressive. When Piggy screams at them in desperation, "Which is better— to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?," the hunters are enraged. Roger, Jack’s torture specialist, rolls a giant boulder down the hill, striking Piggy head on. Instantly Piggy’s body is hurled over the ledge, crashing onto a rock below revealing his blood and guts before his corpse is washed away with a wave from the ocean.

Ralph, in savage-like panic, crashes through the foliage, escaping the situation which has killed his only source of encouragement.