In Chapter 4, several of the littluns are playing peacefully on the beach when Roger and Maurice, who had just been relieved from fire duty, run through their sandcastles and destroy them. Henry, one of the littluns playing, gets up and walks along the beach away from Johnny and Percival. Henry stops at the water's edge and begins to play with the tiny transparent creatures that travel in with the tide. Roger watches Henry from...
In Chapter 4, several of the littluns are playing peacefully on the beach when Roger and Maurice, who had just been relieved from fire duty, run through their sandcastles and destroy them. Henry, one of the littluns playing, gets up and walks along the beach away from Johnny and Percival. Henry stops at the water's edge and begins to play with the tiny transparent creatures that travel in with the tide. Roger watches Henry from behind a palm tree and picks up a stone to throw at him. When Roger throws the stone at Henry, he purposely aims to miss. Roger continues to throw stones in Henry's proximity but is careful not to hit him. Golding writes that inside the six-yard diameter surrounding Henry "was the taboo of the old life" (Golding 62). He goes on to say, "Roger's arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins" (Golding 62). Roger has been conditioned by society that it is wrong to hit people with stones, which is why he doesn't hit Henry. Roger's inability to throw the stones directly at Henry reflects society's boundaries that Roger, for the moment, still respects. The remnants of civilization are slowly waning, but still have an affect on Roger. As the novel progresses, Roger dismisses society's boundaries and descends into savagery. By the end of the novel, Roger becomes one of the most ruthless boys on the island.
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