Lord of the Flies -- Post 1 (pgs. 1-47)

Summary: The book opens to two strange boys who appear to be stranded on a tropical island. One boy is described as more attractive and named Ralph, the other is pudgier and has asthma; he is introduced as Piggy. The two boys find a conch shell and Ralph blows into it, creating a noise that the whole island could hear. Following the noise, boys start appearing out of the bushes, all wearing similar uniforms.

The boys then discover that when they were flying in a plane it crash landed and they are now lone on a desert island with nothing to do. They decide to democratically elect Ralph as leader and only the person who is holding the newly found conch shel may speak at official meetings. Three boys, Ralph, the leader of the choir boys, Jack, and a small weakling, Simon decide to climb to the top of the highest mountain to determine whether or not they have inhabited a deserted island or if there is hope on the other side. They reach the top and discover the island is all theirs, no one else appears to be living there and they are completely surrounded by water. 

On the hike down they run into a pig that has been caught in some bushes. one of the boys attempts to kill it for food but it gets away before he has a chance. When they reach the meeting place again, they inform everyone else of their discovery. They then decide to start a smoky fire in order to let any ships passing by of their presence on the island. All of the boys go through the woods to a head of dead wood and create a pile to be burned. They then use Piggy's glasses to light the fire. The boys are unsuccessful and Piggy who is trying to be reasonable in this situation, scolds them all for being so foolish. He has been consistently bullied throughout the book and appears to be the only voice of reason within the group. 

Text-to-text connection: When Piggy said that his father died it reminded me of almost every Disney movie when at least one parent dies before or at the very beginning of the story. At least one parent has to be killed for there to be any emotional meaning, it seems like. 

Text-to-self connection: The part where the boys are climbing up the mountain in order to discover whether or not it is an island sounded very similar to a hike I did last summer. A group of 20 campers in leadership training including me, hiked across Catalina island. Along the way I made some of my best friends and there was a true sense of camaraderie, similar to what was described as happening to the boys. Both created friendship through strenuous hikes.