Lord Of The Flies Chapter 4: Painted faces And Long hair :: English Literature

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 4: Painted faces And Long hair At the beginning of this chapter the link with moral order and civilisation is still present This is noticeable when Roger is throwing stones but makes sure they do no hit Henry. This is because â€Å"the taboo of the old life† is still strong, â€Å"Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law† However there is a suggestion that civilisation is becoming remote for the boys â€Å"Rogers arm was conditioned by a civilisation that new nothing of him and was in ruins† Civilisation is a distant memory. Roger and Maurice are beginning to behave differently towards the littluns. They kicked their sand castles over, buried the flowers and scattered the chosen stones. They enjoy doing this, something they would have not done in their past life as they would have been punished by their parents. Maurice realises this while walking away as he â€Å"still felt the unease of a wrong-doing.† This shows that although they have broken away from their past life, by rule breaking, they still have a sense of right and wrong. Moral standards are under threat in this new environment. Jacks standards and morals have been eroded. He claims that his war paint is for camouflage and will help him when he is hunting, â€Å"They don’t smell me. They see me.† He claims. Jack is excited by his new appearance. However the war paint removes him from his previous identity. The others are â€Å"appalled† as Jack â€Å"began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling.† He takes on primitiveness and leaves behind the rules and laws from his previous life. The war paint mask appeared to be taking control â€Å"the mask was a thing on it’s own† and it â€Å" compelled them† Jack had left behind his â€Å"shame and self consciousness.† Piggy is trying to maintain a link with civilisation by suggesting they could make a sundial. However this is treated with sarcasm and ridicule from Ralph â€Å"and an airplane, and a TV set†¦ and a steam engine.† Piggy, keen to be accepted misinterprets Ralph’s smile as a friendly gesture but Ralph becomes dismissive and moves away. The boys suddenly realise that their fire has gone out and a ship passes by without seeing them. Ralph hears the hunting processions chanting led by Jack. During the early days Jack could not bring himself to kill a pig. However killing has now become acceptable. The boys involved in the hunt have broken what was earlier, a taboo. Not only are they now prepared to kill, they actually take real pleasure in doing so â€Å"Kill