Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Overview
Ralph and Piggy find a conch, summon scattered boys, and hold a meeting. Ralph is elected chief while Jack takes charge of the choir as hunters. An expedition by Ralph, Jack, and Simon confirms they are alone on an island. Jack falters at killing a piglet, hinting at future moral conflict.
Summary
After a plane crash, Ralph and Piggy meet on a tropical island with no adults. Piggy reveals his asthma and past nickname, which Ralph carelessly repeats. They discover a conch in the lagoon; Ralph learns to blow it, summoning scattered boys to a platform by the beach.
Groups arrive, including a uniformed choir led by Jack Merridew. Names are exchanged—Sam and Eric, Simon, Roger, Maurice, Henry, and Johnny among them. The boys decide they need a chief. Though Jack claims authority, the group elects Ralph, influenced by his bearing and the conch. Ralph placates Jack by putting him in charge of the choir as hunters.
Ralph proposes an expedition to learn whether they are on an island and selects Jack and Simon to go. Piggy, hurt by exclusion and Ralph’s betrayal of his nickname, stays to take names. The three explorers traverse pink granite and dense creepers, exulting in discovery, and finally reach the mountaintop, confirming the land is an uninhabited island surrounded by reef.
They exult in ownership and plan for food. On the way back through the forest, they encounter a trapped piglet. Jack raises his knife but hesitates at the moment of killing; the piglet escapes. Ashamed, Jack insists he was choosing a place and vows there will be no mercy next time as they return toward the others.
Who Appears
- RalphFair-haired boy; discovers the conch, assembles the boys, and is elected chief.
- PiggyAsthmatic, intelligent boy; identifies the conch’s use, gathers names, mocked for his nickname.
- Jack MerridewChoir leader; challenges for leadership, becomes head of hunters, hesitates to kill a piglet.
- SimonQuiet choir boy; faints, then joins the exploration and supports Ralph.
- Sam and EricCheerful twins; arrive together and are identified as a pair by Piggy.
- RogerFurtive choir boy; reserved, suggests holding a vote for chief.
- MauriceBroad, grinning choir boy; second in size to Jack, part of hunters.
- JohnnyYoungest boy first to answer the conch; his arrival encourages others.
- HenrySmall boy who wants to go home; adds to the littluns’ presence.