Chapter 1: Socratic Discussions
" As Jack progresses throughout the novel, he becomes more aggressive and manipulative. He represents what the very idea of power can do to someone's mind. How just the thought of having a taste of it, can poison the mindset you once had. He wasn't right in the head, he was born like this" Nico argues.
"I don't think it was the idea of power that 'poisoned his mind' as you say. I think it was the people and the environment he was in. If you are surrounded by violent people, you yourself are bound to act in savage ways" I debated
" That brings us to the argument of nurture vs. nature" Ms. Lainey adds into the argument.
"Nature, some people are just wired differently from other" Nico says
"People aren't just born evil Nico, they are made into it, something or someone hurts their soul to a point where they don't feel anything but hurt, so they don't want anyone else to feel anything but HURT." Nova says
"I personally believe it depends on the person. Take the son of Sam for example, he didn't kill people because he was so traumatized from his childhood or some shit, he did it because he was sick in the head. On the other hand lets take John Wayne Gacy who was mentally, physically, and sexually abused as a child, that is the reason he commited all of his unspeakable crimes." I say
"That is a valid point Mal, but I would've preferred it if you kept the profanity out of the statement" Ms. Lainey corrects Mal
I ignore her remark and decide to say " One major theme in the novel that I'd like to point out is a loss of innocence. These boys were civilized and innocent at the beginning of the novel, but after they were forced to govern themselves, they lost it. They were only boys."
"Well yeah, these kids were just swimming and they got bombarded by a group of savages who hunt and torture animals, and human beings, for fun. It isn't fair what happened to them. They never had a chance." Nico says
" Doesn't that just prove Nova's point? The boys were innocent, they didn't have any bad intentions until the savages brutally disrupted their entire life. They were forced to become evil, and savage. If they would've been left alone in the lagoon, they probably would've grown up to have a normal life." I say
"I guess that's a fair point Mal" Nico concedes.
"And that my friends, is the power of a good book" Ms. Lainey says
Chapter 2: Fire Alarm
The class bell rings, and I leave and head to my locker. Nico stops me in the hallway.
"Sorry if things got a little tense in there" he says
"Don't worry about it" I laugh him off
I finally get to my locker, number 217. Right 22, left 0, left 5, right 17. My reflection stares back at me when I open my door. I'm still a short, bony, gremlin looking brunette. Lucky me! I actually grunt from aggravation that I look exactly the same. Like I expected to look different. I looked in the mirror exactly 52 minutes ago. What is wrong with me? I put "Lord of Flies" into my locker and grab my calc textbook along with my handy dandy, 40 fricking dollar scientific calculator. Ridiculous, it's not bad enough I have to sell a kidney to go to college, I have to invest in a 40 DOLLAR CALCULATOR. What the actual fuck? My watch reads 11:24, fuck I'm late. I practically run to my Calc class almost busting my ass on the freshly waxed floor. Lol.
I knock on the door.
"You're Late Mal" Mr. Gravehart says
Yeah no shit Gravehart.
