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No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
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They obeyed the summons of the conch, partly because Ralph blew it, and he was big enough to be a link with the adult world of authority; and partly because they enjoyed the entertainment of the assemblies.
At this point in the novel, the boys still respond to the call of the conch because they view it, and Ralph, as a link to the comfort and order of the society they've been separated from. At the same time, they treat the meetings as a source of fun and are beginning to take the rules less and less seriously.
Read more about the conch as a symbol.
In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a younger eye with sand. Now, though there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand, Maurice still felt the unease of wrongdoing. At the back of his mind formed the uncertain outlines of an excuse.
After Maurice kicks sand into a littlun’s eyes while playing near the beach, he realizes that there is no one there to scold or punish him for being a bully. His feelings of guilt and shame prove that he still feels bound by the moral code of civilized society, but the moment foreshadows the boys' gradual slide into savagery as the rules of their former lives lose hold over them.
Read more about Civilization vs Savagery as a theme.
He poked about with a bit of a stick, that itself was wave-worn and whitened and a vagrant, and tried to control the motions of the scavengers. He made little runnels that the tide filled and tried to crowd them with creatures. He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things. He talked to them, urging them, ordering them. Driven back by the tide, his footprints became bays in which they were trapped and gave him the illusion of mastery.
This quote describes a boy named Henry as he plays at the water's edge on the beach. As he manipulates tiny sea creatures, he seems fascinated and thrilled by the power he holds over them. His “illusion of mastery” foreshadows the boys’ growing obsession with dominance and hints at how innocent play will give way to real cruelty and violence.
Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.
In this scene, Roger tests the boundaries of the boys' new society by throwing stones near Henry but being careful not to hit him. Roger's hesitation to hurt Henry reveals that traces of social conditioning and the fear of authority still prevent him from committing outright violence, but Golding makes it ominously clear that the influence of civilization is quickly fading.
