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This is a place for us to discuss openly and honestly the literature we are reading. Here we are all just communicating our thoughts on what we are reading. There are no right and wrong answers. However, you are expected to be polite, mature, and on topic.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

The beauty of the written word...

We have read Chapter 9, in which Simon is murdered.  At the end of the chapter, Golding writes four beautifully descriptive paragraphs.  I have included them below.  Comment on the Golding's use of diction(word choice) to create mood in these paragraphs. What mood does he create and how does he do it?  (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Nov. 5, 2013.  No credit will be given to plagiarized comments.)

"Towards midnight the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away, so that the sky was scattered once more with the incredible lamps of stars. Then the breeze died too and there was no noise save the drip and tickle of water that ran out of clefts and spilled down, leaf by leaf, to the brown earth of the island. The air was cool, moist, and clear; and presently even the sound of the water was still. The beast lay huddled on the pale beach and the stains spread, inch by inch.

The edge of the lagoon became a streak of phosphorescence which advanced minutely, as the great wave of the tide flowed. The clear water mirrored the clear sky and the angular bright constellations. The line of phosphorescence bulged about the sand grains and little pebbles; it held them each in a dimple of tension, then suddenly accepted them with an inaudible syllable and moved on.

Along the shoreward edge of the shallows the advancing clearness was full of strange, moonbeam-bodied creatures with fiery eyes. Here and there a larger pebble clung to its own air and was covered with a coat of pearls. The tide swelled in over the rain-pitted sand and smoothed everything with a layer of silver. Now it touched the first of the stains that seeped from the broken body and the creatures made a moving patch of light as they gathered at the edge. The water rose further and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble. The strange, attendant creatures, with their fiery eyes and trailing vapours busied themselves round his head. The body lifted a fraction of an inch from the sand and a bubble of air escaped from the mouth with a wet plop. Then it turned gently in the water.

Somewhere over the darkened curve of the world the sun and moon were pulling; and the film of water on the earth planet was held, bulging slightly on one side while the solid core turned. The great wave of the tide moved further along the island and the water lifted. Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea.” 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

In Simon’s death, Golding creates a somber mood. This whole scene is quiet except for a trickling of water. The stars are “incredible lamps” which intensify the situation, and the air is “cool, moist, and clear”, which calms the situation. Instead of saying “Simon”, Golding calls him “the beast”. This “beast” with its “broken body” is slowly bleeding out on the beach while the “strange, attendant creatures, with their fiery eyes” watch silently as nature takes the body back to where it once came; the boys are not even described as humans. The description of nature in this scene is particularly powerful. For the most part, nature is doing the actions. Everything is almost silent but has great intensity. The tide “swelled” and “smoothed”. The water “rose further” and “dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness”. The “great wave” “softly” takes Simon’s body back to the “open sea”. The fact that nature, an uncontrollable force, takes over the situation shows the gentle power of nature and that life continues after the death of a person. By this, Golding evokes a sense of melancholic realization that the world goes on after death, even though death still affects people.

Unknown said...

Golding uses great diction to explain Simon's death. Everything seems calm. His diction in this point shows that Simon's death, in relation to Jesus, is for everyone. Like Hannah stated, the fact that nature takes over shows the gentleness of nature. Whenever Golding explains how the water "acts", it gives a very still and calm mood to the situation.