A/N: I considered writing this as a review for my Lord of the Flies in-class essay. It's a condensed summary of the book, some quotes, and an explanation of some of the symbolism. I was hoping to also make it funny, but I found out about halfway through that the harder I try to be funny, the cornier it gets. And I didn't explain the symbolism well enough either, but I did have most of the symbolic ideas in all-caps. The interpretation of symbolism is the group effort of 58 of my classmates, although when interpretations conflicted, I chose my own. Let me know if this is worth continuing to other chapters.

Chapter 1: The Sound of the Shell

RALPH trots through the SCAR in the jungle.

BUSH: Hi! Wait a minute!

FAT BOY steps out from behind bush.

FAT BOY: Where's the man with the megaphone?

RALPH: I think this is an island. I think this is a deserted island. I think.

FAT BOY: Where's the pilot? Where are the grown-ups?

RALPH: No grown-ups! Yay!! We're free to do anything we want!

FAT BOY WIPES SPECTACLES to get CLEARER VIEW

FAT BOY: My aunt told me not to run, on account of my asthma. My aunt told me not to swim, on account of my asthma.

FAT BOY: Them fruit –

Wipes spectacles as if TRYING TO SEE

FAT BOY: Them fruit –

Wipes spectacles as if TRYING TO SEE

FAT BOY: My Auntie –

Wipes spectacles as if TRYING TO SEE

FAT BOY: We should know names and make a list. By the way, they can call me anything except for what they called me at school, which is Piggy.

RALPH: Hahaha! Piggy! Piggy!

PIGGY: I said I didn't want you to call me that! Or at least don't tell the others.

PIGGY: We've got to find the others. We've go to do something.

RALPH: What's that? (points)

PIGGY: A stone.

RALPH: No, it looks more like a shell....

PIGGY: Oh right, a shell, that's what I really meant. It is a shell! I've seen one like that before. On someone's back wall. A conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would call. It's ever so valuable – "

RALPH attempts to fish it out with stick.

PIGGY: Hey! You're going to break it!

RALPH: Shut up. Ooooh.... look at all the PRETTY COLORS. It's very BRIGHT and CAPTIVATING. Maybe it could be an instrument of POWER.

PIGGY: Ralph, let's use this to call the others. Here, you blow it from right here. You kinda spit. My auntie wouldn't let me blow it on the account of my asthma.

Ralph blows conch. Other boys come from all parts of island.

PIGGY: What's your name?

TWIN BOYS: Sam, Eric, Sam, Eric

Boys in BLACK, as in the color of EVIL, march to site. They look like RAVENS.

TALL BOY: Isn't there a man here?

RALPH: There's no man here. Only me.

TALL BOY: Isn't there a ship here?

RALPH: No ship.

TALL BOY: Isn't there a man here?

RALPH: There isn't any man here!

TALL BOY to CHOIR: Choir! Stand still!

CHOIRBOYS: But Merridew...

One boy FAINTS

MERRIDEW: He's ALWAYS fainting. Isn't there a man here?

RALPH: No.

MERRIDEW: Then we'll have to look after ourselves.

PIGGY: That's why there's the meeting. We've heard names. We have almost everyone's names, just yours.

MERRIDEW: Kid's names. I'm not Jack, I'm Merridew. And shut up Fatty.

RALPH: He's not Fatty, he's Piggy!

Boys laugh and cry "Piggy!"

JACK: We should decide how to be rescued.

RALPH: Shut up. We need a chief.

JACK: I'm the chief! I'm the head of the choir and I can sing C sharp!

RALPH: Let's be nice PROPER, fair, British boys and have a vote!

BOYS: Yay! That's a fun GAME, voting! Him with the shell! Let the one with the SHELL be the CHIEF!

RALPH: All who want me? (hands are raised; Piggy's is last) All who want Jack? (only choir hands are raised). All right, I'm chief, but Jack still is head of his choir.

JACK: I want my choir to be HUNTERS. All right choir, take off your togs.

RALPH: (smiles) Good, you're sweating. That must mean you're a hard worker.

JACK: Oh yeah, I'm REALLY concerned about the other people's WELL-BEING. I tried to look for water, but then I decided to be oh so obedient to the call of your shell.

RALPH: Okay, Simon (the kid who FAINTED), Jack, and I are going to explore the island.

PIGGY: I want to come I want to come!

RALPH: You can't do anything of this sort because of your ass-mar.

JACK: You aren't wanted! Scram!

PIGGY: Ralph, you told them my nickname! How could you? I told you to not tell anyone my nickname!

RALPH: Piggy is better than Fatty! Now go back and take names. That's your job remember.

The boys go exploring

RALPH: The rocks are like icing, on a PINK cake. Of course, when you think about it, that could also be BLOOD that's long been faded away since the days BEFORE CIVILIZATION, but I haven't really thought of it.

JACK: Look, here's a track made by animals.

The boys climb a rock

RALPH: We ought to draw a MAP, only we haven't any paper.

SIMON: We could make scratches on bark, and rub black stuff in.

They pass a PINK rock.

RALPH, SIMON, JACK: Come on, let's push it over! Heave! Heave! Heave! There it goes! Like a bomb! Whee-aa-oo!

RALPH: This belongs to us. Notice how the island is BOAT-SHAPED, the way it's an island so that the OCEAN is all around, and is so CALM in contrast to the HIDDEN JUNGLE of the island.

JACK and RALPH: Look at all that. Look at it, it's all ours. Look at the REEF. There's the SCAR where we landed. We can HUNT UNTIL WE ARE FOUND.

SIMON nods and smiless and looks happy.

SIMON: I'm hungry. And hey, look at these bushes. They're all waxy and smell nice. Like CANDLES.

RALPH: You can't set them on FIRE

JACK: You can't EAT them.

Continue walking. Boar approaches. Jack whips out knife. Pig screams, writhes, then leaves. Jack sheathes knife.

JACK: I was choosing a place; for the right moment to stab him.

RALPH: Stick a pig! Stick a pig!

JACK: You have to slit its throat. Otherwise, there'll be TOO MUCH BLOOD, and that would seem SAVAGE. But next time there will BE NO MERCY. (glares at Ralph and Simon)