(A/N) This is just a little journal I had to write for English about "The Lord of the Flies." We had to invent our own character (since many boys in the book are never named) and tell the events of the story from his point of view. It's pretty simple, but I hope you like it.
The Journal of Oliver Crewe
"The Sound of the Shell"
In the distance the sun is just barely visible, so we shan't have but an hour or so of light left. The plane crashed just two short days ago and already we've started to organize ourselves. The first day we arrived, a boy called Ralph ordered an assembly and we agreed to vote him chief. He's friendly enough and always seems to know what he's talking about, so I'm not too worried. Not all of the boys wanted him to be chief though. The choir all voted for their leader, a thin, red-haired boy named Jack Merridew. I suppose they only did it out of duty though. I don't know why anyone would willingly vote a boy like Jack chief. With his fiery locks and those icy blue eyes, sometimes he reminds me of a sly fox, sneaking around and always searching for amusement. I don't suppose Piggy wanted Ralph to be elected leader either, but no one really cares what he thinks. Simon told me that he thinks everyone should be treated fairly and that we should have given Piggy a chance to speak when he had the conch, and in a way I agree with him. Who's to say that he shouldn't be allowed to express his thoughts just because he's got a big belly and ugly specs? But I wouldn't dare speak up against the others. Already everyone seems to hate Piggy and I'd hate for the same thing to happen to me. At the moment I can only hope that a boat will come and find us soon, and I haven't any doubt that it will. So I figure we might as well have some fun before it happens and enjoy ourselves. The island's not so bad really. The littluns claim there's a beastie out in the jungle, but I don't believe it. How could a horrible monster live in such a beautiful, fruit-filled paradise?
"Fire on the Mountain"
I can't believe that only two weeks ago I was celebrating my eleventh birthday back in London. We had loads of cakes and sweets and my dad even bought me a new bicycle, freshly painted in scarlet red. Oh how I wish I had that bicycle with me now. The days here are so tiresome. Today I swam a bit with Simon and Bill and we started talking about what we were going to be when we grew up. I said I wanted to be a captain in the navy, just like Ralph's father. Captain Oliver Crewe. I think it sounds quite nice, don't you? Ralph suggested that we build a fire today, in order to signal ships, so we all ran up to mountain and gathered leaves and twigs. I felt sorry for Piggy. Jack stole his glasses to start the fire. He could have at least said 'please.' But Jack never bothers with manners. Especially around Piggy. We accidentally lit part of the jungle on fire as well, but I don't see what the big deal is. There are plenty of trees left to spare. Also, a littlun, one who bore a mulberry-colored birthmark on his cheek, has gone missing. No one knows where he ran off to. Hopefully, he just got lost and will be back by morning.
"Huts on the Beach"
Jack was off hunting in the jungle all afternoon today. He says we need meat and it seems like all he thinks about is finding and killing pigs. My stomach grumbles just as much as the next boy's, but I'm always satisfied with fruit. It would be nice to have meat, of course, but there's no need to become obsessed with the idea. I spend the morning with the rest of the boys, building huts under Ralph's order. As we continued work though, many of the boys tired of the shelters and ran off to play in the sand, or munch on some fruit, or swim in the cool water of the bathing pool. Although it was rather tempting to join them, I didn't want to leave the others and force them to finish all on their own. Plus, Simon's been a real good mate of mine out here and I couldn't bear to leave him laboring all by himself. Finally, only Ralph, Simon, Maurice, and I were left. It's not that I don't think the huts are a bad idea, I just thought that perhaps we should take a break and finish later. Ralph and Simon said they wanted to keep working, but Maurice and I left to join the others at the bathing pool. I felt bad, but they could have joined us if they wanted to and we would have helped them finish up later.
"Painted Faces and Long Hair"
It seems like we've been here forever already. If my mother could see me now, my once tidy dark hair hanging in tangled strands and my uniform ripped and filled with holes, I'm sure I'd get a good scolding. I wonder what the boys are doing in school right now. Reading useless books and taking exams, I'm sure. Too bad for them. But it's strange- now that I don't have to go to school anymore, I'm almost starting to miss it. Almost. I spent the day relaxing at the bathing pool and playing in the sand down at the beach, but when I heard shouting coming from the jungle I followed it to find Jack and his hunters carrying a pig they'd hunted and killed. They paraded up to the mountain and I followed behind, anxious to finally eat some real food. But when we arrived, we found Ralph and he began to yell at Jack for leaving the fire in search of food. They had a bit of a row, but in the end we all sat down by the fire and ate the pig and everything was all right again. I can see why Ralph was so sore, but I could never go against Jack with him. Besides the fact that he's awfully intimidating, I like eating the pig too much to oppose him.
"Beast from Water"
Ralph blew the conch today and called a meeting. He said that Jack and the hunters should stop focusing on finding more meat and killing pigs. If we keep forgetting about the fire we'll never get rescued. We've all forgotten about the rules, he said, and if we keep acting like a bunch of fools we'll be stuck on this island until we die. Jack got angry and ran off and all the hunters followed him wildly. I didn't know whether to stay or to go, but in the end I was simply dragged along with the crowd. It's probably for the best though. I wouldn't want to go against Jack and his hunters. They're already talking about the others and how they're crazy. They say Ralph's mad about the fire, Piggy's just too fat and ugly, and Simon's simply batty. In a way I wish I'd stayed with Simon, for he's the best mate I've got on this island, but when I tried to tell the others that they just looked at me as though I was batty too.
"Beast from Air"
Samneric woke us all in the middle of the night with wide eyes and shaky words, talking in snippets so that we had to continually turn from one twin to the other. The beast was on the mountain, they said, and it was big and dark and scary.Once we'd all eaten, Piggy sat with the littluns while the rest of us went out in search of the beast. I made sure to stay in the back with Simon. If we really do meet the beast, I certainly don't want to be the first one in its path.
"Shadows and Tall Trees"
We've traveled all over the island, but have yet to find the beast. It seems that the littluns' nightmares won't be ending any time soon. Finally, after a long day's search, Simon went back to the beach to find Piggy. After that, the rest of us dispersed as well, leaving only Ralph, Jack, and Roger. They haven't returned yet and it's already well past dark. I wonder if they've met the beast.
"Gift for the Darkness"
Another meeting was held today, this one called by Jack. After he and Ralph had fought a bit about pigs and fires and the beast, Jack got angry and announced that he didn't want to be apart of Ralph's group anymore. He ran off into the jungle, heading towards the other end of the island, I'm sure. The rest of us started building a new fire down on the beach since the beast is still up on the mountain by our old fire. For a time everything was going fine, but then we began to realize that some of the boys had disappeared. They ran off into the jungle to find Jack and join his tribe. Bill told me I should come with him and Maurice when they left for Castle Rock, but I didn't know whether to come or not. I tried to find Simon and see if he was going to stay, but Ralph said he was already gone. Although I knew Simon didn't usually believe in what Jack had to say and was surprised that he might decide to join the hunters, I thought that he was heading for Castle Rock and decided to follow suit. When I arrived to find the others though, Simon wasn't there. No one knew where he'd gone. And yet, no one but me seemed to care much either. "He's off his knocker, that one," Jack said when I told him, "Good riddance to him."
"A View to a Death"
Although I was doubtful at first, life in Jack's tribe really isn't so bad. Today, Jack returned to us with another pig and we feasted merrily. And, in the middle of it all, Ralph and Piggy arrived as well. We ate till our stomachs were aching and then it started to rain. Jack ordered us to dance and the boys begin to chant, "Kill the Beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" We gathered in circles and were shouting and dancing. The world was a blur and the rain kept pounding down on us, harder and harder. Then a figure appeared out of the jungle. I didn't hear what it said and I didn't care. Thinking it was the beast, the one thing we'd feared since we arrived, I began to claw and tear at it madly with the others. I don't know what came over me, but I've never felt like that before. It wasn't until several moments later, once the sky had cleared and the chanting ceased, that I saw the body floating out in the sea, surrounding by tiny glowing fish. I knew at once who it was and could almost feel my heart begin to swell. Although his coarse black hair was matted and his body covered in blood, I would recognize him anywhere. It was my best mate on the island. It was Simon.
"The Shell and the Glasses"
I don't know what to think anymore. What's become of us? We're no longer boys, but animals- acting on every whit and whim that we fancy. When we saw the shadow arise out of the trees we jumped on it, not bothering to stop for just a moment- one simple moment- and realize how completely foolish we were being. The others don't understand. They say Simon was barmy, crackers, loony. They say he shouldn't have come bounding out of the forest like a lunatic. They say it's all his fault. But I know better. Simon didn't do anything wrong. No matter how silly they may have thought him, he never, ever deserved to be murdered. No one deserves that.
"Castle Rock"
I want to go home. I want my mum and my dad and my brothers Peter and Charlie, and I'm not afraid to say it. I want my shiny red bicycle and the sack of sweets I hid in the back of my sock drawer. I want to see black cabs and big buildings and lots and lots of books. I want to see a table full of warm, home-cooked food and I want to wear a clean shirt and black shoes. I want to cut off all these dark, tangled tresses hanging in my face and I want to take a nice hot bath. All I can think about is London. I hate this island. I really do. In fact, I don't think I've ever despised something so much in my entire life.
Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric came to our side of the island today, trying to retrieve the glasses Jack stole from Piggy the night before. Under Jack's order, the twins were tied up and taken as prisoners. I was supposed to watch over them with some of the others, but I couldn't. I couldn't take my eyes off of Piggy. Jack and Ralph were yelling, but Piggy was blind as a bat, wailing for his specs miserably. But no one was listening to him. No one ever listens to Piggy. Roger was the one that did it. I saw him, with a nasty sneer upon his face. He pushed the rock that hit Piggy and knocked him into the water. He pushed the rock that smashed Piggy's head until it lay in pieces on the rock. Roger pushed the rock the murdered Piggy and I'll never forget the look I saw upon his face when he did it.
"Cry of the Hunters"
Ralph escaped before the hunters could catch him last night, and Jack was furious. He devised a plan so that today, instead of hunting pigs, we'll be hunting a young, fair-haired boy. They've all gone crazy, I swear. We formed a line in the jungle and spend the day walking through the forest, calling out to the others if we found the area was clear. A fire was started and it soon spread throughout the jungle. I knew Ralph must be out there somewhere, and I felt sorry for the lad- running from both the hunters and the fire. Finally, when we reached the end of the island, we found him on the beach with a man. An adult. I couldn't believe it at first, but when I stepped closer I saw that my eyes had not deceived me and it was indeed an adult- a naval captain, no less. He'd come because he saw the smoke. All at once, all of us boys began to cry. We just couldn't believe it was finally over. With tears rolling down my face, I looked around at the others and realized what we'd all become. Savages. We- smart, well brought up British boys- had become hunting, brainless savages. Although I wanted to blame it all on the others and say that they were the only ones in the wrong, I knew that wasn't true. I'm just as guilty as the others. As much as I'd like to deny it, I took part in Simon's murder and I simply sat and watched Piggy's death. I never put a stop to it or stood up to the others like Ralph tried to. I just followed along like some dimwitted fool.