Read the passage from Lord of the Flies by William
Golding. Ralph is speaking.
"The fire is the most important thing on the island.
How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we
don't keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to
make?"
He flung out an arm.
"Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can't keep
a fire going to make smoke. Don't you understand?
Can't you see we ought to ought to die before we let
the fire out?"
There was a self-conscious giggling among the
hunters. Ralph turned on them passionately.
"You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke
is more important than the pig, however often you kill
one. Do all of you see?" He spread his arms wide and
How is the universal theme of the tension between
freedom and responsibility developed in this passage?
O by the intensity of the way Ralph speaks to the
boys
O by Ralph's implication that catching a pig is
unimportant
O through the laughing of the hunters when Ralph
speaks to them
O through Ralph's statement that fire is more
important than hunting