“Which is better -- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?Which is better -- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?”

William Golding

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“Which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?”


“The rules!" shouted Ralph, "you're breaking the rules!""Who cares?”


“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”


“The officer grinned cheerfully at Ralph.'We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?'Ralph nodded.The officer inspected the little scarecrow in front of him. The kid needed a bath, a haircut, a nose-wipe and a good deal of ointment.'Nobody killed, I hope? Any dead bodies?''Only two. And they've gone.'The officer leaned down and looked closely at Ralph.'Two? Killed?'Ralph nodded again. Behind him, the whole island was shuddering with flame. The officer knew, as a rule, when people were telling the truth. He whistled softly.”


“The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers but won't tell.”


“It seems to me that we do live in two worlds... there is this physical one, which is coherant, and there is the spiritual one, which to the average man with his flashes of religious experience, is very often incoherant. This experience of having two worlds to live in all the time, or not all the time, is a vital one, and is what living is like.”