How Does Golding’s Writing in This Passage so Powerfully Portray the Boys and the Situation They Are in?

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Throughout this passage Golding uses many devices and techniques to powerfully portray to the reader how dire and serious the situation the boys are in. Golding uses similes to illustrate the shock of the boys when they realise one of their own has disappeared, ‘the crowd was as silent as death’. This simple simile powerfully portrays the fact that none of the boys understood how dangerous the situation they were in could be. Indeed, the specific paragraphing used by Golding to set this sentence apart creates an eerie effect as well as creating the impression that this is a turning point for the boys. In this passage, Golding continues to present Piggy as an outsider. Through the use of simple and short sentence Golding powerfully portrays, ‘Piggy lost his temper’ as a strange occurrence which symbolises that their democracy is not working. The single line paragraphing exhibits the pace of this passage and demonstrates how quickly their primary ideals have fallen apart. Through this, Golding powerfully portrays and suggests that other ideals will similarly fall apart just as quickly, as well as hinting to the reader that the boys’ situation will get worse. Golding uses the verbs ‘tucked’ and ‘crouched’ to suggest that Piggy is putting himself in a protective position as he is the only one who grasps the direness of their situation. Furthermore, Golding uses the boys’ dependency on the ‘conch’ to powerfully portray how the boys are relying on this simple object to keep order within the camp. Indeed, Golding even suggests that they are relying on the conch to protect them from themselves ‘Piggy fell against a rock and clutched it with both hands.’ This dependency is what suggests to the reader how fragile the boys’ situation is and how a simple problem such as ‘letting the fire out’ can destroy the democracy of the island. Golding powerfully portrays how Jack wants

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