Lord of the Flies

Chapter 8

Q.2

Mamah BelloSADJO

By

Questions

• Ritual is universal. Why do you think ritualistic behavior has been so central in our lives?

• What purpose do rituals serve/what are their functions?

• “He turned toward the platform, feeling the need for ritual.” (Chp 8, p.156) Why does Ralph feel this “need” for ritual?

• General meaning of Ritual and different types of Ritual and their purposes

• Thesis Statement

• The importance of Ritual in Lord of the Flies

• Conclusion

General meaning of Ritual

The term ritual refers to an extensive and diverse domain of human behavior. On one hand of a conceptual continuum, a ritual is a public, elaborate, and often largescale religious, aesthetic or civic ceremony. On the other hand, it may be one of a variety of private and personal rituals, such as those associated with religious prayer or one's own grooming behavior. In between these conceptual poles are numerous small group and family rituals; for example, formal office luncheons and birthday and holiday celebrations. Dennis W. Rook (1984)

Ritual takes events from everyday life and gives them some sort of symbolic meaning. It also creates a set pattern of actions that are repeatable.

Rituals are characterized by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism and performance. (Caterine, 138)

Different types of Ritual and their purposes

Rites of worship: in any faith of religion are rites of worship or purifications. The primary goal of purification and worship is to help people to get ride of their sins and to make a connection between God or a sacred creature.

Rituals of step or rites of passage: It is usually developed in certain moments of the life of a person as it can be the marriage, the death, a birth, etc. The purpose of these kind of ritual is to give more signifance to these ceremonies and to emphasize the importance of being united.

Thesis Statement

Ritual is something indispensable for human-being live as our need for food, shelter , love since ,İt is the most significant component of a culture.Ritualistic behavihors are parts of human nature and have some effects on them and also it plays an important role in Goldings ‘ novel Lord of the Flies.

The importance of Rituals in Lord of the Flies

Rituals are extremely essential in strengthening groups in Lord of the Flies, for reasons such as:

- Rituals strengthen their unity and supports one another

- It creates a spiritual bond between the members of the group

For example: The ritual killing of the pig originates in chapter four with the boys forming a circle and chanting "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in" (75). It show us that by acting together, or beingSolidary, the boys are not afraid of the pig. It also emphasize the role that Ritual play in solidifiying people.

However in chapter eight, the ritual darkens to a deeper and more aggressive level of violence, one in which the boys are no longer pretending to be hunter and prey, but are actively killing their prey with Much more bloodlust than ever before.  The violence escalates as: "the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her [...] she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror" (135). The boys' use of the ritual in this dark scene foreshadows just how dangerous the ritual can be when the boys lose control

“He turned toward the platform, feeling the need for ritual.” (Chp 8, p.156)

As human-being, we are so weak we can’t acheive whatever we want. That is why sometime whenwe are in a terrible situation that we can’t handle automatically we feel the need of getting help from something powerfull than us. Ralph actually understood that whatever he does he can’t take undercontrol the boys since they’ve already started following Jack’s path. That is the reason why he feels this need of ritual; in other words, he feels the need of getting some help from his God.

 Ritual is our lifeline to the divine. (Donna Henes, 2013)

The need for ritual is a basic human instinct and it is every important for our survivalSince it helps us to make a connection with our society. In addition, in Lord of the Flies,Golding shows the importance of Ritual in a society by emphasizing the role that it playsİn solidifiying and strengthing a society.

References

• http://www.comhaltacht-draiocht.org/articles/purpose-of-ritual

•  Bell, Catherine (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions New York: Oxford University Press.pp. 138–169.

• http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/6258/volumes/v11/NA-11

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-henes/rituals_b_3294412.html