Lord of the Flies
...ns them away from humanity. “He [Jack] began to dance..and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from the same from the shame and self-consciousness.” (Pg. 64) This passage shows how the mask is slowly taking control over Jack, and is becoming “a thing on its own.” Later in the story, this factor of control will spread to the other boys and have the same effect on them. Another way the masks manifest the personalities of the wearers is making the boys become savage. The boys are out hunting and they were killing a pig, they get very inhuman and act like savages. “All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling..the chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt. ‘Kill the pig! Cut his throat!’” (Pg. 114) The masking of their faces makes the boys savage. The boys’ chant and dance during the hunt, getting them further away from being civilized. At this point in the book, the boys are out on the hunt, and a game of pretend gets out of hand. With their tribal masks on, the group loses control, and becomes caught up in the thrill of savagery. Later in the story, the group loses control of themselves again, but this time its fatal. “the beast was on its knees in the center [of the boys], its arms folded over its face.” (pg. 152) Little did the savages know, that the ‘beast’ they were killing was Simon. When the author mentions that the beast had “its arms folded over its face,” it symbolizes the purity of Simon; he does not want to wear a mask and become savage. It is extremely ironic that innocent Simon is the one who gets killed for being the beast, when the killers with the masks are ultimately the beastly ones. The boys become desensitized as a result of wearing the masks. Piggy and Ralph even try to hide the fact that they participated in the killing of Simon. “‘It was an accident,’ said Piggy suddenly, ‘that’s what it was…and look, Ralph…don’t let on that we was in that dance....