'Ralph moved impatiently. The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise. And then the occasion slipped by so that you had to grab at a decision. This made you think; because thought was a valuable thing, that got results...
Only, decided Ralph as he faced the chief's seat, I can't think. Not like Piggy.
Once more that evening Ralph had to adjust his values. Piggy could think. He could go step by step inside that fat head of his, only Piggy was no chief. But Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains. Ralph was a specialist in thought now, and could recognize thought in another.' -Lord of the Flies, Chapter 5, pg 83.
The paragraphs above show Ralph in deep thought. He then shakes himself out of it, telling himself that he can't think; he can't be like Piggy. Then, though, he has to readjust his values. Piggy is smart, and maybe thought is okay. Though Piggy got the low end on the looks spectrum, he got top value on the brains. Being smart is good and very valuable when stranded on an island, and maybe he needs to consider this.
I think that we all need to readjust values from time to time. Sometimes we get to far ahead of ourselves to consider the consequence; we're too caught up in whether or not others will like it, or if it will work. I know that I sometimes don't like things just because so-and-so does, and that has caused problems for me (though small problems). We all, at some point, are those who like to rush and just get-'er-done type people, and need to sit back and think before we act. True?
The next part happens on pg. 91. It's when a littlun stands up and talks about the beastie again. The biguns, including Ralph, Piggy, and Jack, once again dismiss the idea and tell the littlun that there is no beastie--it's only a nightmare. Only Simon faintly believes that the littlun could be telling the truth.
I believe that we all need to stop and listen--a lot. Most of us, believe it or not, are talkers rather than listeners. We would rather tell than receive. Just like Ralph, Piggy, and Jack need to, we need to stop and listen to others once in a while. Also, the fact that it's a littlun being told he's wrong is sad. Sometimes, it's the little ones in our life that see the most and the truth; they see a lot yet don't understand it. We need to listen to them instead of dismissing what they say as 'fiction' or 'imagination' or 'nightmare'. They may actually be telling the truth. Just because we are older and have learned more doesn't mean that they are stupid and immature. Learn to listen.
Cheers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I agree with everything you said, especially about the littluns. I heard this riddle once; it went like this. "What's more powerful than God, more evil than Satan, the rich need it, the poor have it, and if you eat it you die." The answer is nothing. More kindergarten students get the right answer to this riddle than university students. Even when we were told this joke (it was told to my whole family), I was the first one to answer. I'm the youngest in my family. Sometimes young children can give the most intelligent answers because they don't overthink it. Kids are smart!
That's a great riddle. I'll have to remember it for the future.
I tend to overthink things a lot--especially in math. Things tend to be much simpler, and those who are little don't know as much (or how many ways there are to solve it) so they find one answer--which is usually right. Strange. Lucky. I'm jealous. :)
Cheers.
I'm the same way with math. Last week, we had this assignment, and I couldn't figure out how to do the easiest question on the whole assignment because I made it more complicated than it actually was. Our developed (well, hopefully developed) brains automatically think that problems we are faced with challenging no matter how simple they must be. Ahhh... the beauty of an undeveloped brain!
I think people under-estimate kids way too much. When I was in kindergarden, I told my mother that the eggs she was cooking in the kitchen were burning up. She laughed and "said if it were burning, I would smell smoke." I was pretty steemed because my breakfast was messed up, so I kept telling her. She evntually listened and burst into the kitchen and turned everything off. Moral: Don't under-estimate someone lower than you.
Wow Malick. I'm impressed. You remember burning eggs all the back from Kindergarten? That's incredible. (C'est incroyable!)
Cheers.
Post a Comment