Ch. 1: Through dialogue between Ralph and Piggy it is revealed that a nuclear war of some sort has occurred and these private school boys were being evacuated when their plane when down on this island. Ralph and Piggy make their way out of the jungle to the beach and continue to talk. Ralph's excited at the thought of having no adults and being on this island alone, he thinks it will be a lot of fun. While going for a swim he finds a conch shell. Piggy tells him he can blow into it and use it as a sort of calling device. He does and slowly more boys aged six to twelve emerge from the jungle. The boys have a meeting and choose Ralph as a leader. Ralph appoints Jack and the choirboys the hunters while Piggy is made the administrative assistant of sorts. He has to collect the names of the boys and make a roster. Later Ralph, Simon and Jack tour the island and verify it is uninhabited. They spot a wild baby pig and Jack tries to kill it but misses. He vows he'll get it next time.
Ch. 2: After returning from the excursion around the island Ralph blows the conch to call a meeting. He starts to lay down a few rules but Jack continues to interrupt and then leads a charge up the mountain to start a fire. The fire gets out of control and turns into a forest fire of sorts. Piggy gets upset noting that they should have been more careful and thought more before setting such a large fire where the littluns had been playing. He says they could have killed some of the little boys.Ralph tries to place the blame on Piggy noting that he should have had a list of the boys done and known where they were. If he had known all of this they wouldn't have been in danger. No one is really listening, they are all trying not to face reality.
Ch. 3: Jack goes out on the hunt again and this time tracks the pigs. He returns unsuccessful and upset at his inability to bring back a kill. Meanwhile Ralph and Simon work on creating sturdy structures. Ralph thinks it is the most important thing that needs to be done and should be everyone's priority. He is upset because all the boys promised to help but only Simon has done so. When Jack returns he and Ralph butt heads about what is most important. Simon sneaks away to his secret place in the jungle for some much needed alone time.
Ch. 4: The littluns play on the beach and build sandcastles. Two of the older boys, Maurice and Roger return from the jungle and stomp through their sandcastles, destroying them. Jack gets his group together and they paint their faces. He also coerces Sam and Eric into joining him even though they are supposed to stay and tend to the fire. Ralph spots a boat and is certain they will be rescued because they have had a signal fire going since the first day. But Simon points out that there is no longer smoke rising from the mountainside. Ralph, Piggy and Simon rush up the mountain and find that the fire is out. By the time they get there the boat is no longer in sight. Later Jack and the hunting group return with a pig carcass. Ralph becomes extremely upset about the fact that they let the fire go out and prevented their rescue. Jack and his hunters gather around the fire pit and reenact the hunt in a celebratory ritual tribe dance.
Ch. 5: Ralph calls a meeting and brings up the boys pledge that they were all going to work together and build shelters, keep the fire going and maintain a clean water supply. He then brings up the conversation on everyone's mind, the beast. Different boys share their opinions. Piggy brings up a rational scientific explanation for the beastie. Simon explains that the beast may really just be a fear that everyone has within them. That the beast is own our fears. Jack says that if there was a so called beast he would have already seen it in his hunting adventures. Jack leads his group into a mutiny and then they continue in a tribal dance on the beach. Simon urges Ralph to call them back to order but Ralph lets them go. Around this time an argument occurs between Piggy and Jack which results Piggy's glasses of one lens being broken.
Ch. 6: After the events of the group meeting everyone goes to sleep. Meanwhile an aerial battle is going and a dead man floats down onto the island. He lands on the top of the mountain and his parachute is inflated and deflated by the wind. Sam and Eric, on the mountain tending to the fire, see something and hear the sound of the parachute. They flee in terror to Ralph and tell him an exaggerated tale about what they saw. Ralph decides they need to investigate the one point of the island they haven't yet visited, a castle like rocky beach point. They all go and the boys play for several hours while Ralph continues to talk about the need to check on the fire.
Explanation:
Read this book in sophomore year. Fantastic plot!
