I believe the reason Simon has changed so quickly, is that he has been exposed to true, raw evil. I do not believe he is experiencing a mental breakdown, simply that he is so full of goodness, that this much evil has sent him over the edge. Simon is going through an overdose of cruelty and chaos. A boy of such beauty and innocence cannot handle such experiences, it is too much for him to handle. To cope, he must place the evil. Knowing that it is all around him, would crush him. He protects himself by placing the source of evil as the pigs head: the Lord of the Flies. He tries to reason with it, he sees no sense in such darkness. A boy that was brought into the world with a halo surrounding him, has had that halo stolen and smashed, his only defense system shattered. The darkness rushes in at every angle and the reality of it all hits him with such force he is stunned. Poisoned by the prick of evil, Simon has overdosed.
LTF #4
We are born with a heart of equal darkness and light, evil and goodness. I believe it is society’s influence upon us that pushes us either way. We are not born evil, due to the fact that society was not always around. The cavemen were not all trying to punish and inflict pain upon each other were they? Love and hate, potriotism and treason, darkness and light, are all very powerful, and very real. It is the weak that fall to the feet of darkness, unable to resist it’s pull. The strong survive, pushing through, day by day to feel the sweet caress of the light as it fills them. We are born equal, it is up to us to decide which side we deserve to join.
LTF #3
In Chapter 6, I believe that it is Jack that is suffering the most psychologically. He is being overcome by the evil inside of him, and it’s showing. He cannot handle not having control, and he knows exactly how to get it. He has tapped into his bare human instincts, he has become a man of the ages. There is no greater power over young boys than exagerrated manliness. However, he does not mind that this evil is becoming him, he greets it with open arms. He is wary of it at first, but he soon embraces it, for him, it is much easier than denying it. When Ralph and Jack spot the rock at the top of the cliff, he is the one who thinks of it as a murder tool, to crush another being. Jack has begun to rise above Ralph, and soon he will not be able to look up at him anymore.
Darkness
LTF #2
Mankind’s essential illness is evil. It is a sickness that lives in all of us, suppressed and controlled by civilization. There are strong people in this world, however there are also very fragile, weak people. This does not change who will let the evil overtake them, simply when it will. Take Jack and Ralph for example: Ralph is full of goodness, a good view of right and wrong. Jack, on the other hand, has had the evil creeping up on him for some time now. He is one of the weak, and he soon gives in to the sickness. He is angry, power-hungry, and cold. He has lost his ability to feel anything other than his desperate thirst for blood. He is a primal killer, a soulless shell. Ralph is a fighter, but he too will go. He has lost his reason, his faith, and his innocence. He has not much left to protect him from the evil that so badly wants to run through his veins, to pump his heart with darkness. The darkness lies in all of us; it is the light that very few of us possess, and those who do, don’t know how to protect it.
LTF #1
The refined society these boys left behind has influenced them greatly. They are remarkably well-mannered and bright individuals. The world they left behind was a bright community, full of pride in it’s citizens. However, once the rules and expectations of society disappear, it doesn’t take long to revert back basic human nature. The will to survive, to thrive, to flourish, in any way possible. Jack, a young choir boy, has become an animal who gets his kicks by killing helpless beings, animals and humans alike. Ralph, a very prestigious young boy with natural leadership skills, has faltered. He can no longer even think straight,the society around him has altered, and he changed with it. Roger, a sick boy who, back home, might have suppressed his need to inflict pain on others, but here, he is free to do what he wishes. He gets off by throwing rocks at a toddler, the closer he gets, the greater his euphoric high becomes. Jack has become someone else entirely, masking himself from the world with various paints, becoming a faceless killer. Roger has taken the head of a dead pig, and placed it on “a stick, sharpened at both ends.”. Each action unacceptable in any civilized society, each animal far from the refined boy he was before.
Photographs
The lifeboat that Helen and Dick were on; the very first lifeboat to leave the Titanic.
Dick Bishop must older, years after the Titanic.
Helen Bishop
A Series of Unfortunate Events
On the 18th of April 1912, the Bishops arrived in New York after being rescued by the Carpthia just hours after they boarded life boat 7. 8 months later, Helen gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Unfortunately, 2 days after his birth, the boy died.
The sinking of the Titanic was what started the Bishops downfall; later that year on a trip to Calfornia, they experience an earthquake, but escaped unscathed.
In November 1913, the Bishops were returning home from a evening with friends when they were involved in a car accident. Dick managed to come out uninjured, but Helen was not so lucky. That night it was reported she was facing death. Her skull had been fractured so badly that the doctors had to put a steel plate in place. However, against all odds, and against the fortune tellers predictions, Helen survived.
Though she overcame her brush with death, Helen was left with severe epilepsy. Due to her lessened mental state, Dick divorced her in 1916. Helen charged him with drunkeness and cruelty, and was rewarded with a $100,000 settlement.
Through all her adventures, all her escapades and escaping death for all these years, Helen finally succombed to its call on the 15th of March 1916. She was visiting a friend in Illinois and slipped ona rug, hitting the back of her head on the floor. At the young age of 23, Helen died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
She lived a short and unlucky life, but she lived it well. Helen is proof that no matter how many times you cheat death, it will eventually find you, and there will be no way to avoid it.
Pre Titanic Life
Helen Walton was born on the 19th of May, 1892. She was raised in Dowagiac Michigan by her father, Gerald Walton. Gerald was a Sturgis business man, who owned the Royal Easy Chair co. When she was 19, she married millionaire Dickenson Bishop.
Shortly after they wed, they set off on a four month honeymoon in Europe and Northern Africa. During their trip, Helen became pregnant. The Bishops bought a dog, Freu Freu, in Italy. In Egypt, Helen met with a fortune teller, the very same woman who would predict her tragic fate. The fortune teller told her that she would soon survive a shipwreck, later on live through an earthquake, but in the end, die from a car crash. Helen thought nothing of these predictions, and the Bishops continued on their journey.
When they arrived in France on April 10th, 1912, they bought a ticket and boarded the Titanic. The Bishops payed 182 pounds for their first class tickets, and landed themselves in cabin B-49, neighbours to the famously rich Astors!
My Story
On April 10th, my husband and I boarded the magnificent Titanic. It was truly wonderful, the power of this enormous ship was evident. I was sure it would be an unforgettable journey, unfortunately I was right.
The first two nights were amazing, being out on the ocean is an experience I’ll always enjoy. Dick and I went to a spectacular dinner on the 11th with our neighbours, the Astors. Madeleine Astor is quite friendly, I am glad to have another woman my age so close by. The Astors are good company, Dick and John got along rather well, which left time for Madeleine and I to chit chat about our adventures to come in America. My were we excited!
On April 12th, I had retired to our cabin rather early, unusually tired. Suddenly around 12 am, I was awoken by Dick, who claimed the ship had hit an iceberg, and that we were in danger. In panic, we ran up to the deck with our lifevests on, only to be told that there was no danger, and that we could return to our cabin. Shortly after we fell asleep, our dear friend Albert Stewart came to our room and ushered us out to the top deck.
We didnt have time to collect any of our possessions… I lost so much that night. We got on board the very first lifeboat to hit the water. Dick and I floated for hours with 26 others, in a lifeboat fit for 60. We watched as the ship sank, and crumbled. We watched as people jumped from the front of the ship as it rose from the water, hitting the water hard. Death was everywhere, yet we had survived.
Among the 26 other passengers on lifeboat 7, few were willing to row. I helped row for hours, surrounded by lazy brats. One man refused to help in any way, he merely sat there smoking, observing the peril around us. Out of the thousands of people on the Titanic, these were the ones that were saved?
keiramcintyre 