Question

Ralph states, "We won’t be painted because we aren’t savages."  Interpret this statement, and share how this statement supports a theme within the work. 

Answer 1

Answer:

The phrase spoken by Ralph reforms his attempt to maintain the civility and order to which they are accustomed. This reinforces the theme of a piece of civility and an attempt to hide who it really is.

Explanation:

This question is about the book "The lord of the flies" that tells the story of a group of English boys who fall on a paradisiac island and that as time goes on, they end up corrupting their human natures and the concept of civility giving themselves completely to savagery. Among these boys Ralph is the one who tries to organize them and prevent them from living like wild freaks.

Many boys decide to paint their faces to justify their decisions to live as wild hunters and not civilized boys, but Raph knows that this will create complete chaos and says that the boys will not pretend to be something they are not and therefore no one will paint their faces, as long as he can prevent it.