Rogers Hall School - Splinters Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

Page 15 text:

Flight of Love She passes through the darkness of the night, And sweeps across the shadows towards my door She pauses not, nor falters in her Hight Across the moonlit skies which fools adore. She moves o'er silent stream and birdless trees, She bends and kisses every tiny star. Of passion that unknown to mortals be She lifts her head and sings to distant Mars. Oh, goddess Venus, speed thou on to meg Give me of thine eternal love so sweet. Please break these chains that hind and set me free When in the course of life we two shall meet. Oh! Bitter, selfish Venus full of hate, Why do you give me love but not a mate? CONNIE Tucxnn '63

Page 17 text:

Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, is rapidly overtaking D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in campus popularity. The book's attempt to answer questions concerning the relationship of individual man to individual man is catching students' attention everywhere-perhaps because young people are impatient with easy answers. It is essentially a metaphysical novel, which has been interpreted in terms of original sin, as an allegory of the human condition, and as an allegory of English political history. To quote the author's own intention, the theme is an attempt to trace the defects of human nature. The small boy with the birthmark can, thus, symbolize original sin, that is, the sin of Adam and Eve with which all of us are born. The little boy's disappearance during the Hre on the mountainside can also be interpreted as the disappearance of original sin at the time of baptism. The boys are given a baptism of life, which removes the original sin, and leaves them cleansed. All sins from that time on are thus of their own volition. In the interpretation of the book as an allegory of the human con- dition, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, the boy-leaders in this isolated community, represent different aspects of human society. Ralph represents legalism, with his insistence on parliamentary order and the division of labor. Piggy represents intellectualism, his eyeglasses can be regarded as the tools of intellect, which are used by society for survival, but which are also abused. Legalism and materialism are in constant conflict until the latter con- quers the former. The conflict is followed by an outbreak of savagery and the loss of order. ln the end, Ralph weeps for the loss of his innocence because he has learned that the shape of society depends on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system. As an allegory of English political history, Golding's book is trying to warn England that dependence on legalism cannot solve ethical problems. It is warning the English people that they may be forced to l-ind a new basis for civilization or face destruction. By the symbolism of the rescue of the boys from the island by a cruiser, the author might also be saying that England may have to be rescued by an external force. As harsh as Colding's view of mankind is, he seems to be saying, or wishing, that there is something inside man which cannot be pinned down by the senses. Golding views the relationship of individual to individual as a forge in which all change, all value, all life is beaten into a good or bad shape. He is pointing out that man has a potential for good and for evil, and that man will be overcome by his own evil nature if his natural impulses hold sway. His view of the nature of man, thus, is in sharp con- trast with the view that man is essentially good, which dominated so much of the English literature of the nineteenth century. DOTTIE Woon '63