Get a super-detailed set of the most important quotes for The Sound of the Shell. Discover how Golding introduces all the main characters, themes and creates mood and atmosphere at the start of the novel. I’ve sorted them by theme and character and there’s an A* level video analysis too. If you scroll down, you can find all quotes in the order in which they appear. If you like it, share it. Thanks!
Quotations Sorted into
[1] Theme;
[2] Character;
[3] All Quotes from the first chapter in Order
[1] Themes:
Evil/Garden of Eden Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
‘witch-like cry’ ‘mildness’ ‘that proclaimed no devil’ “them fruit” ‘darkness of the forest’ ‘skull-like coco-nuts’ ‘snake-clasp of his belt’ ‘gorging fruit’, some ‘naked’, some ‘half-naked’ their shadow a ‘black, bat-like creature’, they find a track and can’t decide if it’s “men” or “animals” ‘solemn communion’ ‘Jack drew his knife’ ‘the downward stroke would be’ ‘an enormity’; ‘all three laughed ashamedly’ the enormity of ‘cutting into living flesh’ ‘the unbearable blood’
Childishness Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
Piggy:”Aren’t there any grown ups at all?” ‘The boy’ ‘school sweater’ “Daddy taught me… he’ll come and rescue us.” To Ralph, the conch is a ‘plaything’; the whole group: ‘this toy of voting’ “Wacco” “Wizard” “Smashing”
Civilization Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
Technology symbolised by ‘looked out through thick spectacles’; ‘automatic gesture that made the jungle … seem like the Home Counties’ ‘the delight of a realised ambition’ “Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.” “Nobody don’t know we’re here.” “Sucks to your auntie!” Piggy: we should “make a list. We ought to have a meeting.” ‘square black cap with a silver badge’ (suggests Fascist uniform). They tumble a huge rock and laugh as it’s “like a bomb” ‘they savoured the right of domination’
[2] Character:
Ralph Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
‘school sweater’ ‘the delight of a realised ambition’ ‘snake-clasp of his belt’ Ralph ‘stood there naked’ ‘he might make a boxer’ ‘mildness’ ‘that proclaimed no devil’ Ralph shrieked with laughter…”Piggy! Piggy!” Ralph: “Sucks to your auntie!” “Daddy taught me…he’ll come and rescue us.” to Ralph, the CONCH is a ‘plaything’, to him, Piggy was ‘irrelevance’ Ralph’s ‘face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise.’ Ralph about the island: “This belongs to us”
Piggy Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
‘greasy wind-breaker’ ‘plump, caught and scratched by thorns’ ‘shorter’ ‘very fat’ ‘looked out through thick spectacles’ ‘the fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder’ Piggy “I was the only boy in our school what had asthma” “them fruit” “as long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school” “Piggy” Piggy: “My auntie” (repeated) Piggy: “How does he know we’re here?” Piggy: “Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.” About the CONCH: my friend “used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable.” Piggy offers to go: Ralph “You’re no good on a job like this”; Jack: “We don’t want you”.
Boys Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
Johnny appears, but Ralph is ‘not interested’ Ralph’s ‘face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise.’ boys ‘gorging fruit’, some ‘naked’, some ‘half-naked’ their shadow a ‘black, bat-like creature’, ‘two boys, bullet-headed’, twins, ‘chunky and vital’.
Jack and the Choir Quotes:
First Chapter: Sound of the Shell
Jack and the Choir ‘something dark’ ‘creature’ ‘darkness’ ‘shadow’ ‘square black cap with a silver badge’ ‘hidden by black cloacks’ boys with ‘complexions of newly washed plums’. ‘Wearily obedient’ ‘perched like black birds’ ‘uniformed superiority’ only the choir “wants Jack for chief”. He blushes with ‘mortification’. Ralph: “The choir belongs to you.” / “They could be the army”/ What do you want them to be?” Jack: “Hunters.”
Jack Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
Jack ‘the boy who controlled them’ ‘cloak flying’ “Where’s the man with the trumpet?” ‘What he saw of [Ralph] did not seem to satisfy him’ ‘tall thin, and bony’ ‘red’ hair ‘His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.’ ‘light blue eyes, frustrated, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.’Jack “Shut up Fatty!” (to Piggy) Jack has a ‘sizeable sheath knife’ ‘Jack slashed at one [candle bud] with his knife’ ‘contemptuously’ Jack: “We can’t eat them.” ‘Jack drew his knife’ ‘the downward stroke would be’ ‘an enormity’ ‘next time there would be no mercy’
Simon Quotes:
First Chapter: The Sound of the Shell
(as yet unnamed) ‘one of the boys flopped on his face’ ‘the fallen boy’ Jack: “He’s always throwing a faint’ ‘Simon’ ‘he was a vivid, skinny little boy’; Simon’s face was ‘glowing’ he spots the “candle buds”, “candle bush” – like Church.
All Quotes in the Order in Which they Appear – and yes, this took a long time to do!
Ralph ‘The boy’ in the ‘school sweater’ looked over the ‘long scar smashed into the jungle’ ‘witch-like cry’ pulls up his socks with an ‘automatic gesture that made the jungle … seem like the Home Counties’. Piggy appears in a ‘greasy wind-breaker’ ‘plump, caught and scratched by thorns’ ‘shorter’ ‘very fat’ ‘looked out through thick spectacles’.
Piggy:”Aren’t there any grown ups at all?” Ralph is excited by this, feeling, ‘the delight of a realised ambition’. Piggy: “We was attacked!” ‘the fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder’. Piggy “I was the only boy in our school what had asthma” “them fruit” ‘darkness of the forest’ ‘skull-like coco-nuts’ ‘snake-clasp of his belt’ Ralph ‘stood there naked’ ‘he might make a boxer’ ‘mildness’ ‘that proclaimed no devil’
Piggy: we should “make a list. We ought to have a meeting.” “as long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school” “Piggy” ‘Ralph shrieked with laughter…”Piggy! Piggy!”
At the lagoon: ‘water was warmer than his blood’ Piggy: “My auntie” (repeated) Ralph: “Sucks to your auntie!” “Daddy taught me… he’ll come and rescue us.” Piggy: “How does he know we’re here?” (repeated) // Because, thought Ralph. Because, because.’
Piggy: “Didn’t you hear what the pilot said? About the atom bomb? They’re all dead.” “Nobody don’t know we’re here.” “We may stay here till we die.” heat ‘became a threatening weight’, the lagoon ‘attacked them’
They find the conch. Piggy: “he used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so valuable.” to Ralph, it’s a ‘plaything’, to him, Piggy was ‘irrelevance’
Johnny appears, but Ralph is ‘not interested’ Ralph’s ‘face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise.’ boys ‘gorging fruit’, some ‘naked’, some ‘half-naked’ their shadow a ‘black, bat-like creature’, ‘two boys, bullet-headed’, twins, ‘chunky and vital’.
Jack and the Choir ‘something dark’ ‘creature’ ‘darkness’ ‘shadow’ ‘square black cap with a silver badge’ ‘hidden by black cloaks’ boys with ‘complexions of newly washed plums’. Jack ‘the boy who controlled them’ ‘cloak flying’ “Where’s the man with the trumpet?” ‘What he saw of [Ralph] did not seem to satisfy him’ ‘tall thin, and bony’ ‘red’ hair ‘His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.’ ‘light blue eyes, frustrated, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.’ The Choir is ‘wearily obedient’ ‘perched like black birds’ ‘uniformed superiority’ Simon (as yet unnamed) ‘one of the boys flopped on his face’ ‘the fallen boy’ “He’s always throwing a faint’.
Jack “Shut up Fatty!” (to Piggy) “A chief” ‘this toy of voting’, only the choir “wants Jack for chief”. He blushes with ‘mortification’. Ralph: “The choir belongs to you.” / “They could be the army”/ What do you want them to be?” Jack: “Hunters.”
They plan the expedition taking ‘Simon’ ‘he was a vivid, skinny little boy’ Jack has a ‘sizeable sheath knife’ Piggy offers to go: Ralph “You’re no good on a job like this”; Jack: “We don’t want you”. The three boys were conscious of their ‘glamour’ (repeated) they find a track and can’t decide if it’s “men” or “animals” / “Wacco” “Wizard” “Smashing” ‘solemn communion of shining eyes in the gloom’. They tumble a huge rock and laugh as it’s “like a bomb” Ralph: “This belongs to us” ‘they savoured the right of domination’; Simon’s face was ‘glowing’; he spots the “candle buds”, “candle bush” – like Church – ‘Jack slashed at one with his knife’ ‘contemptuously’ Jack: “We can’t eat them.”
They find a piglet caught, writhing, ‘in all the madness of extreme terror’ ‘Jack drew his knife’ ‘the downward stroke would be’ ‘an enormity’ ‘all three laughed ashamedly’ the enormity of ‘cutting into living flesh’ ‘the unbearable blood’ ‘next time there would be no mercy’.