Young Writers Society

I had to read this in English last year.

I can't be the only one who skipped to the dialogue and read chapter summaries off the Internet before the exam, can I?

We discussed what it would have been like if there had been girls on the island. The truth is (no offence guys, but, you know), it would have been a lot better. We don't feel the need to beat each other up all the time, we would object to violence more, and would probably be more rational.

Again, no offence to any boys. Also, to any girls who enjoy violence, I'm not saying you don't exist (I am however, not one of you) but the truth is that, well, I reckon had it been girls, no one would have died...

So yeah.

Metaphor for rape? That's a tad weird... I thought it was just showing how brutal they could be, then the pig turns into the devil and has a chat with Simon...

I just remember being freakishly mesmerized and profoundly disturbed by that book. *shrug* I though most of the metaphors were ridiculous and the author mostly wanted to describe what it would be like without rules, without leadership, and with only one objective - survival.

Actually, I don't think girls would perform much better. They might be a little more clever with their backstabbing, but it would be backstabbing nonetheless.

Killing the sow is a much more powerful than rape. It is not just killing for survival, but killing something that is a source of life. It is a sign that things are breaking down. They go from eating fruit, to hunting pig, to hunting each other. It is an escalation of violence.