Ralph attempts to use reason to dispel the littluns' fears. But Ralph is "facing something ungraspable," and he can only react in frustration with a blanket denial: "But I tell you there isn't a beast!" To the littluns, this assertion is utterly inadequate. Their fears are not rational. Ralph somehow understands this, but can't quite articulare it; nor can he find words to allay the children's terror.
This is symbolic of the novel's ongoing conflict between the rational and the irrational, between the cerebral and the instinctual.
No comments:
Post a Comment