Lord of the Flies/Beast from Air

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Chapter 6: Beast from Air

Ralph and Simon pick up Percival and carry him to a shelter. That night, over the horizon, there is an aerial battle though none of the boys see it since they are asleep. A dead pilot drops from a parachute, sweeping across the reef toward the mountain where his parachute gets tangled on. Early the next morning, the twins Sam and Eric, the two boys on duty at the fire, awake and add kindling to the fire. Just then they spot the dead parachutist and mistake him for the beast. They scramble down the mountain and wake Ralph. While reporting their encounter with the "beast", they grossly exaggerate (in their panic) with Eric tellings the boys that the beast has teeth and claws and even followed them. Jack calls for a hunt, but Piggy says that they should stay there, for the beast may not come near them. When Piggy says that he has the right to speak because of the conch, Jack says that they don't need the conch anymore. Ralph becomes exasperated at Jack, accusing him of not wanting to be rescued, and the assembly takes Ralph's side. Ralph decides that he will go with the hunters to search for the beast, which may be around a small island connected to the main island by a small bridge (the small island is later called Castle Rock). Simon, wanting to show that he is accepted, travels with Ralph, who wishes only for solitude. Jack gets the hunters lost on the way around the mountain. They continue along a narrow wall of rocks that forms a bridge between parts of the island, reaching the open sea. As some of the boys spend time rolling rocks around the bridge, Ralph decides that it would be better to climb the mountain and rekindle the fire, but Jack wishes to stay where they can build a fort. This fort that they build is later called Castle Rock.