Chapters 5 and 6
Chapter 5: Beast from water
The whole of Chapter 5 is concerned with the assembly that Ralph calls. This meeting is more solemn than the others because of the incident with the ship and the lack of fire. Ralph tries to reinforce the rules that they have agreed on at previous meetings. He also introduces a new rule: that the only fire they are to have is the one on the mountain.
Next Ralph tries to address the issue of the fear that they are feeling, particularly the littluns. He tries to assert that there is no such thing as a beast and that there is nothing to be afraid of. Here the meeting gets out of hand. Discussion of fear unleashes distress in the littluns and awakens Jack's hunting lust. He says that if there is a beast they can hunt it down and kill it. This undermines Ralph's attempts to remove any belief in a beast.
One of the little boys says he has seen something moving in the forest of a night-time. Simon admits that he has gone wandering in the jungle at night to a place where he likes to go. Another little boy timidly tells the meeting that the beast comes out from the sea at night-time. Simon, equally timid, tries to suggest that the beast could be themselves, but no one really listens to him.
Jack challenges Ralph's leadership by trying to speak out of turn. Ralph tries to get him to abide by the rule of only speaking when holding the conch. Jack refuses to do so, questioning why they should abide by any rules and why he should defer to Ralph.
The meeting disintegrates with Jack leading the hunters off to the beach where they dance and chant, terrifying the little boys. Ralph, Piggy and Simon remain at the meeting ground. Ralph declares to the other two that he might as well give up being chief, but the others urge him not to do so. They are both aware that if Ralph stops being chief then Jack will assume leadership. They are also aware that this would be a very dangerous situation.
Chapter 6: Beast from air
Night falls and the boys go to sleep. Sam and Eric, the twins, have fallen asleep up by the signal fire. Miles above them an air battle takes place but it is too high for any of them to hear it. A pilot parachutes down but is dead by the time he reaches the ground. The wind sweeps him onto the mountain not far from the signal fire.
The dead pilot is hidden from the boys at the fire by rocks but when they awaken they hear the sound of his parachute flapping in the wind. As it is still dark and they do not know how the sound is being made. Their imaginations get the better of them and they think it is the beast.
In terror, the twins flee from the mountain and wake Ralph up to tell him that they have encountered the beast. An assembly is called and the twins give an embellished, adrenaline-packed account of their experience with the beast. They tell the others that they have actually seen it and that it chased them down the mountain.
All the boys are terrified. Jack suggests they hunt down the beast and kill it. He says there is only one place on the island where he hasn't yet been - an outcrop of rock in the sea at the far end of the beach. They agree to go there to look for the beast.
The big boys, led by Jack, set off for the outcrop with their spears. Piggy remains behind to look after the littluns. When they reach the rocks, which they have started to call 'the castle' because of the way they rise up out of the ocean, Ralph decides to explore them first. He soon realises there is nothing to be afraid of and that he doesn't really believe there is a beast after all. Jack follows him and suggests the area would be a good place to make a fort.
The other boys then follow them as well. They forget their earlier fears and get excited by the new place. They scramble over it, rolling large rocks into the sea and coming up with plans to turn the place into a fort. They want to move their camp there but Ralph forbids it. He orders them to go back up the mountain and start the fire again, which has gone out since the twins fled.
