Twice in the story Jack finds himself having no means of starting a fire. The first occurs in chapter 2 when the boys have made a huge pile of firewood in response to Ralph's suggestion that they build a signal fire. When Ralph asks him to light the fire, Jack blushes and says, "You rub two sticks. You rub--" He is obviously trying to recall the survivalist technique most boys hear about at some point...
Twice in the story Jack finds himself having no means of starting a fire. The first occurs in chapter 2 when the boys have made a huge pile of firewood in response to Ralph's suggestion that they build a signal fire. When Ralph asks him to light the fire, Jack blushes and says, "You rub two sticks. You rub--" He is obviously trying to recall the survivalist technique most boys hear about at some point but few ever perform. But when Piggy arrives, Jack gets a different idea: "His specs--use them as burning glasses." Instead of asking Piggy for the use of his lenses, Jack snatches them off Piggy's face. Ralph then uses them to light the fire.
Later, in chapter 8, after Jack has created his own tribe and they have killed the sow, Roger asks him how they will make a fire to cook it. Jack responds, "We'll raid them and take fire."
Interestingly, in both situations Jack resorts to taking without asking when, if he had asked, he would certainly have been given what he requested. These incidents show Jack's tendency to resort to violence rather than use the conventions of society to acquire what he needs.
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