Symbolism

Golding uses the mask as a symbol in passage 4 because the mask is a disguise for Jack. When
Jack puts on the mask, he becomes a new person. He's not ashamed if he does something wrong. He is free from the parents and the laws. Golding writes, "He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness." This passage affects the whole novel because Jack, behind the mask, can do something terrible and is not ashamed or embarrassed of it. Jack becomes the chief and pulls almost all of the big boys with him. The big boys become like Jack and they forget about self-consciousness.They all become cruel hunters and they murder Simon and Piggy. They are not ashamed, though, because the masks conceal their faces. Golding uses symbolism in this passage to convey the theme to the reader: Shame wakes up the self-consciousness and morality.