Question

read the passage from lord of the flies by william golding.

jack stood there, streaming with sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained by all the vicissitudes of a day’s hunting. swearing, he turned off the trail and pushed his way through until the forest opened a little and instead of bald trunks supporting a dark roof there were light grey trunks

and crowns of feathery palm. beyond these was the glitter of the sea and he could hear voices. ralph was standing by a contraption of palm trunks and leaves, a rude shelter that faced the lagoon and seemed very near to falling down. he did not notice when jack

spoke.

\got any water?\

ralph looked up, frowning, from the complication of

what is the universal theme of this passage?

○ the loss of innocence
○ the tension between freedom and responsibility
○ society’s dependence on authority
● humanity’s search for meaning in the world

Explanation:

To determine the universal theme, we analyze the options:

• "the loss of innocence": The passage doesn't focus on innocence loss (e.g., no childlike naivety vs. corruption shown here).
• "the tension between freedom and responsibility": The scene (Jack hunting, Ralph building a shelter) hints at Jack's focus on freedom (hunting, acting on impulse) and Ralph's on responsibility (building shelter for the group), creating tension between these two aspects.
• "society’s dependence on authority": The passage doesn't emphasize society relying on authority (no clear authority figure's role in dependence here).
• "humanity’s search for meaning in the world": The passage is more about individual actions (hunting, shelter - building) and their conflict, not a broad search for meaning.

Answer:

B. the tension between freedom and responsibility