Ole, Ole, Ole - Majd Bostani

Majd Bostani

Ms. Pahomov

English 2 - E Band

March 31, 2017

Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!

    Everyone that has ever been in a large, excited crowd has participated in a chant. Whether the chant is at a sports game rooting for the home team, a protest against an unjust system, or in the case of the savage tribe Lord of the Flies, to celebrate the killing of a pig. These cheers can be used for a variety of reasons: to encourage an individual, excite an action, and/or indicate approval. Each of these outcomes shows that cheers unite a community toward a common goal, and help empower each other to achieve that goal.

    In the twelfth chapter of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the original tribe has separated. There is Ralph, who got dumped by all of his former allies, and is attempting to fend for himself. The rest of the kids on the island formed a savage tribe united under Jack. They threatened Ralph by means of death, to try to get him off of the island. One night, Ralph heard “Kill the pig, cut his throat, spill his blood.” (186) through the trees. Ralph concluded that the savages must be living on the other side of the island. Ralph remembered the chant from when the original tribe would kill a pig and sit around a fire to consume it. Thus he reminisced everyone sitting around together as one. Consequently, Ralph revised a strategy of how he was going to survive, because he was alone and outnumbered by a tribe of his former partners who are threatening to kill him. 

    Ralph and Piggy - two of the main characters in the book of Lord of The Flies by William Golding found a conch on the island. “He kind of spat,” (16) Piggy instructed Ralph on how to make sound with conches. Following Piggy’s instructions, Ralph blew into the conch which made a loud sound, that could be heard throughout the entire island. “Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices shouted in the forest. A small boy squatted in front of Ralph, looking up brightly and vertically.” (18) Right before the reader’s eyes, a community was brought together. Thanks to this chant, and communication, kids on both sides of the scene were reassured that they weren’t alone. Ralph and Piggy then had the reassurance that they will have the manpower to make a civilization and survive as one unit. It also gave Johnny, who was very young, small, and presumably very afraid, the comfort of having other people with him.

    According to William Golding, one of the main purposes for writing Lord of the Flies was to make a book with ample connections to modern society. As stated before, chanting occurs a lot in the world of sports. The spectators gathered around the playing field are yelling, screaming, hooting, and hollering for their home team to win the game. A Sports Illustrated article published in 1992 stated, “Although players and coaches usually have no response to the chanting, fans still do it. This is because they feel personally connected to the teams because of their hometowns, ....” This quote demonstrates that people chant to make themselves feel a part of a bigger movement. In this case, that would be the community of the hometown. This is encountered in Lord of the Flies when the boys would chant. The chant made the boys feel in the mood to kill a pig, and helped them get the encouragement to kill it.

    Chanting is one thing humans instinctively do when in a crowd that is dedicated to a task. It doesn’t matter whether it is to support the home team, to encourage something like a fight, or the killing of a pig. At the moment of the chant, it is easy to overlook just how infectious the environment is. However, it is promoting community, unity, and loyalty. Chants allow people the feeling the feeling that their message will get across; especially if the person they are trying to send their message to is in the area. 

Works Cited:

Jasmine Watkins @JasmineLWatkins Published on Sep. 26, 2014 Sep. 26, 2014. "'Derek Jeter' chant breaks out at Fenway Park." Sporting News. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

"Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College." Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2016.

Dawe, TJ. "Why Do People Cheer for Their Team?" Beams and Struts - A Magazine for Hungry Brains and Thirsty Souls. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.