What is the meaning behind this quote? • “But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts and shirt.” (chapter 12 pg. 183)

In this quote, Golding illustrates Ralph's determination to blind himself to what the others have become. He refuses to think that Bill could be the boy who was stranded alonside him on the island, so he attempts to pull up a picture of the other boy in his mind. Ralph is unable to comprehend that this boy, who is now an enemy, was once one of his own tribe.