Inheritors: "The Log Has Gone

Inheritors: "The log has gone away!" The opening scene of William Golding's brilliant and thought-provoking novel, the Inheritors, depicts the reaction of Lok's tribe to the disappearance of one of the mainstays of its existence, the log at the edge of the river and the swamp. Lok's words -- "The log has gone away!" (p. 12) -- foreshadows both the major theme and the plot of this novel.

By the end of this book, Lok's tribe, and the civilization it has built, is gone, replaced by something not at all certain to be an improvement, to constitute progress. This paper will compare and contrast Lok's tribe with the tribe of his counterpart Tuami in several important respects: technology, social organization, physical abilities, and sense of morality. The paper will conclude by suggesting that Tuami's tribe, although laudable in many respects, does not represent an advancement in civilization. Technology The weapons utilized by Lok's tribe were rather primitive.

Golding describes how the entrance to the tribe's cave was defended from the foxes and hyenas by "one man with a thorn bus" (p. 29). A "stone" is used to cut branches (p. 31). Fire is essential to the life of Lok's tribe -- and to the imagery that Golding uses in this novel. At the end of the first chapter, Golding describes how the old woman massages the "twigs and leaves and a log" so that, "The fire is awake again" (p. 30).

Golding's description that "the sun was glowing and her eyes gleamed. so that the fire gave them a brilliant display of flame and sparks" (p. 30) is certainly passionate, and virtually sexual, in nature. The technology of Tuami's tribe represents a subtle improvement over that of Lok's people. Tuami paddles a "dug-out" canoe sitting on a "pad of leather" (p. 223). He uses a "dagger" (p. 227). Vivani has a "comb" for her hair (p. 229). The tribe cooks with a "full pot" (p. 229).

They put their young children to sleep in a "bearskin." Golding does not suggest, however, that this more advanced technology has improved the lives of Tuami and his tribe. To the contrary, Golding employs descriptions such as Tuami "shut his eyes and passed a hand wearily over his forehead" (p. 224) and "He shook himself irritably" (p. 224). The author seems to imply that the quality of the life of the "new people," despite the improved technology, is suspect at best.

Social organization One of the marks of the social organization of Lok's tribe is the leadership of the elders. One of the beginning scenes of the novel is illustrative. The people wait for Mal, the old man, to arrive at the river before the take any action (pp. 15-16). When he tells them, "Find a tree that has fallen (p. 16)," his people obey him. Golding describes how, "Obediently the people spread out along the water side" (p. 16).

People in Lok's tribe appreciate a good story, and when Lok tells the story "of finding little Oa. The people applauded him, grinning" (p. 33). The "new people" do not seem to be as cohesive or as tightly knit into a community as Lok's tribe. Their relationships do not seem to be as affectionate, and the "new people" seem to be individuals adrift in a frozen sea.

The image that Golding uses in the final paragraph of chapter eleven perhaps best sums up this sense of society: "The ice crowns of the mountains were a-glitter. There was a sudden tremendous noise that set the hyenas shivering back to the cliff" (p. 222). A society that repels even the hyenas is not one in which people will find warmth and community. Physical abilities People in Lok's tribe live by their physical abilities. They make fire (p. 29). They use stones to cut branches (p. 30).

They are not afraid to get muddy (pp. 16-17). Their physical abilities, however, are informed and governed by their mental abilities. The people of Lok's tribe, ironically, are not Neanderthals. Golding's use of the word "cunningly" in describing how the old woman built the fire is telling: "She fitted these pieces cunningly together till wherever the flames rose they found dry wood to bite on." Modern day Scouts can take lessons from this lady. Hunger is an almost always present part of the life of Lok and his people.

Golding writes how, "Mentioning food made [Lok's] hunger as real as the smells." Golding, too, describes how Lok, Fa, and Liku discover and enjoy honey (pp. 50-51) -- at least until the hyenas crash the party. Tuami's tribe was, at the same time, physically superior to Lok's people but their physical problems seemed more severe. Golding describes the "new people" from Lok's point-of-view: "The new people did not move like anything he had ever seen before.

They were balanced on top of their legs, their waists were so wasp-thin that when they moved their bodies swayed backwards and forwards. They did not look at the earth but straight ahead" (p. 143). Despite their evident physical improvements, however, Tuami's tribe faced even more severe hunger than Lok's people. Morality The morality of Lok's tribe is different than conventional 20th century American Christian morality. The people seem to feel no shame or embarrassment in being without clothes. Golding writes, "the tree sifted chilly sunlight over their naked bodies" (p.

15) like it was the most natural thing in the world (which, of course, it was). Although Lok is neither pornographic nor obscene, he is not shy in talking about sex with his wife -- although the physical act does not seem to be his first priority. "We shall find food,' he said with all of his wide mouth, 'and we shall make love'" (p. 26). The words "making love" seem to be severely out of place in the vocabulary of the "new people," particularly if Golding's description (pp.

174-175) of the sexual encounter between Tuami and the fat woman is illustrative. The apparent brutality that marks their coupling.