Although the island is described as majestic and
beautiful, there are elements from the very first paragraph of the chapter that lend an
aura of sinisterness and dark foreshadowing. In the opening lines, the author
says,
"...the
long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat....a bird, a vision of red and
yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like
cry..."
The words
"witch-like" in particular seem to hint at the presence of
evil.
Later, in the latter part of the chapter, the boys
are uplifted by "a kind of glamour...spread over them and the scene," but that glamour
is soon tempered, when
"...toward the end of the afternoon, the mirages
were settling a little. They found the end of the island, quite distinct, and not
magicked out of shape or sense...there was a jumble...some unknown force had wrenched
and shattered (the) cubes (of rock) so that they lay askew...the darkness under the
trees...the forest minutely
vibrated."
Beneath the
outward beauty of the island, there lies a subtle, threatening force. Things are not as
they seem.
As the boys continue on through the forest,
there are further hints of this dark undertow. The author
says,
"The
creepers were as thick as their thighs and left little but tunnels for further
penetration,""...the forest further down shook as with the
passage of an enraged
monster..."
and
"...the
forest stirred, roared, flailed."
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