The whole book is posing a question. You think you've won a war - what you've done is finish a war. There was a crime committed in that war the like … - William Golding

His manual of heaven and hell lay open before me, and I could perceive my nothingness in this scheme.

"He says the beast comes out of the sea."
The last laugh died away. Ralph turned involuntarily, a black, humped figure against the lagoon. The assembly looked with him, considered the vast stretches of water, the high sea of beyond, unknown indigo of infinite possibility, heard silently the sough and whisper from the reef

...could a face have been fashioned to fit the attitude of his consciousness where it lay suspended between life and death that face would have worn a snarl.