Many of the characters crafted in nathaniel hawthorne's writings act as to give added meaning to his works.

As the boys sleep, military airplanes battle fiercely above the island. none of the boys sees the explosions and flashes in the clouds because the twins sam and eric, who were supposed to watch the signal fire, have fallen asleep. during the battle, a parachutist drifts down from the sky onto the island, dead.