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What is the meaning of the following quote? "Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter...

At the beginning of Chapter 3, Jack demonstrates his tracking skills by crouching low to the earth and surveying the landscape for evidence that pigs passed through the brush. Jack continues to move through the forest as silently as possible so that he will not spook the pigs. Golding mentions that the forest was also silent to the point that not even the whine of insects could be heard. Suddenly, Jack accidentally startles a bird which cries out loudly through the forest. Golding describes Jack's reaction by writing,



"Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees" (67).



Jack is also startled and upset that he spooked a bird which could possibly warn other animals that danger is nearby. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, furtively can be defined as something done in a quiet and secret way to avoid being noticed. Upon hearing the bird, Jack attempts to hide and become unnoticed, like an ape stealthily disappearing among tangled vines and trees. Essentially, Jack is trying to remain unnoticed because he is tracking pigs. After the bird cries out, he tries to blend in with the forest in order to remain hidden among the trees.

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