Allegory In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is one of the many well known dystopian novels of the 20th century. Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of young boys who land on an Island after their plane crashes. They slowly become more savage and free-willed, leaning more towards fierce instinct than considerate benevolence. Who the boys are and what they do is symbolic and refers to the symbolic counterpart of the literal story, making it an allegorical novel. An allegory is “the expression and means of symbolic fictional figures and actions or truths or generalizations about human existence” (Merriam-Webster). The characters, their belongings, and their actions all relate to the symbolism and allegorical side of the story. The most important symbol in Lord of the Flies is the conch shell, which represents leadership. Other symbols in the book are Piggy’s Glasses, and even the fire they start in the beginning chapters. The symbols and truths relate to human existence, human savagery, and how children react in situations without an overwhelming power. The human mind tends to want leadership and crave balance, even if they think of themselves as a “free-bird”. This is expressed heavily in the beginning of Lord of the Flies, when the boys are called by the conch. “Ralph, who was not
interested because he was still blowing. His face was dark with the violent pleasure of making this stupendous noise, and his heart was making the stretched shirt shake. The shouting in the forest was nearer.”(Golding, 22) The conch itself is even a symbol; the conch represents leadership. This all plays back on the fact that Lord of the Flies is allegorical, as the conch itself and events involved with the conch revolve around leadership and the human need for it. Actions as well as items are symbols in Lord of the Flies.
Piggy’s Glasses themselves are a symbol of humanity, and civilisation; the old world. The act of Jack breaking the glasses is even symbolic as well, representing the break of humanity on the island. “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses.” (Golding, 242). The book represents the break of humanity, and the fall into savagery. Piggy’s glasses easily represent that, and are one of the most important symbols attaining to the allegorical side of the
story. Destruction happens commonly in Lord of the Flies, but so does creation. Without creation there is no destruction, yet without destruction there is no room for more creation. The Fire in Lord of the Flies represents both creation and destruction; safety and danger. They create the fire to send a signal to be saved, yet the fire is dangerous. However, without the fire, they feel there is no point to survival. “Jack, faced at once with too many awful implications, ducked away from them. He laid a hand on the pig and drew his knife. Ralph brought his arms down, fist clenched, and his voice shook. ‘There was a ship. Out there.” (Golding, ). Ralph’s anger at Jack for the fire going at leads to the split between them, the destruction of the friendship that almost didn’t exist. Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel which represents the destruction of humanity into savagery. Every person, action, item and vision in Lord of the Flies represents ideas that humanity will be the destruction of humanity; that savagery is part of every one of us, even children. The relation to human existence makes this dystopian novel even more interesting than it already is. The symbolism of savagery creates a dark feel to the book, darker than the literal novel.