Preview

An Analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
337 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
An Analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Throughout The Lord of the Flies, the author shows how different Simon is from the rest of the savages on the island. He is much more innocent and pure than the others and has a religious demeanor. Light, very commonly a symbol of holiness and purity, is used quite often during Simon's "funeral". In the last four paragraphs of chapter nine, "A view to a death", Golding makes clear the use of light imagery to suggest the apotheosis of Simon. During chapter nine, the sky and water are used to convey a sense of innocence during Simon's glistening funeral. For example, the air becomes clear as the rain ceases, indicating a calm and peacefulness. When the "silver tide" comes in and washes away his blood and "streaks of phosphorescence" mend his battered body, it is as though Simon's body is being prepared for ascension into heaven. "Lamps of stars," "bright constellations," and the moonlight provide much radiance. In addition there are brilliant flashes of lightning from the still lingering storm. The luminous sky provides light while the clear, silver water works on restoring Simon's body after he has been savagely killed. Simon's body and the creatures around it also show his holiness. Light images of the creatures that surround Simon glorify his body, and as light falls on his corpse he is transfigured into an icon of expiation. Also, the water covers Simon in a "coat of pearls" and "creatures" (interpreted to symbolize angels) begin to spread a layer of silver over him. The apotheosis of Simon is complete, as he becomes completely silver. As Simon's body is carried out to sea, the angels create a halo (phosphorescence) around his head and attend to his wounds. Simon indeed was the purest and most innocent boy on the island; his character a true symbol of religiousness. At the end of the story this becomes very obvious as Golding uses light imagery for an eloquent funeral to properly end Simon's

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    First, there are many biblical parallels in the allegory, “Lord of the Flies” written by William Golding. The confrontation with Simon and the Lord of the…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding tells the story about a group of English boys who are stranded on an island after a plane that they were on was shot down. On this island the boys have the freedom of living without adults. They must find a way to set up a society that is livable in and that maintains order. However as time passes the characters see that those tasks are easier said than done. In Lord of the Flies, there are many different characters that show development and growth. Characters like Piggy, Ralph, and Jack all show signs of maturing and growth near the end of the book. Some of the characters were humane and try to maintain order, but other characters fall into the savagery that is within everyone. This statement is best depicted…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies', a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island alone after a plane crash. They attempt to form a society and elect a 'chief', however this fades and the boys begin to destroy the island and each other. Ralph, the main character and 'chief' of the society the boys initially form, is a character who drastically changes throughout the narrative.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was a unique child who believed that both good and evil resided within each person. Through the story Simon acted as the Christ figure. Simon was epileptic and had E.S.P. Simon foresaw the fate of Ralph and his own. ?You?ll get back all right. I think so, anyway.? (Page 121). Simon viewed his fate and witnessed the killing of the sow. Prior to one of his seizure?s he saw his death. The Lord of the Flies spoke to him and said, ??we shall do you. See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph?? (Page 159). Shortly before his death he came to the realization that the beast was not a creature but something that was within Jack and the hunters. He believed that he should tell the truth despite the consequences. In turn he was sacrificed for the continuation for the evil on the…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is no end to fear, no one can be saved from it, and nothing can make it forgotten. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young, British schoolboys’ plane crashes on a deserted island during a war, leaving these young boys to fend for themselves with no adults. Throughout the book, the boys are driven by their fears of the island, eventually leading them to savagery. The boys become beasts within themselves as they tear and burn the island down to ash. Once the boys have lost all sense of humanity, and they stand amongst a burning civilization, a naval officer arrives on the island to rescue them. Realizing there is no true end to the fears they have all experienced, the boys break down, sobbing as the officer stands, waiting to take them all back to a war stricken world. By looking at the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, one can see how Golding uses it to show the effect of fear on the boys’ personalities; this is important because fear is the driving factor of society’s dismay.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lost Salt Gift of Blood

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In The Lost Salt Gift of Blood, imagery is used to relay the underlying story and theme to the reader. Fog is the best form of imagery used because of its close relation to the actions and their meanings beneath the surface of the story. The entire story seems…

    • 1352 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling" (Golding, 54). William Golding depicts a scene of utter rejoice and of foul behavior. A group of boys stranded on an island, are forced to leave the arbitrary laws that dictate modern society. Lost in a place without rules, without a government, or adults to run it, the young boys manifest a society of their own. Struggling between the need for civilization and the thrill of savagery, two young boys are revealed as the social outcasts, of a society without function.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They would say he began good and ended good. Even after speaking to the root of all evil, he still thought “the news must reach the others as soon as possible,” (Golding 143). They would argue nothing corrupted Simon, but Golding uses symbolism to disprove this exception. When speaking to the beast it says “You [know, don’t] you? I’m part of you?” (Golding 143). Golding uses the beast to symbolize the devil, or the voice of evil within all the boys. Simon is good-hearted enough to fight his evil thoughts, but he still has them. Therefore, every man has he capability of evil within…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lord of the Flies By examining the last four paragraphs of chapter nine, "A view to a death", in Lord of the Flies, Golding makes clear the use of light imagery to suggest the lost of Simon's logic and goodness through the images of Simon's body, water, sky, and sea creatures.…

    • 324 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the book, Simon is portrayed as a positive, selfless, caring individual who is constantly the shining beacon of hope and comfort. Simon is very similar to a biblical figure in the way he thinks, through his actions, and his emotions. One of the signs that indicates that Simon possesses similarities to a biblical figure is in chapter 8, page 152, when he is speaking to the Lord of the Flies (the Beast). “…and his gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition…” which could represent the ancient battle between ‘Christ’ or ‘God’ and the Devil; the evil residing within everyone. Also, in that chapter on page 158, it says, “he [Simon] knew his time was coming on… ‘You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me [Lord of the Flies] down there…” which further demonstrates that the Lord of the Flies could be the Devil.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unlike McMurphy, Simon does not revel his isolation and instead chooses to isolate himself further by wandering into the forest wilderness and away from the rest of the group. Simon’s seizures and shyness lead to the other older boys ignoring him when he does try to talk at their meetings, even though Simon has the most insightful thoughts out of any of them. In addition to being the most insightful, Simon also experiences an altered perception of reality when he imagines “. . . Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon. . . blackness within, a blackness that spread” (Golding,143-144).When Simon walks out of the forest with the body of the dead parachutist, the boys, in a social gathering of their own, immediately kill him. By not joining the other boys in the feast, Simon highlights his social isolation. This eventually leads to his death. All of the rest of the young boys, including Ralph and Piggy take part in the feast. The only boy missing is Simon, further exemplifying to what extent his social isolation reached. In this fatal feast, which Simon does not partake in, the others brutally murder him, mistaking him for the beast. Simon’s social ostracization and therefore isolation from the other boys eventually leads to his savage murder proving that when Simon is not part of the norm, because of his frequent…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Lord of the Flies, Simon has been characterized in a sort of all seeing, knowledgeable creature. Having epilepsy, or a similar condition, was considered a holy disease, that he was connected with god because of it, he was purer than the other boys in a sense. The scene after his death really shows that. The passage describes the “clear water [that] mirrored the clear sky” and the flowing of nature around Simon. Had it been one of the other, the corrupted and savage boys, the flowing of the water, the moving of the waves, and the creatures around them would have been disturbed by the body floating there. However, Simon is simply welcomed into the water, “The water rose farther and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble.” Even in death…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Journeys end annotation.

    • 1033 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This symbolises the fore coming death that is looming, the light imagery within the play shows this.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A prime example of symbolism in Lord of the Flies is the representations of Jack and Simon. Jack is the leader of the island's hunters. His leadership technique is to intimidate, frighten, or even threaten those that he leads. From a historical standpoint, Jack's governing style could be compared to Stalinist totalitarianism or even Nazi fascism. If Lord of the Flies were a religious allegory, Jack would, undoubtedly, represent Satan. This is evident by the way he encourages others to be bad. Jack has very few useful qualities, among these is bravery. However, his bad traits and his lust for blood obscure his bravery. Ralph's efforts to get Jack to follow the rules are useless. Jack frequently has tantrums and acts savagely. "Bollocks to the rules! We're strong-we hunt! If there's a beast, we'll hunt it down! We'll close it and beat and beat and beat and beat"¦!" Simon is the exact opposite of Jack. Simon represents goodness and pureness. Simon is a "Christ Figure" in Lord of the Flies. He goes off into the jungle frequently for solitude and meditation. Jesus did the same thing when he wandered the desert for forty days. Simon shows no fear like the other boys. Simon seems above the other boys; he is mystical and spiritual. Just like Jesus delivered the lord's message, Simon tries to deliver the Lord of the Flies'message from the "beast" to the boys of the island. This is symbolic of how Jesus delivers God's message to mankind. Also just like Christ, Simon is killed by his fellow man before he can deliver the Lord of the Flies' message. In this passage Simon is followed by the "littluns" much like Christ was followed. Instead of feeding bread and fish, Simon gives fruit. ""¦Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach,…

    • 862 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Before The Hunger Games, there was Sir William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies. When a group of English school boys is stranded on an island, Golding muses the idea that violent human tendencies will break through the shell of civilization and innocence surrounding each child. As their time on the island increases the boys’ civility and logic decreases until they commit the unthinkable. Fighting in World War II, Golding saw first-hand how brutal man can be to one another. To be exact, being on the beaches of Normandy during Dooms Day, Golding definitely witnessed the extremity of man’s true vulgarities. In this novel, the theme most prominently displayed is that the loss of innocence can cause the savage impulses in human beings to take over. Golding molds this theme through the story’s plot along with his style of writing and development of each character.…

    • 1884 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays