Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies “Maybe there is a beast...maybe its just us.” This is a quote from the book “Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding. As an outstanding Author, William Golding won the Nobel Prize of Literature and the Man Booker Prize. The book “Lord of the Flies,” written in 1954, is an incredible book and an allegory about a large group of boys who get stranded on an island. The reader can see how people, or in particular, boys, will behave, when away from society. Some of the boys: Ralph, Piggy, Simon, etc., behaved in a civilized way and kept their heads (good). While others, such as Jack and Roger, became uncivilized and savage-like (evil). Meaning that the book is about the fight between good and evil, man’s inherent evil, the deterioration of society, and how there is a “beast” in everyone. I believe the most symbolic features of the book are: the signal fire, the jungle, and Simon. Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, contains adventure, but is also an allegory, which, in my opinion, is brought out in the signal fire, the jungle, and Simon. "The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make? Look at us! How many are we? And yet we can't keep a fire going to make smoke. Don't you understand? Can't you see we ought to-- ought to die before we let the fire out?" –Ralph (chapter 5). In the book, Piggy had an idea to make a signal fire on the mountain, thinking that boats will see the smoke from far away and then would rescue them. The boys used Piggy’s idea and made the signal fire using piggy’s specs to light it. Piggy was good, and even his specs symbolize the striking of hope. Jack volunteered his hunters to maintain the signal fire, but instead they went hunting and the fire went out, causing Ralph (the leader) to get frustrated at jack ,who didn’t seem to care about being rescued. This whole situation signifies that when the