Lord of the Flies Biblical Allusions
Society: Doomed to Failure?
Almost everybody has read a book that, at first glance, seems like an ordinary book, but actually contains a hidden deeper meaning. Many authors use allusions to express these hidden meanings, and one of the most commonly alluded texts is the Bible. Lord of the Flies is a superb example of a novel packed full of allusions to the Bible. William Golding, the author, used these allusions and other literary devices to state his opinions on various subjects. Golding’s entire novel is devoted to answering the age-old question: is man naturally good or evil, and his position is backed up by these Biblical references. Golding’s use of Biblical allusions in Lord of the Flies calls attention to the corruption, laziness, narrow-mindedness, and savage tendencies of man that ruin civilized society.
The first notable Biblical allusion in the novel is the island itself representing the Garden of Eden. The island, Eden, starts out as a beautiful innocent place, untouched by the evil influences of man. Soon after the boys crash, Ralph describes the island as “a good island” (Golding 35). The innocence of Eden is reflected in the innocence of its inhabitants: everything is fine until the boys think up a beast in the jungle. The original beast, the “snake-thing,” is an allusion to the serpent that tempted Eve committing the first sin (35). This first beast is actually the creepers in the forest that are personified by the younger boys’ fear. In the novel, a piglet “caught in a curtain of creepers”, first gives Jack the desire to kill pigs (31). The piglet represents the forbidden fruit, and as soon as the boys take a bite, they are doomed to savagery. The boys display their savagery soon after they kill their first pig, chanting “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (69). The first pig they catch represents the first sin: this is the boy’s first loss of innocence as a whole, and they just keep descending deeper and deeper into savagery
Almost everybody has read a book that, at first glance, seems like an ordinary book, but actually contains a hidden deeper meaning. Many authors use allusions to express these hidden meanings, and one of the most commonly alluded texts is the Bible. Lord of the Flies is a superb example of a novel packed full of allusions to the Bible. William Golding, the author, used these allusions and other literary devices to state his opinions on various subjects. Golding’s entire novel is devoted to answering the age-old question: is man naturally good or evil, and his position is backed up by these Biblical references. Golding’s use of Biblical allusions in Lord of the Flies calls attention to the corruption, laziness, narrow-mindedness, and savage tendencies of man that ruin civilized society.
The first notable Biblical allusion in the novel is the island itself representing the Garden of Eden. The island, Eden, starts out as a beautiful innocent place, untouched by the evil influences of man. Soon after the boys crash, Ralph describes the island as “a good island” (Golding 35). The innocence of Eden is reflected in the innocence of its inhabitants: everything is fine until the boys think up a beast in the jungle. The original beast, the “snake-thing,” is an allusion to the serpent that tempted Eve committing the first sin (35). This first beast is actually the creepers in the forest that are personified by the younger boys’ fear. In the novel, a piglet “caught in a curtain of creepers”, first gives Jack the desire to kill pigs (31). The piglet represents the forbidden fruit, and as soon as the boys take a bite, they are doomed to savagery. The boys display their savagery soon after they kill their first pig, chanting “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood” (69). The first pig they catch represents the first sin: this is the boy’s first loss of innocence as a whole, and they just keep descending deeper and deeper into savagery