Lord Of The Flies Death Analysis

The Lord of the Flies Ensures Death for All Death is inevitable. Not many people are ready for it, but it happens for everyone. In some cases, it is martyrdom. In most books, deaths mean more than just a character no longer appearing. The scenes contribute toward an allegory. In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, he does this with Simon. The bites, scratches, and beatings given to him until his death shines light on the real theme of Golding’s novel; without structure and rules in a society, it is bound to fail. In the beginning, Ralph takes leadership of the boys after a vote. They get a fire started for rescue, had meetings, and constructed shelters. The societal structure built was immensely similar to a democracy. It was not until Jack started rebelling that trouble began. On page 91, Jack shouts “Bollocks to the rules” (Golding) and continues to say that “We’re strong” as if that is a good replacement for law. Jack and Ralph fight continuously over dominance and rules. Finally, Jack decides to stand up and ask the rest of the boys whether Ralph should or
should not be chief, but silence instead occurs. He storms off and invites the others to follow him so that he may be the leader of his own tribe. It is not until after Jack leaves that his group kills a wild pig and truly become barbaric. Their uncivilized attitudes especially become apparent by the death of Simon. They knew they were killing him and it was apparent in the text. Before there were two tribes, the hunters would shout, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood,” (Golding 69) and by Simon’s death scene on page 152, they chant, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding). The gender changes when they murder Simon, whom was a weakling. Anthropologically speaking, a society wants to get rid of the weaker beings; it is not difficult to assume this was the case in the situation. Simon’s death was a symbol of the irreversible monster-like behavior the tribe would have for the rest of the novel. Another symbol showing the difference of Jack and Ralph’s leadership styles is the food they eat and how they come about getting that food.
Ralph had them eating fruit from trees, a harmless way of avoiding starvation. Jack viciously destroys pigs for sustenance and grotesquely dives into the meat. The way his tribe eats, how they received the meal, and what was consumed show an even deeper example of the boys’ demonic savagery versus the pacifistic nature they had with Ralph. Simon’s death was truly a turning point in the novel. After he was murdered, there was no innocence in those boys any longer. Order and authority are a necessity and showing that theme is easy through the fights between Jack and Ralph, Simon’s death, scene and the food the two groups eat. The lord of the flies is in all of us, trying to change us into savage beasts. Few of us can resist without a strong system of
discipline.