Preview

Lord Of The Flies Symbolism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
866 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lord Of The Flies Symbolism
William Golding began his writing career after serving in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II, and gained global recognition with his 1953 novel Lord of the Flies. The book was a response to Robert Ballantyne's brighter, Victorian era story Coral Island, in which British boys bring civilization to an island of savages. Golding's own take on the deserted island tale revolves around his belief that there is a malevolent side of human nature that is only kept at bay by our perception of civilization. The chances of rescue for the boys in Lord of the Flies faded with their will to control their darkest urges, and they regressed into a tribe chasing violent pleasure. Golding conveys the transition of the kids with a combination …show more content…
The initial order of the boys is all a result of Piggy realizing the value of the conch shell, which marks Ralph out as the leader and is the symbol of democracy throughout the book. Piggy sets the boys on a clear course back to civilization, and the glasses he wears start the fire that should deliver the boys safely home. However, the islanders' auspicious beginning comes crashing down when Jack and his choir discover the exhilaration of the hunt. Jack's dedication to killing a pig leads the hunters to abandon Ralph's fire, which goes out to soon to alert a passing boat. This initial victory begins the rift between Ralph and Jack over the direction of the islanders. Golding's next prominent symbol is the beast; an evil presence that stirs infectious fear among all the islanders, which becomes more intense as the hunters' behavior deteriorates. After failing to kill the beast, Jack takes his followers away from Ralph's civilization and proclaims himself chief of his own tribe, with absolute authority and no law or order. “'When we kill we'll leave some of the kill for [the beast]”, he assures his new tribe, so “then it won't bother [them], maybe'” (133). Every 'bigun' except for Ralph, Piggy, the twins, and shy, kind, Simon joins Jack for the savages' first hunt, during which their lust for blood causes them to not only kill a
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Lord Of The Flies: Summary
    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Lord Of The Flies: Summary

    The Lord of the Flies was a very interesting book. It was about these kids stuck on a island. The first boys to be on the island were Piggy and Ralph. They were just walking and talking about who they were and were they were. As they were walking Piggy found a shell. He was very happy to have found that shell he sounded it and told Ralph that they could use that to bring up others boys to where they were. When they were sounding it a lot of boys came out of the trees and came towards Ralph and Piggy and sat on the rocks. Ralph grabbed the shell out of Ralph’s hand and sounded it and then a group of boys where the last ones to come out. He asked where was the one that made that noise. Ralph and Jack both went towards him. The boy thought that…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Freudian Superego Pig
    • 1127 Words
    • 1 Page

    Lord of the Flies Freudian Superego Pig

    novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the young boys are stranded on an island with no…

    • 1127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Motifs In Lord Of The Flies
    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Motifs In Lord Of The Flies

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding has a plethora of literary techniques and strengths integrated within itself that separates it from other novels and work in tandem with the plot to form an enjoyable novel. A significant technique used in Lord of the flies is its multitude of motifs. Two of these many motifs include power and savagery and are brought up many times in the novel. The use of these literary techniques are to emphasize the insanity the boys on the island go through. In our pastiche we wrote an alternate ending to Lord of the flies if there was an adult figure arbitrarily inserted to temporarily offset the balance of power and insanity.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'
    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Symbolism In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

    A symbol is a thing, person, or place that is presented as a representation of a larger mean. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, as the story unravels, the objects which the boys encounter are decoded to provide a deeper meaning. Golding uses symbolism to expose that an item is more powerful than it first seems.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Meaning in Lord of the flies
    • 3894 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Meaning in Lord of the flies

    The main allegory for Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, savagery takes over. The Lord of the Flies and the Beast are not really physical characters. It is the evil that is in every human being. Without civilization the boys unleashed this evil. Piggy stood for intellect which every civilization needs, when he died it showed that savagery had completely taken over. Also Simon stood for morality, but not because civilization told him to be moral, but because he knew that morality was natural. But this book shows the allegory that savagery is stronger and more natural than civilization, this it took over. The death of Simon indicates how morality and goodness cannot survive within savagery.The main allegory for Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, savagery takes over. The Lord of the Flies and the Beast are not really physical characters. It is the evil that is in every human being. Without civilization the boys unleashed this evil. Piggy stood for intellect which every civilization needs, when he died it showed that savagery had completely taken over. Also Simon stood for morality, but not because civilization told him to be moral, but because he knew that morality was natural. But this book shows the allegory that savagery is stronger and more natural than civilization, this it took over. The death of Simon indicates how morality and goodness cannot survive within savagery.…

    • 3894 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Is The Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What Is The Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

    In the novel Lord of the flies William Golding uses boys stranded on an island as symbols. Each boy is symbolic of a different facet of society as the book wears each boy/ facet of society begins to crumble and the darkness of a mans heart begins to slowly seep in to their souls. The darkness of a mans heart is never explained in the novel however it can be interpreted as the evil that lives inside all of us. This evil is evidenced throughout the novel. It begins subtly and culminating in the horrific murder of Piggy at the hand of his peers.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Symbolism In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

    Through the whole novel, the boys slowly start to lose themselves to the fear they have toward “the beast” that they believe live on the island. As the fear starts to bend some of the characters, it drives them to murder. Using “the beast” as one of the main symbols in the story, it represents the complete loss of humanity and civilization that the characters once had and the beginning of savagery in the boys as they begin to torture one another. As their actions become less humane, it eventually leads to the death of two main characters, Simon and Piggy.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Allegory
    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Allegory

    The animalistic, selfish and inherently evil nature of human beings is illustrated and referenced through allegory, an act of interpretation to further demonstrate concepts of the human condition. In William Golding’s novel The Lord of the Flies, the characters and setting are read as an allegory linking directly to religious figures and biblical stories, including those of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve and of Jesus Christ, to unveil the harsh truths about the boys’ inherent savagery and the inevitable deterioration of order and civilisation it ensues.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis
    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis

    In every one of us, there is a savage monster. A monster, that, in our vulnerability, will silently kill off the good parts of ourselves. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of British boys who must survive on an island after their plane crashes. From the story, it is clear that the monsters inside us can destroy the bonds we work so hard to make. This is shown through symbolism, like the fire, which represents the fear in the group, the boys, which represents how humanity has corrupted the world we live in, and the Lord of the Flies, which represents the monster inside of us and how it affects our lives.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Lord of the Flies Symbols
    • 1156 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lord of the Flies Symbols

    The beast represents the fear of the boys in the group and the uncertainty as this is intensified when it plays a part in the story. There is also the idea of the beast being ‘the gateway to chaos’ with everything on the island uncontrollable when the subject it raised. The imaginary beast I think also symbolises the savage nature that lives just a word away inside the boys and while the boys are afraid of it, this could only be because it is inside every one of them. Simon is the one who actually realizes that the beast is in each one of them when he meets “The Lord Of The Flies” As boys like Jack become crueler throughout the book, the belief in the beast increases until at the end Jack’s tribe are leaving it food as a sign of respect.…

    • 1156 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Figurative Language
    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lord Of The Flies Figurative Language

    A detailed book is like unicorns and rainbows. When unicorns and rainbows are visualized, they are often very colorful. Imagine a book with no details at all; it will give off a black and white feeling. A book with a variety of colors gives readers more understanding of the context. William Golding was in the Royal Navy before he started writing. As William Golding wrote literature as a response to his own beliefs, he expressed his emotions with many tools. The book Coral Island inspired Golding to write, Lord of the Flies, a book which shows the breakdown of civilization and the light and dark in humans. William Golding uses a plethora of descriptive writing to paint a picture in the Lord of the Flies using foreshadowing, mood, tone, and many types of figurative language.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the flies symbols
    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lord of the flies symbols

    The sea - The sea is the barrier between civilisation and the seclusion on the island. In the poetic depiction of Simon’s death, it also represents an almost supernatural power far beyond the limited scope of the island community.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies Allegory
    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lord of the Flies Allegory

    Lord of the Flies, simply put, is an allegory representing humanity as a whole. This can be visualized by seeing the island as the world, tribes representing countries, the conch or rules are a government, and differences between tribes can be seen as war. Throughout this novel one may ponder if our world is as uncivilized as the island, and one would learn we do live in a world like such. When the boys world is interrupted with the real world, the allegory ends. So, with this in mind,when will the “real” world be rescued? William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, symbolizes humanity and uses many different objects to represent the real world, such as the conch, fire, and the pig hunts. The conch representing order relates to rules within society. Fire is used to show destruction and hope, similar to how things in the world benefit from something negatively affecting another. We live in a violent and brutal world which William Golding represents when hunting the pigs.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies
    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Does Golding Present The Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    Outside of being a reaction to The Coral Island, Golding’s experiences during World War II likely contributed much to the existence of Lord of the Flies, as he may have observed patterns of human behavior and psychological effects that he wanted to make a point about in one way or…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    William Golding Biography
    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages

    William Golding Biography

    For six years he spent his life on a boat. Before he officially went to the Royal Navy, he spent 7 months in New York and 6 months where he was helping and assisting Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. He fell in love with sailing and the sea. During World War II he fought battleships at the sinking of Bismarck. He fended submarines and planes. William became Lieutenant Golding. He was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft. From his World War II experiences he said “I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head”. In 1945 World War II had ended Golding had went back to teaching and writing being schoolmaster, and a lecturer. In 1951, Golding was back to living in Salisbury with his wife Ann and his 2 kids. His wife and him had married in 1939, his 2 children David born in 1940 and Judith born in 1945. He would read them bedtime stories with Island based themes. One night when he and his wife were in front of his fire place William had an idea and he said “wouldn't it be a good idea if i wrote a book about children on an island, children who would behave in the way children would really behave?” This became his idea for where the book “Lord of the Flies”. In 1954, the book was being written…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More