Lord of the Flies Thesis Paper
Being stranded on an island can be a life or death struggle. It brings up new challenges and self discovery. When a group of young boys get stranded on an island together with no adults, they must learn to live and survive as a community. Not only must they worry about food and shelter, but they also have to worry about each other and discover what it takes to work together. But what happens when the community they have built starts to fall apart? In Golding’s Novel, Lord of the Flies, the contrasting literary themes of civilization versus savagery are illustrated through the use of symbols, dialogue, and visual imagery.
Golding uses many symbols throughout his novel to illustrate the contrasting themes of civilization versus savagery. In this novel, the use of the conch represents civilization through unity and order. When the boys first land on the island Ralph uses the conch to join everyone together. “Signs of life were visible now on the beach. The sand, trembling beneath the heat haze, concealed many figures in its miles of length; boys were making their way to the platform…” (Golding 18). This shows that at the beginning, the conch automatically brought everyone together, and joined them as a community. Later in the story, the lord of the flies represents savagery by symbolizing chaos and disorder. After the boys kill a pig, they leave the head as on offering to the imagined beast. As Simon begins talking to the head, it tells him that it itself is the beast. Later, Ralph encounters the skull of the pig. “A sick fear and rage swept him. Fiercely he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him that bobbed like a toy and came back, still grinning into his face, so that he lashed and cried out in loathing.” (Golding 185). This shows that the lord of the flies brings out the beast in the children themselves, and shows that all along, they in fact were their own beast.
Golding also uses pieces of dialogue to illustrate the contrasting themes of civilization
Golding uses many symbols throughout his novel to illustrate the contrasting themes of civilization versus savagery. In this novel, the use of the conch represents civilization through unity and order. When the boys first land on the island Ralph uses the conch to join everyone together. “Signs of life were visible now on the beach. The sand, trembling beneath the heat haze, concealed many figures in its miles of length; boys were making their way to the platform…” (Golding 18). This shows that at the beginning, the conch automatically brought everyone together, and joined them as a community. Later in the story, the lord of the flies represents savagery by symbolizing chaos and disorder. After the boys kill a pig, they leave the head as on offering to the imagined beast. As Simon begins talking to the head, it tells him that it itself is the beast. Later, Ralph encounters the skull of the pig. “A sick fear and rage swept him. Fiercely he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him that bobbed like a toy and came back, still grinning into his face, so that he lashed and cried out in loathing.” (Golding 185). This shows that the lord of the flies brings out the beast in the children themselves, and shows that all along, they in fact were their own beast.
Golding also uses pieces of dialogue to illustrate the contrasting themes of civilization