Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Are all men born of benevolence, or are they inborn with evil? In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, he illustrates how a group of boys was isolated on a tropical island without any adults, starting from a united group of teamwork, gradually descended from civilization and order to violence and savagery. The innocence of the young boys were taken over by their inner savagery, emphasizing the fact that every man is capable of brutality and evil. In the close analysis of the novel, Golding uses symbolism of the island as the Garden of Eden, Ralph and Jack as Cain and Abel, and Simon as the Christ to present the novel as a religious allegory, which suggest that innocents and purity will eventually be corrupted by the sin and inner savagery
After witnessing the beauty of the island, all the boys revel in the wonderfulness of the surroundings, “They accepted the pleasures of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air” (58). Golding uses imagery to illustrate the island as a paradise where everything else can be forgotten except happiness and pleasure. Like the Garden of Eden, the island is a place where no sin step inside, symbolizes all innocents without brutality and malice. But after Jack killed the sow, the Garden of Eden can never be pure again as sin and savagery flood in, “Even the butterflies deserted the open space where the obscene thing grinned and dripped” (138). Before, the butterflies fly around, dancing, “Nothing moved but a pair of gaudy butterflies that danced round each other in the hot air”(57), and even just before Jack’s massacre, the butterflies are still vividly dancing, “bright flowers grew and butterflies danced around each other and the air was hot and still”(135). The butterflies, beautiful and harmless, representing the initial innocence of living creature. With the parallelism of the butterflies, they reinforce the peace and stillness of the island. As the last two lines are almost identical, they emphasize that before Jack’s viciousness, everything on the island is still living with pleasure. But after, the butterflies fly away to avoid the violence of killing. The way Jack kills the sow symbolizes the initial barbarism the men has, who cannot hold his desires under control, similar to what Eve cannot hold her curiosity and was tempted by Serpent to steal the forbidden fruit. He brutally cut the sow’s throat and spill her blood on the secret glade Simon discovered, and next, the Lord of the Flies appears as the true devil representing men’s evilness. From the result of the