The Lord Of The Flies: A Symbolic Analysis

Symbolism is the use of objects, images, or, quite simply, symbols in order to represent qualities, ideas, and traits. The traits that these symbols represent don’t even have to refer to the symbol itself. However, the symbol can be manipulated in order to push forward these qualities that are being represented. In Lord of the Flies, we see symbolism used in countless ways, all of which are used to show the qualities of man, society, and savagery. In literature, symbols will, more often than not, represent one trait throughout the course of events in the tale. However, this novel has many symbols that change over time in the novel. For example, the very setting of this novel, the island, seems to change from being a symbol for the Garden of
Eden to Hell towards the end of the novel. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William, by William Golding, the symbols shift their meaning throughout the novel, with Piggy’s glasses representing technology then their shattered society, the conch representing order then savagery, and Roger representing being well behaved then being satanic.