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How the author uses symbols in the Lord of the Flies
Literary symbols of lord of the flies
How the author uses symbols in the Lord of the Flies
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`The symbolic aspect and the importance of the pig image in the novel is that the pig express one of the character that is piggy . And Piggy is one of the characters in the lord of the flies perhaps the most intelligent character from all the characters.He's also the closest thing they have to an adult on the island. For example , in the beginning of the story but to be exact in chapter one piggy says about a conch shell that Ralph finds and stats " We Can Use This to call the others ". And Piggy's aslo states that the shell could be used brings order to the island . Piggy is aslo express as the symbol of authority , he is often ignored by the others .And I know that because "I got the conch,' said Piggy indignantly'You let me speak!
Out of all the boys Piggy is the most reasonable. From the start he already shows a higher sense of maturity than most of the other boys. Piggy says that “we might stay here till we die” the reader can tell that Piggy doesn’t have as much of a false sense of reality like the other boys. I say as much because just before this Piggy asks Ralph “when [his] dad will arrive. This shows that even though Piggy shows some level of maturity he is still young and that shows in his speech.
The portrayal of the pig demonstrates his rationality of being a chaotic savage. He tends to cover up his actions with reasoning that only deems to be true through the eyes of insanity. “He rubbed the charcoal stick between the patches of red and white on his face [...] A rounded patch of sunlight fell on his face and a brightness appeared in the depths of the water. He looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. He split the water and leapt to his feet, laughing excitedly.”(Golding 63). There is no room for civilization on the island, and Jack takes advantage of this opportunity. Jack, compels himself to distance himself from social normalities through the exterior of the world. The paint on Jack’s face represents his cover up to society and to make himself believe that he is doing the right thing. Consequently speaking, Jack desperately desires confirmation of his actions from one of his peers. However, none of his peers condone of these certain actions, so, he relies on the tangible aspects of life to give him a sense of comfortability. “All that makes sense to him is his own need to control others and impose himself, and hunting, because it is a kind of power assertion” (Lord of the Flies, Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations). On the island, Jack’s role is the leader of the hunting party. Although, this seems
1. Given that Piggy represents society and its rules, he must have found his situation on the island disturbing at the least. At first, there is no organized social structure of any kind; no position of leadership existed. There was an absence of rules. This must have been very disturbing to Piggy. Then, as the story progresses, a sort of chain of leadership emerges with Ralph being voted as “chief.” “Ralph raised his hand for silence. ‘All right. Who wants Jack for chief?’ With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. ‘Who wants me?’ Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then, Piggy too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. ‘I’m chief then.’”(LoF p21). Then, a little bit later, Ralph brings up the idea of rules: “Jack was on his feet. ‘We’ll have rules!’ he cried excitedly. Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks them-’”(LoF p33). When the “hunters” kill their first pig is when we start to see signs of a more primal society, or lack thereof. They repeat the chant, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.” Piggy obviously if fed up with Jack and his hunters, asking, “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?’”(LoF p.91). And then, Ralph’s authority is challenged by Jack. Jack first disregards the rule of letting the person with conch speak without interruption. Then he directly challenges Ralph, saying, “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there, telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing-’”(LoF p91). From this confrontation is goes downhill on the island. On pg. 114, a “game” gets a little out of hand, when Robert pretends to be the pig, and the others pretend to hunt him, but then they become more serious and actually hurt him. He is not killed, however. Eventually, Jack and some of the other boys split apart from Ralph and his “group.” Jack and his hunting band kill another pig savagely, reveling in its agony. The “peak of their decline” was when they killed Simon, calling him a beast, during the storm. Then Piggy is killed, and the conch is shattered, and that is when I consider them to be at the absolute lowest in society: nothing more than savages.
The destruction of the conch and the death of Piggy represents the elimination of order, wisdom, and civilization, and the full influence of savagery and chaos. That is because Piggy represents wisdom and civilization - without him most of the innovations on the island wouldn’t have come true, like the fire. Also, he would always be the first one to point who’s holding the conch, trying to keep order around the island. Moreover, the conch represents order and civilization as well, for reasons I have mentioned before.
Piggy’s role as a grown-up mainly backed up by what he says and his actions, however his appearance is symbolic of his role in the novel. He is fat, “bad-looking”; it is this which leads to the boys lack of respect for him.
Have you ever been stranded on an island with no adults and been made fun of and taken for advantage? The novel The Lord Of The flies was written by William Golding. He wrote the novel during WWII. Piggy is a fat kid from Britain. In his school he was bullied and that is where he got the name piggy. Piggy believes he is unimportant and not needed , fails to ignore mistreatment and name calling from others, and engages in low self esteem while often continuing to say what he wants which effects the novel positively.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an allegorical tale of society told through the story of a group of unsupervised British schoolboys marooned on a desert island after their plane crashes. They attempt to build a functioning society themselves, though the problems that plague the adult world soon begin to appear in their own. Such is the case with the character Piggy. Though intelligent, he struggles to fit in with the other boys and is viewed as an outsider. He is often ignored by not only the other boys, but also by the leader of, Ralph. Piggy’s character can be viewed as a representation of the intellectual and scientific community in modern society, both trying to do their best to further and protect society, but often ignored or
The novel the Lord of the Flies written by William Golding discusses the effects when a person is excluded from civilization and no order is present. When a group of British boys are stranded on an island, none of them have any idea about the circumstances they are in, but Piggy tries to have clever solutions to solve problems that occur on the island. On the island peace and harmony do not last long, for two tragic deaths occur. Piggy symbolizes civilization because of his intelligence and civilized manners, portraying that he is one of the most properly educated boys. Piggy's death symbolizes that people
In summation, the themes of civilization and power, and the character of Piggy are represented by the conch shell. The conch is an important figure in Lord of the Flies. It not only represented many aspects of the book, but also was significant to the group as a whole, and, specifically, Ralph. Besides being significant just in the novel, the conch can represent situations in today’s world, such as order and authority, as well as types of people. Due to this, Lord of the Flies, and specifically the conch, are extremely significant in our
In the famous novel, "Lord of the flies", William Golding creates and uses certain symbols to show the darkness in the heart of humanity through the thought of young boys. Symbols such as the pig’s head,the hunters face paint and the beast and allow Golding to show how evil and darkness can take over someones life.
“A good heart and a good head are always a formidable combination.” (Brainyquote Hyperlink) This quote by Nelson Mandela relates to Piggy’s character of good morals and a good mind. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a novel detailing the lives of a group of British children and schoolboys who are living on an island after a plane crashes onto said island. This story takes place during the Cold War, in a theoretic scenario where it escalates much more than history records. In this book, each character has a distinct personality and most have a real-world, historical counterpart, and represents a virtue or alignment. For the character in question, Piggy, he represents wisdom, logic, and civilization, as well as the adults. Piggy is one of the more mature characters, more intellectual, and can be accredited to most ideas in this book. Piggy is one of the many reasons for the plot to have drama and climax, as well as progress.
The pig head is a satanic symbol that, eventually shows its true nature. It is a voice of evil. “Lord of the flies”, is a translation of Ba’alzevuv in Hebrew (Beelzebub in Greek). This is considered sometimes a mocking or mistranslation of the devil, who is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization, hysteria, and panic. Also, the pig head said that he’s “the
Throughout the first four chapters Piggy is clearly an outsider, but his maturity and intelligence allow him to grasp the severity of their situation in a way the others can’t. Piggy serves the same role on the island as he would’ve back in England. He is very much the stereotypical nerd, and because of this the boys often overlook his importance. Piggy is the second character introduced in the book, and Golding describes him as, “[h]e
In Orwell's Animal Farm, the animals revolt against the cruel human leaders and set up a better method of farm management where all animals are equal. As time passes, the new leaders become greedy and corrupt, and the other animals realize conditions are just as miserable as before. There is a major connection between Animal Farm and Russian communism. The pigs are one of the most significant of these connections, representing the communist rulers of Russia, like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Their traits, personalities, and actions are similar to the actual men in power. In the novel Animal Farm, the pigs represent the communist leaders of Russia in the early 1900s.
During his search for the beast, Simon was surprised by what he found. The beast was not really a physical creature, but something very different. Simon mutters in his shock, “‘Pig’s head on a stick,” and later the beast said, “‘You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you” (Golding 143)? The pig’s head on a stick, or the Lord of the Flies, is symbolic of the evil nature within the boys. The use of a pigs head on a stick is symbolic because savage nature is what sparked Jack’s desire to brutally kill a pig, and the murdered pig later became the being which represented that same savage nature. The symbolism in the Lord of the Flies was also important in advancing the plot of the story, by teaching the reader and Simon that the “beast”, which was referred to all throughout the story, is really just the nature of the children. Another symbolic item that was important during the story was the conch. Early in the story, when the children were trying to peacefully settle into their new environment, they decided that the conch will be their alternative to raising hands. Ralph said, “‘I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”’ (Golding 33). Golding used the conch to symbolize the boys’ connection back to society. Later in the book, when the conch was destroyed, Golding made the kids act even more savage and violent because they had lost all ties back to regular society. This symbolism showed how good human behavior is strongly connected with society. By symbolically creating a pig’s head on a stick and a conch to represent much bigger ideas in the lives of the kids, Golding helps the reader to understand his belief that without society, humans’ savage nature would be