What Does The Ocean Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies is a novel that focuses on a group of boys that are left stranded on a deserted island while trying to evacuate their boarding school in England due to the ongoing violence before the Cold War. Throughout the book Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding used symbols to develop the role of the conflict between nature and human civilization. The symbols he uses includes the ocean, the scar, and the fire.

I believe William Golding uses the ocean to represent the lost hope in Ralph’s, the main character”eyes. I say this because when Ralph is standing on the beach, he looks out and sees nothing but endless waters. In the text it says, “The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick, endless apparently…”.

I believe this because throughout the book, Roger, used rocks to cause harm to others. Before he even got stuck on the island, the author lets us know he got in trouble at home for throwing rocks at other children. He brought that part of him to the island, because in the beginning of the story he was throwing rocks at Henry. In the text it says, “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss. The stone… bounced five yards to Henry’s right and fell in the water. Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them.” (Golding 62) Then, toward the end of the book, Roger came across a massive boulder. He was at a higher elevation than Piggy, and he pushed the boulder down. The boulder landed on Piggy, instantly killing him, before Piggy fell down 40 feet. I know this because in the text it says, “ … Someone was throwing stones: Roger was dropping them, his one hand still on the lever… High overhead, Roger… leaned all his weight on the lever… The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee...Piggy, saying nothing, , with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went… Piggy fell forty feet…” (Golding