Allegory In Lord Of The Flies

Often our words have more than one meaning. In William Golding’s novel Lord of The Flies he uses allegories to give an thoughtful and profound experience for the reader. An allegory is a text that uses imagery to let the reader interpret a underneath meaning in a text. Golding writes about a group of English schoolboys who have crash landed on a deserted island. Ralph, the young protagonist of the novel, fights against internal and external collisions of righteousness and savagery. The author uses symbols such as the conch, the scar on the island, and the boys’ clothes to show their literal and their symbolic meanings. The symbolism in Golding’s work create a new story under the layers of the literal surface of his work.
To the boys the conch

shell is valuable, it is used among them to give each of them a chance to voice his opinion. Ralph and Piggy first find the conch on the beach and automatically recognize it’s significance, “ A conch he called it… It’s ever so valuable” (William Golding 18). The author shows how the conch holds power in both the civilized world and on the island. The conch’s power is seen when it is used to call assemblies, and the most prominent rule is developed around it. Ralph tries to keep order after the plane crash and tells the others they must have the conch to talk. Ralph says, “I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking”(Golding 21). This rule is significant because it is the first rule established among the boys. In contrast to the literal meaning of the conch, it also has a deep symbolic meaning. The conch is a sign of democracy and civilization, they use it as a signal of power and speech. The rules surrounding the conch gives the boys a link to the order and rule of their old lives.
The garden of eden was paradise until man came into the picture. William Golding refers several times to the scar on the island. The scar on the island is from the plane crash that stranded the boys on the island. Part of the plane crashed into the island, creating the scar. Golding describes the scar, “Beyond the falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea” (Golding 29). This is the first mark the boys make on the island. The scar is the start of the downfall of the paradise on the island.