Allusions In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

In general, not many people like to recognize their own flaws. Looking at the darkest aspects of one’s self tends to be very depressing and as a result, many tend to avoid undesirable truth altogether. Therefore, after experiencing an unfortunate childhood and witnessing the terrors of WWII, author William Golding, who actively affirmed in an interview that, “I am… by intellectual conviction a pessimist”, worked to raise awareness of the true darker side of human nature (Dodson 4). Through biblical, literary, and historical allusions in his novel Lord the the Flies, Golding purposefully enlightens reader about his pessimistic worldview.

First of all, one of the easiest allusions to identify in Lord of the Flies are the dark allusions to the bible. When William Golding was a child, he was raised to forcefully learn science by an atheist father who strongly believed in rationalism and an abusive mother who shared the similar agnostic beliefs (Carey 12-14). From early on in life, he witnessed the darker side of human nature in his controlling parents and later

ended up revolting against his parents rationalist values with his own religious beliefs — which in turn have affected his writing (Baker 130).
For example, the Garden of Eden is a prominent biblical allusion that is present throughout Lord of the Flies. At the beginning of the novel, a bunch of schoolboys find themselves involved in a plane crash that leads to them becoming stranded on a deserted island without any adults. However, instead being confronted by the pure distress of being stranded, the boys adapt and enjoy life on this beautiful island surrounded by a sparkling sea and covered by a luscious forest because it is a setting as plentiful and free as the Garden of Eden (Dodson 24-25).
Then the boys spend their days happily devouring juicy fruit and playing on the beach until one day, a character named Piggy says that there is “A snake thing. Ever so big” on the island (Golding 42). This supposed “snake thing” then ends up becoming a beast that haunts and corrupts the boys for the rest of the novel. By purposefully first describing the beast as a snake-like creature, readers can connect the beast to the satanic serpent in the Garden of Eden and become aware of the foreshadow of evil during the novel.
Moreover, by the end of the novel, the boys destroy the island by means of a intentional forest fire, just like Adam and Eve corrupted the world with sin. Then they also supposedly end up leaving the island just like Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden because of their sin (Golding 247-285). These allusions to the story of the Fall, which is considered to be the original source of human depravity, clearly shows readers that the characters in Lord of Flies and humans in general are innately corrupt.
Another biblical allusion in Lord of the Flies is the story of Cain and Abel through the relationship of two of the main characters named Ralph and Jack.

Ralph in this novel is presented to be a fair boy with a respectable figure and a charismatic personality (Golding 6). Jack on the other hand is characterized with an inferior description: “he was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness” (Golding 20). As the novel progresses an enmity develops between the two characters over the subject of power and then towards the end, Jack finally resolves to kill Ralph (Golding 265). By inferring that this plot contains an allusion to the bible, the characterization of Ralph as a protagonist like Abel and Jack as an antagonist like Cain is created and the dangerous capabilities of humans as a result of sin is called to

attention.
Finally, a classic biblical allusion that is also in Lord of the Flies is the Christ-figure. Out of all the boys in this story, there is one character named Simon who seemingly sticks out from the rest. Simon is a choir boy who is innocently characterized as “a skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse” and he seems to have a kinder nature that furthermore cares for the younger children on the island (Golding 25, 71). The fact that Simon is the only one with a biblical name, named after the disciple Simon-Peter, and is characterized to be kind and good with children just like Jesus, easily established him as a Christ figure.
Then our Christ-figure goes through an experience that resembles Jesus’s encounter with Satan in the wilderness. Simon goes off into the forest on his own during a time of political turmoil to find a pig head staked to the ground and engulfed by flies. He then has a conversation with this pig head which reveals to Simon that it is “the Lord of the Flies” and is “a part of [him]”. Simon then realizes that the beast haunting the boys on the island is not a real physical being and tries to save the other boys with his revelation, but then as all Christ-figures are destined to be: he is murdered (Golding 200-216).