Deterioration In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel written by William Golding, in which he set the scene of a deserted island and a group of English schoolboys as the framework. Golding explains many themes throughout this book, but the theme I will be arguing is that the personas of the boys are all an illustration of people of the bible, and their placement between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. The boy’s are in tribes. The separations of the boys tribes are much like the separation of angels and fallen angels. When the boys first arrived at the island they are seemly good children.
The boys have their small flaws and sins when they first arrive at a beautiful peaceful, seemingly untouched place resembling the Garden of Eden. One by one these angels seem

to fall to be placed in Hell permanently. The differences between Heaven and Hell take time to appear to those who truly belong to the class between Heaven and Hell, our world. The world where sins are made by choice, not by the placement in which you are. Those who are in Heaven are said to be sin free, but those who find themselves in Hell are said to be full of sin. To those who belong in Hell, the world they are in take much longer to appear as a Hell, rather than as a reality . For those who don’t take as much time to see the new reality, they are placed in a world of those who are tortured, souls. And for those innocent who die before becoming savages are those who belong in Heaven.
Ralph arrives in a persona very similar to Adam and Eve.

Ralph’s first act on the island is to remove his clothes and to bathe in the water, this portrays the beginning of Genesis. A gesture that recalls of the innocence of Ralph as a twelve year old boy as well as Adam and Eve. He [Ralph] jumped down from the terrace. The sand was thick over his black shoes and the heat hit him. He became conscious of the weight of clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement. Then he leapt back on the terrace, pulled off his shirt, and stood there among the skull-like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and forest sliding over his skin. He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water. This is much like the Christian rite of baptism in which,by some accounts, is renewed in a state of grace. The jump Ralph takes in the beginning of this chapter illustrates a jump out of the world he once knew, and into a new reality, he must adjust to. The heat represented the old reality for this young boy whose world had been changed in a huge way, much like the world of Adam and Eve upon the newly created world as the first human beings. The clothing Ralph wears soon becomes a weigh in which Ralph cannot understand since it is just thrown on top of him. His clothing being a remembrance of the person he once knew, the person he once was. Ralph

world seems to transform in the moment he entered the water. The snake skinned belt denotes a transition in this chapter, snakes as well as serpents, represent a transition for people. Ralph transitions from a clothed English schoolboy to a nude rebel, breaking a very basic rule of no shoes, no shirt, no service. Clothes-wearing is a rule followed by most in modern society, a rule so basic that everyone knows this rule. The water in which Ralph jumps in is much like holy water in which people get baptized in.
On this island it’s amazing and is untouched by any other, but told to have one thing to fear. For the Garden of Eden it the serpent, for island it’s not returning home. One incredibly bad creature, a beastie as the younglin call it in Golding’s Lord of the Flies is told to feared. The beastie is soon to be called a snake in chapter 3. The snake that lies in the Garden of Eden is called the ancient serpent. The serpent in this book Represents Piggy in many ways. The ancient serpent is told be be smart and a creature. Piggy’s nickname represents the creature part. Piggy was very intelligent even if he lacked wisdom. Piggy took time to realize his place on the island as he gained his voice, serpents also represent a transition, Piggy went from a kid who let people call him Piggy to a person who stood up for himself even, if that got him slapped in the face. The serpent represented healing as well,which Piggy tried to do a lot for Ralph. The serpent was something feared by Adam and Eve. The serpent also represented jack in many parts of this book, one feared by the people of the island.
Jack is very much like the first fallen angel Lucifer, Jack much like the other boys were angels who fell from the sky.

We read in the first chapter that the boys plane fell from the sky to the island. We see that the longer these boys are on the island it becomes their own personal hell, some sooner than later, but always a hell. Jack takes and remarkably long time to realize his own hell. It’s hard to even see Jack move from this is life to this was not my life. He been a hunter since the beginning. Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I'd like to catch a pig first-" He snatched up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again(53). Jack cares so little for returning home, Jack only has a huge blood lust. Jack main goal throughout the beginning of this book is to hurt an innocent creature, on the island. Jack has now only put in effort in this. Jack doesn’t care about the safety of the other boys or himself, all he cares about is their need for meat, even though there is a abundant amount of fruit on the island. The way Jack snatches up his spear shows a that he was distracted by his own selfishness. Jack believed he was the best person on the island, far better than anyone else because he could provide things in which he thought were necessities for the island. Much like Lucifer who thought he was of greater power of all, Even him wanted to catch a pig represents the forbidding of a higher power the bible says not to eat split

hoofed animals. Pigs are the only mentions of animals on the island (other than the beastie). Smaller easier to kill animals are of an absence on the island as if they no longer exist. Killing was not the first and only time jack began to lose his innocence, and descend to being a worse and worse person, just like Lucifer.
" You would, would you? Fatty!"... Jack smacked Piggy's head(71). This is where all innocence for Jack is lost. Jack turns into a soulless violent anger human being. Jack becomes the biggest savage on the island thanks to one hit he place onto Piggy’s face. Jack even gave a small pause before hitting Piggy, this is when he officially lose his place in our world, and picks his seat in Hell. The word fatty portrays a way to wound Piggy. Jack last words as a person in between are words of hurt and pain, Jack mission was to bring someone down and remove their self-respect
Later in the book we see Jack truly sinner. " See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-"(181) Jack isn’t even look at as a child at this point but as a evil wrong doing man. Jack has just killed Piggy and shows no remorse towards a person death that he is the cause of because he was angry, about a broken shell. Jack makes fun of the death of piggy and jokes about the breaking of the shell. The conch being broken represents a break in the bond of the boys on the island, as well as last hope lost for Ralph.
Simon is the third oldest boy who often flies under the scope of all the boys. Simon’s story is much like the story of the Jesus Christ. Simon is spiritual, compassionate,non-violent, and in harmony of nature around him. Simon is looked at as an outsider much like Jesus. Simon was excluded for his peculiar and unusual behaviors. Simon’s talks with the lord of the flies was similar to the conversation Christ had with the devil with during the forty days he ad spent in the wilderness as described in many of the new Testaments gospels. There are even parallels to the death of simon and Christ's sacrifice on the cross."Surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea(154). Many people watch the death of Jesus Christ and many were involved in his death much like simon’s many tried to deny their presence but everyone who was there was known. Some stated they were just on the outside looking in, that they had never had joined. The presence of Simon's body in this quote shows the savagery of these young boys, as well as the inhumane quality of a body washed away at sea. Simon is sacrifice during a ritual dance, in the same way Christ was sacrificed for our sins. Simon was sacrificed for their innocence, and able to spend eternity in Heaven.
In his Lord of the Flies, William Golding is arguing that character all have relationship to the people of the bible. The separations of the boys tribes are very much like the separation of angels and fallen angels. The boys are placed into these tribes by how long it takes reality to set for them. Many of the boys find themselves dead before finding their place between Heaven and Hell. For those who make it to the end none of them were left in heaven. They had all found their place in the world in between or Hell.