In which ways does golding portray blah

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In Lord of the Flies, Golding extensively uses of analogy and symbolism like the dead parachutist in Beast from Air to convey the theme of intrinsic human evil through the decay of the character’s innocence and the island itself. In this essay, I will view and explain Golding’s use of specific symbolism to explain the novel’s main themes. In Beast From Air, the boys have the false idea of the beast being the dead parachutist that falls on the island: the fear the boys have of the beast leads to the death of Simon in chapter 9, A View to a Death. A factual interpretation of the beast would be that it represents danger and a direct threat to the boys; it can be a symbol of chaos and death within the island. An extended interpretation of the beast is that it represents the innate evil in humans, the primal, bestial feelings within us all: one of the novel’s main themes. Although the beast is metaphorical, the boys' behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become. This is realized by Simon and is proposed in Beast From Water after a littlun suggests the possibility of the beast on the island: “What I mean is . . . maybe it’s only us”. Simon explains that perhaps the beast is only the boys themselves. The boys ignore Simon’s realization, yet Simon’s words are central to Golding’s point that inborn human evil exists. Simon is the first character in the novel to see the beast not as an outer force, but as a constituent element of human nature. Also, the quotation spoken by “the lord of the flies” in Gift for the Darkness to Simon during his vision contributes to Simon’s speculation in Beast From Water that the beast is themselves. This quotation deepens the them... ... middle of paper ... ...controlled by the leaders of war like puppets. In Beast From Water, Piggy, along with Simon and Ralph ask for a sign from the grown-up world because "they wouldn't quarrel....or break my specs...or talk about a beast.” This quotation shows how the children view the macrocosm as safe and ignore the danger outside the island; with the ‘grown-up world’ being at war, this leads to the apparition of the dead parachutist’s body on the island. In conclusion, we can assume that Golding was trying to use religious and war motifs as well as the themes of civilization versus savagery to illustrate the decay the island from good to evil, the reader can use Golding’s selection of words and description to deduce the way in which the island was becoming: rotten and vicious. This further on builds on Golding’s idea of mankind’s evil nature – the thematic epicentre of the novel.

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