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Significance of symbolism in literature
Literature influenced by history
Significance of symbolism in literature
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The characters and readers of the book “Lord of the Flies” wonder the same thing, what is the beast? The author, William Golding, has not confirmed what the beast actually is, so some people have come up with their own opinions on what it is. With a work as complex as “Lord of the Flies” it’s no wonder figuring out the beast would be more difficult than it seems. Readers may think the beast may be fear, war, or the savagery of human nature. Many good points have been made to support the opinions of figuring out what the beast symbolizes.
First, some think the beast may be fear. The longer the kids stayed on the island the more they noticed all the terrors in the night the island had to offer. “The younger children first, then gradually
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The story took place during WWII, so is it possible that the “beast” was just the war happening around them? William Golding was involved in the war and it left an indelible impact on Golding, “the war produced one notable effect on me. Scared me stiff. It was a turning point for me” (Doc C). It is plausible that the author would’ve included war symbols in his book. The airplane that blew up near the island ejected a person that parachuted down to the island, it was night time when Sam and Eric saw this person land and eventually die. Some of the kids could’ve know about the war but at night it would’ve been definitely hard to see what was coming down, and without knowing what it was, the kids automatically assumed it was the beast. “The figure fell and crumpled among the blue flowers of the mountain-side, but now there was a gentle breeze at this height too and the parachute flopped and banged and pulled… Then as though they had but one terrified mind between them they scrambled away over the rocks and fled… ‘Ralph! Wake up!’ ‘What’s the matter?’ ‘We saw the beast’” (Doc …show more content…
Jack and his hunters killed 2 people, these actions could’ve struck fear in the littleuns. One of the ones killed was Simon, he was looking for the beast and discovered something interesting, he was killed the hunters when running back to tell them. Everyone joined in with killing him, maybe it was just the heat of the moment but it definitely representative of the savagery of human nature. “The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Doc
The setting of Lord of the Flies takes place in an unnamed island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in 1954, during World War II. In the Lord of the Flies, what does the beast represent? In Lord of the Flies, a message can be deciphered. The message “Without the guidance of authority, the youth of the world would become evil and self-preserving.”
... younger kids are used to relying on adults. If the younger ones didn’t believe in the beast then the older boys wouldn’t either. This would stop a lot of the problems that arise. If the pilot had been on the island with the boys, he would be able to comfort the boys and the children would not be scared of the beast.
The beast displays the truth about mankind and their actions, making the readers understand what is happening in the world. Sam and Eric are on duty to maintain the fire and they encounter the dead parachuter, thinking that it is the beast. The twins run being horrified from what they saw (Golding 96-98). The parachuter, the beast of air is the consequence and the result of war, exhibiting the harsh actions humans are capable of doing. The beast also incorporate the human want of having power. Jack is unable to get the English boys on his side, so he uses their fear of the beast to manipulate them stating: “I gave you food, and my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?” (150). In reality, many people uses the means of fear to control and have power over people, like dictators. This shows that power given to the wrong people can destroy or affect negatively on humanity. Near the end the boys turn on Ralph and causes chaos among the island. The naval officer condemn their actions as he says: The officer says: “I should've thought that a pack of British boys. . . would have been able to put up a better show” (202). It is ironic how he chastises them for their actions, but ignore the fact he is a naval officer and participates in war and in the act of killing humans. This is how William Golding shows how the reality is shown through the beast and how power can have its
In the end, they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives of Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear. Initially, the boys carried on about in a civilized, systematic and fearless manner when first landing on the island. Ralph has just blown the conch and some small children responded to the sound by gathering at the source of the sound.
Documents A and B is showing the book is having Fear. In document A it says “ To people the darkness of night and the forest with spirits and demons which had previously appeared only in their dreams or fairy tales”. This document tells us that demons are nightmares and in the darkness of forest. The first people of the darkness are the littleluns. The quote of “with spirits and demons” means being scared of the beastie in the darkness. The fear comes real when they say the beastie is on the island.
The fact that except Jack, all of the boys are younger than thirteen, greatly affects the amount of fear that controlled them, and from there it is easy to ascertain how the fear of being alone, in an unknown area was the first to take affect on the boys. For the Littleuns, the fear of being alone, influences the behaviour and attitudes. The cry for home', for the "old life" for their predicament. This is personified by their fear of the beast. The fear of the beast, was an essential part of the story of The Lord of the Flies, as it manifests itself into different characters.
After the boys crash on the island, their immediate reaction to the island is its beauty. The weather on the island was hot and humid, without a breeze. The look of the “dazzling beach and the water” (Golding) is unlike anything they have ever seen. The island was superior in their eyes as “The boys find themselves in a tropical paradise: bananas, coconuts, and other fruits are profusely available.” (Slayton) There was no fear and an instant commodore due to the circumstance. However, after becoming comfortable, a natural fear of the unknown begins to settle “as if it wasn’t a good island” (Golding) and they find themselves faced with an entity named, The Beast. This dark fear comes back to haunt them later.
Another of the most important symbols used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. In the imaginations of many of the boys, the beast is a tangible source of evil on the island. However, in reality, it represents the evil naturally present within everyone, which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies, and during one argument over the existence of a beast, he attempts to share his insight with the others.
Most children, especially infants, do not know what is real and what is not real due to all the scary movies they watch, the scary stories they are told, and the nightmares they have. Therefore, they need an adult to remind them of what is real and what is imaginary. But since there are no adults no the island to remind the boys of these things, they are scared. All the fear that evokes from the boys causes chaos. " ’He still says he saw the beastie. It came and went away again an' came back and wanted to eat him--’ ‘He was dreaming.’ Laughing, Ralph looked for confirmation round the ring of faces. The older boys agreed; but here and there among the little ones was the doubt that required more than rational assurance,” (Golding 36). The little boy who said he saw a beast spreads fear among the crowd of boys, especially the little ones. Ralph tries to remind them that the beast is not real, but the boys don’t believe him since Ralph is not an adult. The fear that is still among the boys causes them to believe that there really is a beast and causes growing chaos throughout the novel. The growing chaos transforms the boys into savages and causes violent behavior. This factor and the other two factors, peer pressure and the boys’ desire to have fun, caused them to transform into
The boys’ fear of the beast causes them to pay no attention to their morals and act savagely to defeat it. However, Simon is ultimately able to understand the beast and avoid savagery because his embrace of nature allows him to avoid any fears of the island. Simon demonstrates this lack of fear when he climbs the mountain by himself in order to find the beast, despite the dangers that might await him. The hunters and even Piggy and Ralph want to avoid the mountain because that is the last place where the beast was seen, but Simon seems to Once he reaches the top, he finds a physical beast, but not the kind the boys were expecting: a dead parachutist. The parachutist serves as an ironic symbol of Simon’s understanding; the monster the boys were afraid was a human. In contrast, Piggy displays immense fear throughout the novel, especially about Jack. For most of the story, his appreciation of logic and order help him remain civilized, but eventually his fears overcome him and he acts savagely the night of Simon’s murder. As Golding states, “[Piggy and Ralph] found themselves eager to take place in this demented but partly secure society….[the crowd] leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (136). After this occurrence and the theft of his glasses, Piggy decides to
As a result of Jack's encouragement of a wild creature feasting in the jungle and a Beast, that has big black eyes and teeth and is too big to fight and is in the Jungle , water , and air. The conflicts of the island were started from the inner "Beast" in all of them.During the story, the heat rises and changes of life affect everyone in a way they have never felt before.The absence of Parents was a major cause of this. "Quiet!' shouted Jack You listen the beast is sitting up there, whatever it is … Hunting said, Jack. He remembered his age old tremors in the forest Yes, the beast is a hunter."Jack is using
...so much that anything that they see in the dark, they imagine it as the beast. Therefore, the fear of the beast is the most dangerous and destructive force on the island.
The kids on the island in Lord of the Flies have a big imagination and that gets out of hand and they develop a fear against this “beast”. Nobody is there with proper authority to tell them that there is no beast and it just spreads out among the island until everybody has the same fear. The fear that there is a “beast” living at the top of the mountain that roams around the forest at night. A kid that has nightmares of a big snake thing hiding in the trees that are on the island is the first time a “beast” is mentioned in this story and Ralph said that they’ll take care of it when they hunt.
This leads to the fact that a beast really does exist within all human beings, but is only expressed when human instinct for survival becomes the main objective. At first the boys aren?t able to kill, but as survival instinct starts taking over, the reader?s are able to se the true character?s play out, and lives are compromised. ?You feel as if you?re not hunting, but- being hunted, as if something?s behind you all the time in the jungle,? (pg.53) proves that it?s every man for himself and people will do anything to survive. An example of this in the novel was when Robert became the ?pig,? and was wounded even though it wasn?t intentional, but the situation became worse when Piggy?s death happened as a result of all civilization lost and evil taken over.
Beforehand, everything was all fun and games on the island, and Piggy was the only one that actually worried about anything. However, the idea of the beast brought fear to them again and again. Whether it was when it was first mentioned as a snake, or when it was thought to come from the sea, or when it was guessed to be ghosts, the idea of something being there at the island made the boys afraid even though there was no actual evidence of the beast. Golding wrote, “‘He says in the morning it turned into them things like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches. He say will it come back tonight?’ ‘But there isn’t a beastie!’ There was no laughter at all now and more grave watching.’” At the idea there there was some sort of mysterious fearsome monster that might come after the boys, the previously joyous atmosphere quickly bursted as fear settles on them. Though the beast only symbolized fear in the beginning, by the latter parts of the novel, it had become a representation of the savagery within a human. Simon was the first one to notice, at how he pointed out how maybe the beast lived within themselves. Also, Jack’s bloody offering to the beast, the sow’s head, represented how the darkness has taken over the hunters. Their belief in the beast strength as their savagery increased, it was almost as if they worshipped it, leaving offerings and such. Also, the Lord