Lord Of The Flies Identity

Caught in the midst of a nuclear war, a group of British boys were escorted from the violence back in Britain to another, more clandestine nightmare. Although the uninhabited island seemed at first to be a paradise, the boys would soon find that the island their plane was shot down over houses a darker force: one that resides inside everyone. Later deemed the “Lord of the Flies,” it causes the boys to become increasingly atavistic—no longer were they British, no longer were they even human. In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a loss of identity ensuing from a masking of previous identities, the death of Simon and deterioration of society represents one of the major themes woven into the plot. As the story progresses, there is

Unlike the previous paragraph, the death of Simon exhibits the growing savagery that exists within the entire group, rather than in an individual. When Simon rushed back to the beach to inform the others of his discovery about the Lord of the Flies, he was mistaken for the beast. As he tried to escape the horde of boys, “the crowd surged after [Simon], poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws”(Golding 153). This action by the group of once organized and civilized boys shows how far they have descended. The fact that they attacked the “beast” in such a barbaric manner—clawing at it and using their teeth, depicting how savage the group as a whole has become. In addition to being a haunting scene displaying the complete loss of identity, Simon’s death as he floats away also symbolizes a much darker era. As Simon, “surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations… moved out toward the open sea”(Golding 154), the shining fish that escorted him represent the last of the light, of civilization, organized society and previous identities floating away, leaving the island. Without it, the boys are engulfed in an absolute darkness, atavism taking its toll on them. As Simon is lost to the sea,

This all started back when Piggy found it impossible to keep track of everyone, “all my myself? They waited for two minutes, then they fell in the sea; they went into the forest; they just scattered everywhere”(Golding 46). While this seemed to be a trivial worry at the time, since the entire island was on fire, it actually holds a lot more importance than the group thought. A name is a verbal identification card. Thus, when the group ceased to call people by names, it resulted in chaos and destruction of identity. This was made evident at the end of the book, when all the boys are on the beach and Percival stumbles up to the naval officer. “‘I’m, I’m—’ But there was no more to come. Percival Wemys Madison sought in his head for an incantation that had faded clean away”(Golding 201). This shows that Percival, and many of the other boys, have forgotten their name. As stated earlier, a name is one of the most important components of a person’s identity. Because of this, when it is stripped from Percival after months of abandonment, it emphasizes how he has lost everything that he once was. Names in Lord of the Flies were very important, but for very abnormal reasons. Instead of their symbolization or hidden meaning, names are important for not being used; for disappearing along with the British identity that the boys had once