In Lord of the Flies, there’s a good amount of imagery that shows the darkness and the lightness. The dark and light in Lord of the Flies is repeatedly used over and over to show the bad and good side of a specific person or thing. Jack’s mask shows a feature of dark and light imagery. When Jack creates his mask, he covers half of his face with red clay and the other half of his face with white clay. “...slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw” (Golding 63). This shows how half of Jack’s personality is on the “dark” or “evil” side while the other half is on the “light or “good” side. Also, when Jack calls Roger over to see the mask Roger saw darkness. “…opened his eyes and saw him a darker shadow crept beneath the
swarthiness of his skin” (Golding 62). This quote foreshadows that the mask is going to be something that causes “darkness” meaning it will cause bad things. Although, dazzle paint was used in World War II to mislead the enemy and Jack’s intentions were similar when he makes the mask. "He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw" (Golding 63). Like the dazzle paint used during World War II, the mask purpose is to mislead others of Jack's human qualities. “I cut the pig’s throat” (Golding 69). Jack finally kills the pig after the first pig hunt. The mask is what allows him to kill the pig because with mask conceals his true identity, choir boy, Jack Merridew, now known as Jack the Hunter. The mask protects Jack from feeling human emotions, "...the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding 64). When wearing the mask, other people can’t see Jack's shame, a human feeling, therefore saying that he is incapable of feeling emotions that any human could feel. After he finally liked his mask, "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarl" (64). Jack's "bloodthirsty snarl" is a clear indication that he is becoming an animal once he puts the mask on.
Another characteristic of deindividuation is aroused emotion. They boys in Lord of the Flies are often in a frenzy and become one large group. [T] For example, when Piggy urges (v) Ralph to reassemble the group of boys, they come “together on the sand and were a dense black mass that revolve[s]” (Golding 92). [6] The boys become one mass. [5] Because of aroused (adj) emotion, the boys are no longer individuals, but one unit (pn) of deindividuation. Also, when the pig game goes too far with Robert, he starts “screaming and struggling with the strength of the frenzy” (Golding 114). [2] In the pig game, the hunters reenact the killing of the first pig. The boys deindividuated within the large group because (cl) they become aroused by the setting,
The examples of light through the book like the fire, Ralph’s fair hair, and the pale skin of the boys, are symbols of the good and safety. The examples of darkness such as the face paint, the night and the density of the forest’s foliage symbolize shady dealings and frightful encounters. Jack, one of the more savage boys, truly descends into a hateful madness when he smears on mud as face paint. This not only makes him look more gruesome, but it hides his pale skin away from the world. Also, it should be noted that throughout the book there is a common theme of hair color being an example of foreshadowing towards the mindset of each boy. For instance, one of the notoriously good characters, Ralph, has very fair hair whereas Robert, a sadistic and violent boy, has dark hair. Jack is one of the few characters to break this mold because his red hair shows his progression into madness as well as the fire’s steady decline from light imagery into something darker. In the beginning of the book, Jack is tasked with keeping the fire lit. However when the fire goes out around the same time Jack catches his first pig and paints his face, Jack descends into depravity and the fire becomes an ominous symbol. This, along with the hunters want to live deeper in the woods where the sun does not reach shows the darkness as a symbol of malicious intent. However, it is here in the forest where one of the characters discovers the Lord of the Flies and becomes enlightened. It is this sort of contrasting imagery that shows the books love of blurring the lines of the good and the
There are signs and symbols in both novels that show the beginning of barbarism and brutality. In Lord of the Flies, the boys portray inhumane characteristics in painting their faces. Jack, being the archetypal savage, paints his face the symbolic colors of red and black. "For example, when Jack first paints his face to his satisfaction, he suddenly becomes a new, savage person. "He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling." (Al-Saidi, “Savagery and the Heart of Darkness in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies”). Jack’s transformation into a savage character results in his animalistic behavior. Likewise, Gene’s downfall into a wicked state results in his change of character. He ultimately acts as an archetype of brutality and jealousy. Similarly, “the scornful force of his tone turned the word into a curse” (Knowles) showing that once peaceful words have turned into barbarian, savage-like ones. Overall, the boys barbarian actions resulted in the degeneration of man and the archetypal character of a savage.
Light and Dark Light and dark is an everyday aspect of life, The Scarlet Letter really reveals how light and dark everyone can be. Though it was sometimes hard to read, the book made me think more about the good and evil in everyone. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Hester Prynne is considered a light and dark character in the book; many of the things that are noticeable about Hester in the book involve the sunshine. Hester explains this to Pearl in the book “Thou must gather thine own sunshine I have none to give thee” (Hawthorne 95).
Ralph, the first character introduced to the audience, is probably the most likable character in the entire story. Although he does not ponder such deeply like Piggy, is not as spiritual like Simon, or as energetic as Jack, there is something in him that attracts the audience. Ralph serves as the protagonist of the story. He is described as being a playful, innocent child in the beginning, but towards the end he matures significantly. In the first chapter where he takes his clothes off and goes swimming like any child would do, he seems to be Adam in the Garden of Eden, a child left to play with the nature.
In the story Sonny's Blues the author, James Baldwin, uses the image of darkness quite frequently. He uses it first when the older brother (main character) talks about his younger brother Sonny. He says that when Sonny was younger his face was bright and open. He said that he didn't want to believe that he would ever see his "brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out." Meaning he had gone from good (clean and innocent) to bad ( giving into drugs like so many of the other young people).
Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, a famous war soldier once said, "The truth of the matter is you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it." Although society has the potential to help others in need they restrict themselves from doing the right thing. But when society is challenged with a problem only some step up against to the odds to make a difference. Throughout history, during times of devastation and separation there are people that show a ray of light that gives people hope during the darkest times.
In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, we find a group of British boys stranded on a tropical island while the rest of the world is at war. Their plane has been shot down and they find themselves without adults to tell them how to act. As they struggle to survive, they encounter conflicts that mirror the decayed society from which they have come. We see Golding's theme come about as we watch the boys begin to lose their innocence and let their natural evil overwhelm their otherwise civilized manner. While formulating the theme of the story, Golding utilizes much symbolism, one of these symbols being the masks, or painted faces, that the boys wear. The masks, and painted faces, became a producer of evil circumstances, give a sense of anonymity, and represented the defiance of social structure.
Jack Merridew is the devil-like figure in the story, Lord of the Flies. Jack is wicked in nature having no feelings for any living creature. His appearance and behavior intimidates the others from their first encounter. The leading savage, Jack leans more towards hunting and killing and is the main reason behind the splitting of the boys. It has been said that Jack represents the evilness of human nature; but in the end, Jack is almost a hero. With his totalitarian leadership, he was able to organize the group of boys into a useful and productive society
the entire town. It can be clearly seen that what is created in the first
White flowers grow outside in the fields where Matt lives. “He’d looked out the window where fields of white poppies stretched all the way to the shadowy hills. The whiteness hurt his eyes, and so he turned from them with relief to the cool darkness inside” (Farmer 6). When the poppies in the fields of Opium (the futuristic place where Matt lives) it gives a pretty and pleasant picture. These poppies, however, are sinister and threatening. This shows that although Matt longs to go into the outside world as it seems exciting, it is actually very dangerous. Darkness on the island in Lord of the Flies symbolises the fear of the unknown. “He says the beastie came in the dark” (Golding 35). The boys fear the dark because they do not understand it, and do not know what it contains. There really is nothing to be afraid of, and there is no “beastie” in the dark. The boys do not understand the darkness so their imagination creates fear. The white flowers and the darkness both show that things are not always as they first appear. It shows that sometimes we view things as dangerous when they are not or view things as fun when they are
In his novel, The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism to illustrate the theme that darkness of the heart is a trait within all of us- some people fight against it while others allow it to take over.
Throughout Lord of the Flies is a display of humankind’s thirst for power. Most of the boys, for example, transition to savagery and animalistic behaviors to free themselves from powerless lives. Jack, the leader of the hunters, becomes the first of the boys to paint a mask on his face. “Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw…Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness,” (63-64). Under his mask, Jack feels no shame, and therefore is free to indulge in power as he desires. In fact, later in the book, Jack and a few other boys commit one of the ultimate crimes of violence and power—rape (although only metaphorically.) Jack...
People are privileged to live in an advanced stage of development known as civilization. In a civilization, one’s life is bound by rules that are meant to tame its savage natures. A humans possesses better qualities because the laws that we must follow instill order and stability within society. This observation, made by William Golding, dictates itself as one of the most important themes of Lord of the Flies. The novel demonstrates the great need for civilization ion in life because without it, people revert back to animalistic natures.
Evil is defined as wicked, nefarious, malevolent and malicious, but is it that transparent or does the meaning go much deeper inside the mind of human beings? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of young English boys are shot down onto a remote island during the 1940’s in World War II. The boys, throughout the story fight to survive and uncover their true selves due to isolation from adults and civilization. During their time on the island, they generate fire to grasp the attention of passing ships, hunt down the wild pigs, and defeat the beastie hiding on the island. Throughout the course of the novel, the boys expose their concealed darkness that they have carried with them a long time. They unlock their inner evil and begin the