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Lord of the flies symbolism essay introduction
Lord of the flies symbolism essay introduction
Lord of the flies symbolism essay introduction
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"Lord of the Flies" is an metaphorical tale written by Nobel Prize winning author WIlliam Golding (1911-1993). It is a third person narrative that recounts the lives of a group of British school children that have been stranded on an island after their plane is shot down, and left to govern themselves with limited resources, time and patience. The rapid shift from simple and structured society to complete chaos leaves these boys with the instinctive need to regulate one another and to adhere to common societal norms. This essay will dissect and explain the allegorical meanings of places and personalities in this book. Metaphors and Motifs. As we read this piece we begin to notice that the characters have very distinct personalities and ideologies …show more content…
that they, for the majority of the story leaned to. For example Jack, "the boy with the fair hair" represents order and leadership. “We’ve got to decide about being rescued.” There was a buzz.
One of the small boys, Henry, said that he wanted to go home. “Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” (Chapter 1, Pg. 28). One, this excerpt is a testament to the theory that Ralph exhibits a leadership persona. There are three reasons. He is the first one to bring up an important issue that had to be solved promptly, i.e. being rescued as evidenced with “We’ve got to decide about being rescued.” as well as another statement by Ralph in Chapter 2 that is done with the intention of instilling assurance in his 'state' (pg. 51) "So you see, sooner or later, we shall be rescued.” Later in chapter 4 (Pg. 99) he says as follows “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts—then you go off hunting and let out the fire—” He begins by stating his authority, his command and what they have done to displease him, just as any head of state would to address any member of their cabinet. As you can see, using a few of the many excerpts that support this theory, that Ralph is indeed a metaphor for the leaders of society. Another very important figure in this narrative is Piggy, he represents logic and …show more content…
reason. Piggy makes a number of logical suggestions throughout the book such as the initial suggestion to use the conch they found on the beach as a method of calling people to assembly, “We can use this to call the others.
Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—” (Chapter 1, Pg. 19) Which is a logical statement given the situation they are in, it is also within the bounds of reason. It is also worth noting that the conch becomes a very significant symbol of order, when there is seemingly none. He also made a very useful suggestion to create a sundial so they could know the time, albeit in a very primitive fashion. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “about a clock. We could make a sundial. We could put a stick in the sand, and then—” (Chapter 4, Pg. 90). Jack is another excellent example of a representative character in this book. He represents a blood and power thirsty facet of society. He is initially a contender for leadership on the island, he does not assume the position. We do know that for any society, especially one that is struggling from its inception needs a steady supply of food, hence why Jack put himself in charge of the hunting. “Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be—what do you want them to be?” It seems like a very reasonable position to assume. Later Jack demonstrates his ineptitude and begins to show autocratic
tendencies. A glaring example of this is in Chapter 4 where Jack gave the instructions to keep the fire going. Jack ignored the command by instead selfishly acting upon his own wishes by hunting pigs. This results in not being seen by a ship that could have potentially saved all the boys. Jack is an autocrat, evidently. We have three excellent examples for a second theory, that these characters represent the world, or society rather, as a whole. We have reason, leadership, and resentment. These three characters represent three prominent aspects of society, hence this entire narrative is a metaphor for society and its dysfunctions.
William Golding, the author of the novel The Lord of the Flies, lived through the global conflicts of both world wars. World War II shifted his point of view on humanity, making him realize its inclination toward evilness. His response to the ongoing struggle between faith and denial became Lord of the Flies, in which English schoolboys are left to survive on their own on an uninhabited island after a plane crash. Just like Golding, these boys underwent the trauma of war on a psychological level. Ralph, one of the older boys, stands out as the “chief,” leading the other victims of war in a new world. Without the constraints of government and society, the boys created a culture of their own influenced by their previous background of England.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the lives of young British boys whose plane crashed on a deserted island and their struggle for survival. The task of survival was challenging for such young boys, while maintaining the civilized orders and humanity they were so accustomed too. These extremely difficult circumstances and the need for survival turned these innocent boys into the most primitive and savaged mankind could imagine. William Golding illustrates man’s capacity for evil, which is revealed in man’s inherent nature. Golding uses characterization, symbolism and style of writing to show man’s inhumanity and evil towards one another.
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
The book Lord of the Flies was William Golding’s first novel he had published, and also his one that is the most well known. It follows the story of a group of British schoolboys whose plane, supposedly carrying them somewhere safe to live during the vaguely mentioned war going on, crashes on the shore of a deserted island. They try to attempt to cope with their situation and govern themselves while they wait to be rescued, but they instead regress to primal instincts and the manner and mentality of humanity’s earliest societies.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel that represents a microcosm of society in a tale about children stranded on an island. Of the group of young boys there are two who want to lead for the duration of their stay, Jack and Ralph. Through the opposing characters of Jack and Ralph, Golding reveals the gradual process from democracy to dictatorship from Ralph's democratic election to his lack of law enforcement to Jack's strict rule and his violent law enforcement.
This democratic society does not last very long as the children (especially Jack) have a lack of respect for the conch and the rules. We can see this when Jack decides, “We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who should say things.” As the conch represents democracy, we can see that civilisation on the island is breaking up and savagery is starting to take over. We can also see a break up in society when Jack says, “Bollocks to the rules!” Here we can see that Jack contradicts himself while managing to diminish the assembly and the power of the conch.
Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
My Essay is about Ralph and and his Motivation’s and did he contribute to the tragedy in any way. Also about if he prevented any of the deaths and what would I have done differently in his situation. I defend Ralph’s actions as leader, He had tried his best but everyone fell apart. Did Ralph contribute to the tragedies? Ralph had tried his best but he was struggling at handling the problems on the island, He was unaware of the boy’s and what was going on. He had tried to contribute to all of the tragedies but there was too much going on around him it was just hard. What was wrong with Ralph too was that jack ignores everything and try’s to do his own thing the whole time instead of working together with everyone. All Jack wants is his way or his way to him there is no other way. So yes Ralph had try to contribute to the tragedies but Jack and other boys had just did what they wanted to do instead of doing what they should have done. So Ralph had really struggled dealing with everybody. In my opinion Ralph was doing a good job, Yes he kind of gave up for a little b...
One of the main themes in William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies is that without civilization, there is no law and order. The expression of Golding's unorthodox and complex views are embodied in the many varied characters in the novel. One of Golding's unorthodox views is that only one aspect of the modern world keeps people from reverting back to savagery and that is society. Golding shows the extreme situations of what could possibly happen in a society composed of people taken from a structured society then put into a structureless society in the blink of an eye. First there is a need for order until the people on the island realize that there are no rules to dictate their lives and take Daveers into their own hands. Golding is also a master of contrasting characterization. This can be seen in the conflicts between the characters of Jack, the savage; Simon, the savior; and Piggy, the one with all the ideas.
On the dystopian island of Lord of the Flies, authored by William Golding, one can observe the boy's’ descent into madness. When a group of young children were abandoned on an island without adult supervision, chaos rampaged. This loss civility is most clearly demonstrated by Jack and his effect on others. The text illustrates how quickly he succumbed to the savagery, the way his thirst for power and his dire situation brought him to barbarity, and how the boys followed suit, losing all their humanity.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows man’s inhumanity to man. This novel shows readers good vs. evil through children. It uses their way of coping with being stranded on an island to show us how corrupt humans really are.
The Lord of the Flies is an ultimately pessimistic novel. In the midst of the cold war and communism scares, this disquieting aura acts as a backdrop to the island. The Lord of the Flies addresses questions like how do dictators come to power, do democracies always work, and what is the natural state and fate of humanity and society, getting at the heart of human nature in a very male-dominated, conflict-driven way. The war, the plane shot down, and the boys' concern that the "Reds" will find them before the British, shows Golding's intention of treating the boys' isolated existence as a microcosm of the adult military world.
Major themes in the book Lord of the Flies In the world today there are still good and bad people and people that are savages and people who are civilized. If someone was to go out in the world and look around they will soon see the good and civilized and the Savage and evil thing. I have seen both sides, I go to school where there are groups of students that are separated by the things they do and the people they hang out with. It is related to the book Lord of the Flies written by William Golding there are groups of kids that are separated by the things they believe in. One of the groups is a good civilized group that want to be rescued and go home.