Ralph Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

“Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (New International Version, Cor. 7.5). This quote shows you need more than one person to stop the temptation of the devil or the Lord of the Flies. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the only boy still leaning toward being civil is Ralph. He shows how all of the other boys have fallen under the influence of the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies can be interpreted as a religious, specifically biblical, allegory. More specifically, the Lord of the Flies represents the devil and, by extension, the evil that resides in

all human beings.

A reading of the book shows not only the large amount of biblical themes in the text.

In the book, the biblical theme of good and evil is implied, but are the same. For example, the story of Eden. The early chapters of the book, the island itself symbolizes the Garden of Eden from Genesis, with its great and happy scenery, unlimited fruit, and amazing weather. The boys are symbolical to Adam and Eve before the fall of them into sin. Ralph's first act after the plane crash is to take of his clothes and take a bath in the water, a act you see in the bible with the nudity of the innocent Adam and Eve and the act of baptism. Naming the animals (or people) is an important in Genesis, shown in the novel as the boys give their names. Golding goes on with the narrative of Eden when he portrays the island life as being corrupted by fear, this happens when the boys refer to as “A snake-thing. Ever so big. He saw it.” (Golding 48). The "snake-thing" is Satan in the Garden of Eden, who was disguised as a serpent. But not like Adam and Eve, the boys are confused about the beast, which is not an actually thing (like Satan) but a part of their imaginations of the evil that is within themselves and the human mind. Still, it is the boys' failure to see the danger of the evil within themselves that sends them into a place of savagery and violence. They still continue to see this evil as a beast, but they become more and more savage in their views of it, and they end up making different ideas

about the Beast and what its role in their society. Even though Satan in Genesis was also has been seen as a picture of evil within humans, people usually consider Satan an outside person “What I mean is. . . maybe it’s only us.”(Golding 126), something you can kill. “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”(Golding 206) Originally sin entered humans because of Satan. Without a real devil in the novel, however, Golding makes sure that the reader see the way that this Eden is already fallen; for the boys evil was already there within them sitting there ready to be triggered.

In the book the Lord of the Flies says “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”(Golding 206) the quote basically is saying that Golding thinks there is evil in all people naturally. This is shown though the boys torturing and kill each other. Towards the end of the book, Jack and the savages are hunting Ralph like a pig.

In Lord of the Flies, the main character Ralph represents the people who, through God, can overcome the devil.

Like in the text Ralph strikes the Lord of the Flies (the pig head) After being wounded by Jack, Ralph flees into the forest. Trying to understand Piggy's death and how the boys could murder him, he sees himself face to face with the skull that Jack had put on a stick in front of Simon. He quakes involuntarily at the sight of it, trying to figure out what it could be. Overwhelmed by "sick fear and rage," he strikes it, but it comes back at him. He hits it again, crying out "in loathing," and this time the skull breaks in two. His hands are bruised from hitting it. He takes out the stick from the ground to use as a spear. The two halves of the skull have been pushed about two yards apart from each other, and now it seems like its evil grin is six feet

wide.

Evil Throughout the book, the boys on the island are continuously faced with many fears. there is nothing on the island which they fear more than the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies is not a real thing that can be killed by normal means, but an idea representing the savage instincts within all people. Its Golding’s goal to illustrate the inner evil inside man through his view of humans as a race, the actions of the Jack and his savages, and the affiliation between the Lord of the Flies and the boys. Golding wanted to show the reader his view of human nature. He wanted to make it easy to see that each member of humankind has a evil side, which is portrayed throughout the book. Golding uses the boys fear of the Lord of the Flies as the scapegoat into their transition into savagery. Their own minds creates the beast, “a snake like creature in the trees”(Golding 124), and when a dead parachutist lands on the mountain they think they have proof of a beast’s realness. The boys see the source of all their worst fears as the “Lord of the Flies”, some sort of animal or supernatural being. Along the way the boys take on the view of the Lord of the Flies when acting on there savage instincts. The boys use the Lord of the Flies to be fuel their acts of violence, yet there is no real Lord of the Flies, nonetheless relating back to Golding ideal of inner evil. Golding conveys the Lord of the Flies identity through the devil.