Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

639 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Lord of the flies book review essay

Lord Of The Flies approaches the defects of human nature when put into survival situations. A plane crash on the dawn of a world war full of schoolboys on a remote island with no parents sets up a fantasy reality of the way that humans rely on the rules and set standards of society today. With no adult supervision the boys are celebratory with their newfound freedom that is until it comes to having to find food, make shelters, keep order between conflicting individuals and getting rescued from the savage beast of the island. A clear turning point from civilisation to pure savage survival instincts is the killing of the boar – its head staked and left for the beast as a peace offering. William Golding has turned a realistic nightmare from our …show more content…

The ‘lord of the flies’ is a symbol for the change in humanity when put into a pure survival situation in the wildness of the wilderness. The struggle of between civilisation and the wildness is shown poetically through Ralph and Jack respectively. Ralph represents civilisation through the use of his ‘parliament’ set up of creating a chief and his set of brains behind him Piggy, whose use of glasses to create their ‘signalling’ fire (which break and shatter throughout the text as the resilience of the boys finds start to crack – a progressive decay of rational influence). The turning point in the text between Jack and Ralph (the point in the text in which Golding grabbed your attention again) is the killing of the sow. “The spear moved forward inch by inch ad the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands… At last the immediacy of the kill subsided.” The pig decapitated, its head staked from a sharpened stick shoved into a crack in the rocks given as a sacrifice to the beast (lord of the flies as he becomes known as). The sacrifice is the point at which the audience knows that the boys will not return, they must here make there choice of survival – continue to comply to the rules and regulations of a society or let it all go allowing

Show More
Related

  • Chocolate War Vs Lord Of The Flies Essay

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lord of the Flies is set on an island where a plane carrying a school of English boys has crashed and left to their own instincts to find a way to survive. The boys who survived the crash end up on meeting on the beach of the island due to a boy named Ralph blowing through a conch shell. They end up voting for a leader, which happened to end up being Ralph, to keep a natural order to things. The younger children begin to see things and think there is a beast on the island. This leaves many children in fear of what hides in the sea, darkness and the forest. Eventually a kid named Jack does not like the way things are being function and he splits from the group making the decision to start another “community”. Jack was the lead hunter of Ralph’s community and his decision to leave caused Ralph and the boys who decided to stay with him to suffer. During all this time a parachuter has ended up being caught on the mountain and died, it was spotted by a boy who now thinks it is “The Beast”. Jack has killed a wild boar and comes to invite the people of Ralph’s community to the dinner, they accept. As the dinner is going on Simon who has gone looking for “The Beast” has realized it is only a dead parachuter, as he comes the boys are reenacting the killing of the boar. Whe...

    Read More

  • Essay On Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many examples of symbolism. The conch shell represents order, the appearance of the boys represents savagery, and the fire on top of the mountain represents rescue. These examples are all symbols in the book.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies banned book essay

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis Essay

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies essay

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Evolution of Jack's Character Depicted in Golding's Novel, The Lord of the Flies

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The Flies’ tells the story of a group of English boys isolated on a desert island, left to attempt to retain civilisation. In the novel, Golding shows one of the boys, Jack, to change significantly. At the beginning of the book, Jack’s character desires power and although he does not immediately get it, he retains the values of civilized behaviour. However, as the story proceeds, his character becomes more savage, leaving behind the values of society. Jack uses fear of the beast to control the other boys and he changes to become the book’s representation of savagery, violence and domination. He is first taken over with an obsession to hunt, which leads to a change in his physical appearance This change of character is significant as he leads the other boys into savagery, representing Golding’s views of there being a bad and unforgiving nature to every human.

    Read More

  • Inherent Good And Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies Literary Analysis Essay

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies: Literary Analysis

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Allegory In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever thought about six to thirteen year olds ever acting like savages and turning into a serial killer? After reading Lord of the Flies, this is exactly what happened. Ralph, Piggy, Jack and other kids cash land on a gorgeous island with leaving no trace for the world to find them. Ralph tries to be organized and logical, but in the other hand, Jack is only interested in satisfying his pleasures. Just like in the short story, The Tortoise And The Hare, Lord of the Flies, stands for something. This novel is a psychological allegory, the island, as the mind, Ralph, the leader, as the ego, Jack, the hunter, as the id, and Piggy, an annoying little boy, as the super ego. As we read Lord Of

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Lord Of The Flies

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a group of young boys who have just crash-landed on a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision. William Golding showed in his ground breaking novel Lord of the Flies, what may happen in just those circumstances. In his very complicated and diverse novel Golding brings out many ideas and uses many literary devices. Above all others though comes symbolism of three main important objects being the conch, fire, and "Piggy's" eyeglasses. Through each of these three symbols Golding shows how the boys adapt and change throughout the novel. These symbols also help to show each of the boy's ideals on a variety of elements from human nature to society and its controls. All three of these symbols also change and are one of the most important elements of the story.

    Read More

  • Essay On Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Fear has the power to control, twist and break the ways of the human mind. The body, and mind are tricked and we find ourselves confused and fighting to piece together a troubling puzzle of straying emotions. Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, projecting that fear knows no bounds and is a great power. Fear and power go hand in hand, without fear there is no power, a teacher has no power over a student if the student is not afraid of the consequences of stepping out of line.

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

    1914 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most important themes running through the whole story in Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the power of different symbols. Golding frequently uses symbolism, which is the practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning. The main point of each symbol is its use and its effect on each of the characters. They help shape who the characters are and what they will be. The symbols weave their way throughout the story and are more powerful than they first seem. Two boys from similar upbringings can both be so drastically different when put in difficult situations and given things to make them wield power among others. Spitz says, “But his desire for many controls did not, of course, extend to controls

    Read More

  • Symbols and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most important and most obvious symbols in Lord of the Flies is the object that gives the novel its name, the pig's head. Golding's description of the slaughtered animal's head on a spear is very graphic and even frightening. The pig's head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing" is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils" (William Golding, Lord of the Flies, New York, Putnam Publishing Group, 1954, p. 137, 138). As a result of this detailed, striking image, the reader becomes aware of the great evil and darkness represented by the Lord of the Flies, and when Simon begins to converse with the seemingly inanimate, devil-like object, the source of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be entirely a hallucination, Simon learns that the beast, which has long since frightened the other boys on the island, is not an external force. In fact, the head of the slain pig tells him, "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! Ö You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you?" (p. 143). That is to say, the evil, epitomized by the pig's head, that is causing the boys' island society to decline is that which is inherently present within man. At the end of this scene, the immense evil represented by this powerful symbol can once again be seen as Simon faints after looking into the wide mouth of the pig and seeing "blackness within, a blackness that spread" (p. 144).

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies-symbolism

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

Open Document