Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

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Symbolism in Lord of The Flies William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of English school boys who are stranded on a tropical island after their plane has been attacked and crashes during World War II. In the beginning, the boys like being on their own without adults. The boys separate into two groups, led by Jack and Ralph. Jack is obsessed with hunting, and he and his group pay do not pay attention. Ralph is concerned about keeping a rescue fire lit so they will have a chance to be rescued, but no one else seems too concerned about it. At least one ship passes by without noticing the boys on the island. Things on the island deteriorate into chaos and savagery. Jack and his tribe are consumed with hunting and violence; Ralph and his few followers are unable to defend themselves against the savagery. Things begin to change when Jack starts painting his face to be a more successful hunter. Without the restraints of society (shame) of authority (in the form of adults), or his own conscience, Jack is free to pursue whatever evil he has in his heart--and he does. Several boys are murdered and Jack soon controls every boy on the island but Ralph. Jack and his savages light a fire to flush Ralph out of hiding so they could kill him. A naval commander rescues them just in time, because the savagery would escalate and none of the boys would have survived. As a child about the same age of the boys in Lord of The Flies, Golding read R.M. Ballantyne’s Coral Island. According to Reynolds, Ballantyne’s Coral Island is an adventure novel about shipwrecked boys that provided Golding with similar plot ideas that he used in Lord of the Flies. Golding’s use of the names Jack and Ralph are both from Ballantyne’s Coral Island (Re... ... middle of paper ... ... people into “primitive animals” ( ). Works Cited Clarke, A. P. "Lord of the Flies Character Profiles." StudyWeb. Freeserve, 24 June 2001. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Frost, Martin. "The Lord of the Flies." Frost's Meditations. Martinfrost.ws, 1 Apr. 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print. "Lord of the Flies (film by Brook [1963])." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Reynolds, Kimberly. "R.M. Ballantyne." The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English. 2001. Credo Reference. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. Wallace, Robert. "The Young Wild Pack in Lord of the Flies." Editorial. LIFE 25 Oct. 1963: 95-105. Lordoftheflies.org. Web. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Zimbardo, Philip G. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.

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