The Use of Symbolism in The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A symbol is something concrete that represents another thing or idea.
In Lord Of The Flies a lot of things we encounter are given symbolic
meaning by the way the author William Golding uses them.
The book it’s self is named after a symbol, the words “Lord Of The
Flies” translated means “Beelzebub” which is another word for “the
devil” the book was named after the devil because evil has a large
influence on the book and it’s characters. Evil takes dominance in the
book over the power of good and causes death suffering and prevents
the establishment of civilisation by the means of chaos and anarchy.
From the second that William Golding starts the book symbolism is
being used, The Island it’s self Is a symbol of isolation, a different
dimension of chaos and it’s surrounded by a barrier (the sea). The
island also signifies the process on which civilisation is established
and the thin line that lies between chaos and civilisation. When the
children first arrive on the island the plane they were in crashes
leaving a path of destruction, the boys refer to the path of
destruction as a “Scar” on the island, Golding uses this term to put
emphasis on the earth being damaged by mankind and scaring the earth.
The word “Scar” that Golding uses also suggests the path of
destruction on the island will never vanish, as will the damage being
done to the earth by mankind.
During the novel the atmosphere is highly symbolic, the future, past
and present are all represented by the dramatic changes in weather,
before the event of Simon’s Death weather shows the current atmosphere
“Th...
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...all bad actions must be of the beast’s doing. Golding used the
symbolism of the beast to bring to life the evil within us all and to
make us realise our actions as people with evil dwelling within us
all.
A symbol is something concrete that represents another thing or idea.
In Lord Of The Flies a lot of things we encounter are given symbolic
meaning by the way the author William Golding uses them, the symbolism
used is truly magnificent as it gives an incite into how civilisation
was formed and how it was prevented or destroyed by savagery, chaos
and anarchy, it also gives us a view about chaos and evil against law
and order. The symbolism used also gives us a view of pure goodness
and the evil residing within us all. In conclusion the symbolism used
in The Lord Of The Flies symbolises the Earth and everything on it.
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.
In the novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the author, by way of vivid imagery and a tense mood, places the timing of the death of one significant character, Simon, at a pivotal point in the novel in order to display his opinion on the natural state of man. Closer to the end of the novel, Golding creates a dramatic atmosphere through the use of weather, just before Simon passes. Using vivid imagery, the sky is described as having “great bulging towers [of clouds] that sprouted away over the island . . . The clouds were sitting on the land; they squeezed [out] tormenting heat” (151). At this point,
The beast in the story symbolizes the gradation of the morality among the boys. The compete each other becoming in the last survivor and the commander of group. The beast is not a real object which they believe if exists. They don’t realize the internal beast inside of them. Only Simon understands what the real beast is, but is killed when he tries to tell them about that. The beast mind and soul of the boys lead them to the collapse of the society. They begin killing each other and the trustworthy has lost.
D.H. Lawrence once said, “This is the very worst wickedness, that we refuse to acknowledge the passionate evil that is in us. This makes us secret and rotten.” Sir William Golding tells about the evil and sadistic things that can be expressed throughout humanity in his novel, Lord of the Flies. Lord of the flies is a translation of a Hebrew name for Satan, Beelzebub. In the novel, William Golding portrays the boys’ descent from civilization to savagery through the following symbols: the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, and the Lord of the Flies.
The word “beast” carries many different meanings, and of them, the cruel and harsh actions of mankind are one of them. There lies a beast in all of creation, the savage side of men, and the feral sense of natural instinct. In Rudyard Kipling’s “Mark of the Beast”, Kipling uses his knowledge of Indian religion to set up the short story. Through his writing, Kipling takes a few English men and puts them in India, and they showed the beast that is within all of mankind. In this story, Kipling uses biblical allusions and symbolism to show the beast within all of humanity.
When we hear the word “beast,” most of us will immediately think of some enormous hairy creature with razor sharp fangs and massive claws coming to kill and eat us. Although these types of beasts do exist, the boys in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, show that a different, much more sinister beast is present in all of our everyday lives, and, like the boys in the book, most of us don’t even know about it. Throughout the book, the existence and meaning of the beast go through significant changes. In the beginning, the boys believe the beast to be a substantive being. At first no one believes it, but later they begin to believe its existence. Later though, the beast reveals itself as an internal flaw within everyone on the island, and slowly begins to take over the children’s free will. As the belief in the beast goes up, its manifestation as the “typical beast” that we all think of goes down, which is ironic because they are creating the beast in their minds, while also living it out in their actions.
Characters are used in literature as symbols to represent mankind's different “faces”. Everyone in both fictional and real societies have civil orderly sides, as well as an instinctual hunger for power. Both of these traits together make us human, but imbalance of these traits in some people can alter our being. These traits are necessary for our survival, but too much can create toxic environments. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols to tell the reader more about human traits and provides a platform that shows the interactions between people with different balances of traits; Golding then shows the possible outcome of the conflict these traits create. Three main characters that stand out and represent the civility and hunger for power of humans are Piggy, Jack, and Ralph. Each can be seen as a symbol for different behaviors and traits that humans show, as well as the different mixes of civil and instinctual. The characters symbolize the different traits, instinctual power and calming civil nature, and how the different balances can affect a persons actions, behaviors, and interactions with others.
Katherine Paterson once said, “To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.” William Golding, who is a Nobel Prize winner for literature, writes Lord of the Flies, originally published in 1954. Golding’s novel is about a group of boys who crash land on an island. All of the adults are dead and they are abandoned on an island. The boys try to set rules and create a fire in efforts of being rescued. The group of boys chooses Ralph to be their leader. This choosing makes a literary character named Jack, who doesn’t show his anger until half way through the plot. The novel shows the nature of humans and how fear can control them. The novel also shows the difference between good and evil. Golding experienced this when he was in World War II. There were many times fear controlled the boys in the island in Lord of the Flies.
Lord of the Flies, a suggestive name for the Devil, a devil whose name proposes that he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization and panic, exactly what William Golding had in mind when using symbolism in this novel. The Lord of the Flies (1954), is a novel in which interpretating the symbols are a main key to not only understanding, but also enjoying the novel. After tying many of the symbols together, you can figure out more about what the author is trying to depict, the overall scene.
Symbolism is a way to use symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding tells a story about boys who are stranded on an island after surviving a plane crash. These children come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. On the island we see conflict between Ralph and Jack ultimately symbolising civilization versus savage. The use of symbols such as the conch shell, beast, and even Piggy's specs, demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules, allow their human nature become evil to dominate their idea of civilization.
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.
The beast symbolized both fear and the darkness of humanity, though the darkness is also what the boys feared.... ... middle of paper ... ... In the end, the power of fear got the better of them and the lord of the flies, alongside the evil of humanity, prevailed.
... middle of paper ... ... The frenzied state they are in is being caused by the beast, a symbol of fear. The barbaric way the boys attacked Simon without a moment of restraint shows that the beast had summoned their inner evil, primal, and savage minds.
Another of the most important symbols used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. In the imaginations of many of the boys, the beast is a tangible source of evil on the island. However, in reality, it represents the evil naturally present within everyone, which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies, and during one argument over the existence of a beast, he attempts to share his insight with the others.
Savagery is the condition of being primitive, uncivilized or the quality of being fierce or cruel (Google). It is something that comes easy to everyone at certain times in our life. People will learn it is harder to be good than bad. Being bad comes natural to everyone; people like the thrill of taking a chance. People are trained to be civil and polite from the time one grows up and it is not that hard because of the society everyone lives in. What would happen if the people’s democracy fell and everybody is left with nothing? How would the citizens react? Would they act like they were trained to do ever since they were born, or would they disregard all of it and do as they please because there is no definite authority figure to tell them how to live. In William Golding's, The Lord of the Flies, he brilliantly tells a story of life and death and everything in between. His use of symbolism with the conch, beast, and lord of the flies is phenomenal. It is a story that makes you think. Every person, when faced with reality, may act civil now, but in a survival situation, human nature takes over in the end.