At the end of the book “The Lord of the Flies” E.I. Epstein claims that the “lord of the flies” is “the central symbol itself” (205). He claims this because the whole story is based around this apparent “lord of the flies”. I however disagree that this is the central symbol in the book. I believe the central symbol to be the pig’s head on the top of the spear. I believe this because it symbolizes so many different things.
I think this because for one this “lord of the flies” never really comes straight out in the book. When reading the novel I never really could quite grasp the concept of the “lord of the flies”. Was it a person or was it something that got into all the boys head helping to spread panic? I feel this is because it
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never really came out as a character or object but more of a concept. I find it easier to understand books that tell it as it is not where you have to use your imagination to understand what is going on. Unlike the “lord of the flies” the pig's head on the stick is an actual object in the book.
It comes when Jack and ragtag group of followers kills a sow and leaves the head in the jungle as an offering for the beast to leave them alone. “This head is for the beast. It is a gift” (197). This strikes out to me as an important part of the book because it symbolizes so many things to me. It symbolizes hatred, jealousy, hope, and fear.
It symbolizes hatred because, by killing the sow, Jack has shown his hatred of Ralph. This is how Jack has reacted ever since Ralph was put in power. He has grown bloodlust which is not good for the others on the island. Granted it does provide food but they have the fruit trees for that, his time would be better spent by building shelters or tending the fire, one thing he has already failed to do.
It symbolizes jealousy because as Jack does this and leaves he is going back to the others that they left behind. He is going to give them another chance to come with him, cutting down Ralph’s numbers in his camp, trying to force Ralph to give him the chief position. He is jealous of Ralph and his chief position. Jack believes that Ralph is doing a poor job of leading them and doesn’t deserve the position of
chief. It symbolizes hope because it gives them another chance to come together, increasing their chance of survival. They can become a whole again and work as a cohesive whole to get to their goal of being rescued. They would get their jobs back again and everything would go back to the way it was. They might even see another ship come back and get rescued. It symbolizes fear because they think that the beast is an actual creature that could physically hurt them. This causes them to really think about their actions and how they do stuff. It is also one of the underlying reasons that they broke up into two groups. Ralph wanted to leave the beast alone while Jack wanted to climb back up the hill and slay the beast. This caused the two to split and divide into the groups. I feel that these reasons are more than enough to prove my case that the “lord of the flies” is not a central part of the novel. It is a mere detail behind the true story of stranded kids who struggle to survive against both the wicked Mother Nature and their own minds. The pig’s head is the true symbol behind it all because it ultimately decides the children’s fate. Sealing their destiny and choices with them.
Lord of the Flies was written by a British author in 1954. The book is about a group of British school boys that crash on an island and have to survive. During their time on the island they turn their backs on being civil and become savages. Ralph is the elected leader and always thinks civil. Jack leaves the group and starts a tribe with the boys and is a savage. Piggy is a boy who is knowable. Simon is compared to Jesus through the book and is the only naturally “good” character. The littleuns are the littler kids on the island. Roger is a cruel older boy who is Jack’s lieutenant. Samneric are twins who are close to Ralph but, are manipulated by Jack later on. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding some of the characters represent id, ego, and superego. Id, ego, and super ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus expressed by Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche. Golding expresses his message of evil and how it is natural in every person, and how we must recognize and control it through id, ego, and superego.
That symbol represents the evil within the boys because that is a symbol of a violent death of a pig. It represents how Simon saw how people thought it was the beast but really the idea of the beast was inside all of them and the evil they thought was in the island was inside everyone. When Simon goes to tell everyone that there is no beast, they kill him. Golding also states that “They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned.” This quote shows the evil within man through the Lord of the Flies because the pig head is black. Black is usually a color that represents evil and darkness. Simon saw the evil right in front of him in the form of a pig’s head. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that he is not wanted in the island. Golding shows in this quote, ‘“Simon’s body was arched and stiff. The Lord of the Flies spoke in the voice of a schoolmaster. “This has gone quite far enough. My poor, misguided child, do you think you know better than I do?”There was a pause. “I’m warning you. I’m going to get angry. D’you see? You’re not wanted.’ The Lord of the Flies thinks that Simon is not wanted with and that Simon isn’t as smart as the Lord of the
These objects symbolize fear, and violence which contribute to Jack’s dictatorship. One object that symbolizes violence is smoke and the fire. Jack doesn’t care about how far the fire reigns, or how many people the fire kills. The fire also resembles that lack of self control he has. By the end his life on the island he has lost all sense of civilization, and has killed other humans. He also doesn’t think about the consequences of the fire, he lost control of the fire, and burned a lot of his remaining food on the island. If they hadn’t been rescued in the next few days the fire might have killed them, or because of lack of food the turned to cannibalism. One symbol that was shown before Jack took thing too far was the storm clouds. Bad weather started to form before Jack tried to show his power. The worst time the storm clouds appeared was right before Simon died. The storm clouds appeared overhead as Piggy, Ralph, and Samneric were sucked into the dance and chanting of “Kill the Pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.” Unfortunately for Simon, he stumbles into the middle of the ring they have formed and everybody was bottled up and they killed Simon because they didn’t realize who he was. The biggest symbol of fear in the Lord of the Flies is the Beast. The beast inside everybody is what controls people’s minds on the island, once the beast came out in Jack
and applies this to the origin of human nature. Seeing the boys lose their innocence throughout the novel, the reader is reminded of humanity’s capacity of evil and how man made moral systems and codes are superficial. The central symbol in ‘Lord of the Flies’ is the pigs head on the stick, which represents the destruction, demoralisation and decay in humanity. The continuing motif of falling is seen in the “fall of human kind”, and the “fall of reason” as Piggy’s glasses are broken and the boys lose their
Many works of literature inspire new works to be made every day. From things as old as beowulf to the many shakespeare plays, current day writers keep pulling ideas from the classics to create their own stories. Because of this, many older works of literature are still relevant today. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is more current than ever with allusion from Popular television shows, music that is heard on the radio and the newest blockbuster movie. The many allusions in modern day literature and works of art to lord of the flies are too numerous to count.
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.
Blood is another big symbol in the book. Blood is a symbol of sacrifice by John Grady for everything that he loves and cares about. He pays for the horses when he gets shot while retrieving his horse from the c...
In his classic novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses many elements of symbolism to help the readers gain a greater understanding of his message. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place, or thing, used to portray something beyond its self. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. As one reads this novel, he or she will begin to recognize the way basic civilization is slowly stripped away from the boys as conflict between civilization and savagery arises.
The Lord of the Flies is meant to be a peace offering to the beast, but symbolizes the boys’ fears and inherent evil pushing them to savagery. Although, The Lord of the Flies isn’t evident at the beginning of the novel it soon shows up as a peace offering to the “beast.” Responding to the elusive “beast” Jack says, “‘This head is for the beast. It’s a gift,’” (Golding 137). In
The impulsivity in Jack’s commands, usually fire back on him and he is immediately self conscious about not being taken seriously and acts off of those actions with no remorse. While on the island, Jack, who has had trouble with asserting his dominance in a confident way, lacks stability in himself when he fails to succeed trivial tasks. “He licked his lips and turned his head at an angle, so that his gaze avoided the embarrassment of linking with another’s eye”(Golding 127). Jack, has challenged Ralph’s authority as a leader by assembling a vote to see whom believes who should be leader of the tribe. Neither the Biguns or Littluns reflected approval towards Jack’s tyrannical party, which immediately confounds Jack’s expectations as leader.
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.
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 in 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.
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).
There are myriad symbols in the novel which incompass human nature.The beast in the novel represents the religious aspect all societies ability to generate a common fear.The need for fear is one of the most powerful tools in development due to the way in can hold a generalized accountability. Jack 's reign reflects the very depths of human instinct and how humans are inevitably malicious. He used the fear of the beast to control all of the people that followed him. On the other end of the spectrum the conch represents order, which is broken as soon as they let fear govern their morals. The lord of the flies is a sow 's head that jack impales on a stake which is used to symbolize the devil just as simon alludes a christ like figure. The sow 's head makes the reader visualize a palpable evil in the novel. The behavior of the boys in general determines that environment directly regulates
Another thing that was symbolized in the book is the conch shell. The conch is what Ralph blew into to get the boys to come together. At first they established rules, one of them being the person holding the conch is the only person who can speak. The conch symbolizes order among the boys. As time past the boys acted more and more uncivil, and they didn't pay much attention to the conch. At this point, order stated to disintegrate. Towards the end of the novel, when the conch was shattered, all civilization of the boys shattered along with it. There was complete chaos on the island.