The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is about the inherent evil within human nature and the conflicts between civilization and savagery. Within the story, Golding highlights some important symbols to prove his point by the use of fire, a symbol of liberation, the conch, a symbol of democracy and societal order, and the pig's head which is a symbol of evil when societal norms are forgotten. The pig's head symbolizes the corrupting influence of evil seen when society's rules and orders are abandoned. The pig's head serves as a reminder of the chaos and the evil that lurks within human beings and gives the boys a physical idol to worship that provides them with a twisted sense of power and control to let the evil inside them …show more content…
Close, close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go. Why things are what they are”(Golding 205-206). The quote symbolizes the author's perspective on humanity when the head states that evil is a part of them and that they cannot kill and hunt it since the boys are evil. When the head mentions the island's state, it is already starting to lose its democracy and true savagery is beginning to arise. Although the boys were raised in a democratic and stable society, their urges and cruelty start to progress but are not fully developed as it has been masked by the civilized, democratic foundation rooted in them. Hunting was a frequent activity the boys enjoyed doing while on the island. Generally, people hunt for food and survival. However, in the Lord of the Flies, hunting was a way of symbolizing the boy's savagery and the loss of civilization on the island. The Lord of the Flies represents the evil shown within the boys and how easily they give into their primal instincts of violence. In the novel, the boys start by wanting to hunt the pigs as it is a better meal instead of a diet consisting only of fruits and vegetables. Jack, a character who represents evil on the island, is passionate about hunting as it is his main goal throughout the
The evil in man is seen in many parts of life and it could be only be brought out when they have the power and position to do it. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding symbolism is used to show the theme of the Inherent Evil of Man through the conch, the Lord of the Flies, and the fire. The breaking of the conch shows how the boys forget authority and destroy their only symbol of civilization. The Lord of the Flies shows the violence of the boys, and the temptation of the evil Lord of the Flies. The fire shows how something used for rescue and hope is turned into something violent and evil. The fire burns down trees and parts of the island when the savage boys are trying to kill Ralph.
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
The book Lord of the Flies has changing symbolic values in objects and places. These values reflect humanity's nature to become savage. This is demonstrated by the symbols in their mirroring of the boys. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the meaning of symbols evolve throughout the story with the conch standing for civilization and then the breakdown of order in society, Piggy’s specs meaning knowledge then Jack’s power, and the fire first representing hope then ultimately destruction.
William Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies to draw attention to the chaos in society during the Second World War. Throughout the novel, there is a large amount of symbolism that gives the readers a better understanding of his ideas and concepts. There are many symbolic objects in the Lord of the Flies that help to expand his perception of the Second World War and his theme of there being a little bit of evil and savagery in everyone. Three of the most important symbolic objects are Piggy’s glasses, the conch shell, and the fire signal. First, of the many symbolic objects in the Lord of the Flies is Piggy’s glasses.
Golding teaches the reader that when dictatorial authority is created, the fear of going against it is much stronger than the need to speak one’s mind. The children, being starving, begin to kill pigs as a group; the hunting scenes in the novel are quite brutal and create fear for the reader and hunters alike. During a moment where a group of children are searching for a wild pig in the forest, the hunters begin gathering around character Roger. A few begin to poke fun at him, and the rest follow their lead; they drive their spears at his direction and chant “Kill the pig! Cut his throat!” (Golding 114), which of course scares many of the hunters and Roger. They are no longer consciously making decisions; their personalities have been altered by their fear and impulse to follow the leader. What must be months into their life on the island, they have learned to make fires and where to camp; tensions have risen between two sides of the surviving boys, and their fears of dying become all too intense. When a storm is upon the group and they are all uneasy, Jack instructs the boys to “Do our dance! Come on! Dance!” (Golding 151), and because they fear the consequences, they did as he commanded. In simple words, The Lord of the Flies is teaching us that when there is a leader and a mob to follow,
This is symbolised through the fire that the boys light as the fire represents the boys’ connection to civilisation seeing as the fire gets dimmer their will to get back to civilisation decreases and their true instincts come out the more they are exposed to nature. "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" The repetition of this quote many times demonstrates the primal and evil diction that Golding utilizes through each character's speech. aggressive verbal expression conveys the harshness of their wicked and blood thirsty intent. Additionally, the diction of the boys is immature and unsophisticated which aids in portraying and reinforcing the youthfulness of the characters. The pig's head on a stick is also symbolism for the metaphorical Lord of the Flies, which is ultimately the demon found to be within each of the boy's hearts and minds. This can be interpreted as the inner voice of evil. "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?" This certifies that the beast is indeed within Simon as well as all of the boys. In truth, when the Lord of the Flies is talking to Simon, it is really Simon hallucinating as he hears the voices of the boys as a whole in his own
Lord of the flies dramatizes the conflict between the civilisation and savagery that exists in all human beings. Every choice that the author makes is designed to emphasize the struggle between the order of society, which includes morality, order, law and culture and chaotic elements of humanity’s savage instincts, which include anarchy, bloodlust, the desire for power, amorality, selfishness and violence. As the story progresses we see the swift fall of civilisation and the rise of savagery which is a key motif of this dystopian novel. One of the main characters, Piggy is used to present many allegorical messages such as injustice in society. However as savagery becomes more intense in the novel, Piggy is defenceless and weak so begins to suffer more injustices and eventually
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.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence.
Golding drives the point that the instinctual evil within man is inescapable. At one point in the book, when the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as, "The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon" (Golding 130). Along with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic of Jesus Christ, confront the Lord of the Flies. This is a pig's head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this evil to others but is killed. This is a direct reference to the death of Christ, alluding to the Holy Bible.
In conclusion, this whole novel is based on good versus evil. The symbolism in the novel helps to portray that as much as possible, with the conch and Ralph, Piggy, and Simon representing the “good,” and the sow’s head and Jack and his hunters representing the “evil.” One of the main themes of The Lord of the Flies is man’s inhumanity to man. It is also compared to the book of Genesis in the Bible. This novel deals with all the corruption in the world, and no matter whom you are, while reading it, you can always relate it to real life situations.
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
In the words of Eric Burdon, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys are marooned on an island with little to no chance of escape. The boys are in a seemingly endless battle within themselves and each other as they fight to decide what should be done. Golding’s symbol of the beast conveys his belief that there is a clandestine evil that corrupts humanity.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Golding bolsters the theme of human nature being held together by the order of society, and without it humanity turning into immoral savages by using symbolism throughout the novel. The condition of The Conch and how it progressively changes symbolizes how the children slowly lose their humanity while staying on the island. The destruction of The Conch shell represents how the society created by the children crumbles to pieces towards the end of the novel. Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, or The Beast symbolizes the hunger for evil and violence in each human heart, which is displayed through the actions and characteristics the children make and develop. Golding uses symbolism to show, the theme and
This theme is shown throughout the novel and his highlighted especially in chapter eight when Simon, a boy who symbolizes goodness, is having a hallucination and begins talking to a severed pig's head. The head calls itself the Lord of the Flies which translates to Beelzebub which translates to the Devil or Satan. It begins to tell Simon that all of the other boys are evil and are only out for themselves. Golding writes “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill,” (Golding 143). The Lord of the Flies is explaining to Simon that the evil inside of each of the boys is the beast and the evil can not be killed.