When Pigs Heads Talk

“What are you doing out here all alone? Aren’t you afraid of me?” asks a pig’s head on a stick, covered in flies. But it’s more that, it’s an entity, which is hidden within the depths of the book, concealed for the reader to discover. The book Lord of the Flies by

William Golding contains symbolism all throughout the text, each symbol to be interpreted in its own way.

The main symbol in Lord of the Flies is quite obviously, the Lord of the Flies, which as aforementioned, is a pig’s head on a stick, covered in flies. The symbol represents the evil within the boys that reside on the island. Each one corrupt in his own, fearing what resides within them. Jack with his “macho” attitude, while he is a leader, has actually took part in killing someone, but then again, so has every boy there. This evil could also be interpreted as a loss of innocence, in which the boys spiral from helpless little tykes to voracious savages, living only to kill.

Another symbol, is just the flies residing upon the sow’s head.

They seem to represent people that cling to evil, as though it would their only chance of survival. An example of that would be a cannibal, whose own desires have led him to feast upon flesh, and then, even when he knows that what he has done is wrong, he continues to do it until his disgusting gorging has ended with his capture and punishment. Oddly enough, the flies are feeding on rotting flesh as well. Simon, the boy murdered by his peers, can be viewed as a

Christ figure. While some may say it is Ralph, Simon seems more like a savior. He comes down from the mountain, bearing news of the boys salvation from the beast that torments him and he is persecuted by them, each one taking part in the frenzy of his death. He also seems to be knowledgeable about things the boys can’t comprehend.

He is always off in his own little world, pondering something that most boys wouldn’t even consider thinking about.

Yet another symbol in Lord of the Flies would the conch, which

Ralph clings to so dearly. All of the boys see that as the upholding of order, until Jack claims it not so. With the shattering of the conch,

Ralph seems to plummet into a slight depression, wherein he has nothing to remind of the upright and strict ways of his home. Without it he is nearly lost in a sea of his thoughts, buses as an example.