Allegory and Symbols in Lord of the Flies by William Golding Essay

confide in the conch and when the conch is held up, it is a sign of

The encounter with the Lord of the Flies supports Simon’s thoughts that the beast that the boys are hunting for is not an actual animal. The Lord of the Flies tries to persuade Simon to let go of his rational thoughts and be taken over by his primal instincts in order to have fun like the other boys. However, when Simon’s silence declares that he refuses to let go of logic and rationality, the Lord of the Flies realizes that Simon knows what the beast really is—the innermost part of the boys. Simon seems to make this connection that the Lord of the Flies is representational to the inner beast within the boys almost instantly. “His gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition”(Golding 139). Simon instantly The Lord of the Flies quickly makes the connection, too. “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?” (Golding, 1 ). The Lord of the Flies is symbolic to all the evil that is in humans. As Simon realizes that he was right about the beast, he tries to go back to the other boys to warn them about his discovery, but the Lord of the Flies gets angry. “This is ridiculous. You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there—so don’t try to

Simon is the one boy who never participates in destructive behaviors and always contributes to the well being of the boys. He continues to work even after everyone stops, gives Piggy food when no one else will, and speaks his mind about the beast. He is also the only one to realize that the true beast is inside the boys. Simon’s moral compass, much like the superego, allows him to see the evil of mankind. Simon is whole-heartedly good. The superego attempts to lead a person to the morally right pathway, much like Simon aims to show Ralph how he can do what’s best for the tribe. The primitive nature of the others overpowers Simon’s internal good nature. Even after his death, Simon’s moral nature lives on through the boys similar to how the superego can continue to shine after a person follows the desires of the id.

Ralph explains that after Simons death, the young boys not only had to fear the chance of survival and fear the high probability that they would be there until they died also ended up fearing

Simon shows his individuality and cravings for tranquility and cognizance also through his participation with others. One instance when he truly displays this is when he was picking fruit from the “littluns”. The “littluns” and “lugged them towards the trees” and “Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach” (Golding,56). He feeds them alone and “when he had satisfied them”he “turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him” (Golding,56). This shows how through his clarity with nature and himself, he helps others and continues to portray that he prefers to think, act, and help others by himself. He also shows his individualism when he reacted to the death of the pig. With the chaos going around him, Simon isolates himself and “lowered his head, carefully keeping his eyes shut, then sheltered them with his hands” next to the pile of guts Jack and Roger left after penetrating the pig’s head with a stick (Golding,138). He ignores everything around him and tries his best to hide away from the monstrous actions the other boys are committing. This also supports the idea that he favors time alone in his own thoughts in peace rather than facing his fear. In

     Simon also never fell for the illusions of the beast and despite the fact that he is one of the smallest biguns he never follows the others and always does what he wants to and says what he wants to. One such occasion where he shows his defiance of the others beliefs is when he says to everyone, "I think we ought to climb the mountain." (page 128) This shows that he knows the beast isn't real and he shows no fear of the unknown. Christ called people to do things they thought impossible just as Simon did here. Many people said that the things Jesus wanted them to do were impossible, and here whne Simon said they should do something they said that since the three strongest boys couldn't do it no one could.

William Goldings "Lord of the flies", portrays a group of boys who find themselves stranded on a desert island in a deep battle between civilisation and primitive savagery. One of the boys portrayed, Simon, a boy who is kind and physically fragile expresses a deeper knowledge of the problems on the island that the other boys are unaware of. There are many differing viewpoints on his role in the novel. One of these is that he is a biblical parallel; Simon portrays a saintly figure, and shows many of the qualities demonstrated by Jesus Christ. He demonstrates a strong connection with nature throughout, and also is shown to be a character of strong goodwill and kindness.

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.

From a first glance, it is evident that Lord of the Flies is not an ordinary story. The book begins by introducing a few boys who have crashed onto the island from their plane that gets shot down. Their shot-down plane. While analyzing the book, it becomes clear that several underlying lessons and themes are interwoven into the book to add a sense of deeper meaning

The most important characteristic of Simon is his insightfulness. He is a mature and perceptive person, especially for his age. One example of this is when he says, “Maybe...Maybe there is a Beast,” (pg. 125) He explains his thinking on page 206, when he talks to the Lord of the Flies, a representation of evil, and implies that the Lord of the Flies is the Beast. Simon thinks that it is the evil in the boys and humanity in general. This shows he has insight into the nature of humans because it takes an insightful person to recognize that not everything is good, and our evil is our greatest enemy. Throughout the book, this perception drives Simon and keeps him pure.

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Simon represents the innate morality of humans, acting as a Christ-like figure, while Roger embodies the all present cruelty and inherent sadism of individuals. Throughout the novel, Simon remains unchanged in terms of morality, as others slowly turn to savagery and hunting, as can be seen when Jack’s group become, “demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green.” Instead Simon finds a quiet spot “in a little cabin screened off from the open space by a few leaves.” By “holding his breath, he [cocks] a critical ear at the sounds of the island,” using his secret cabin to meditate. Coupled with his deep connection to nature, Simon is revealed to be a Christ figure. When left alone with the

Simon is the christ figue of the book, referred to as peace maker, overseer, and truth teller. We constantly see him helping and being reasonable. He is the one that truly understands what and who the beast truly is,not some scary sea monster but the evil that is within everyone. Hes loyal to Ralph as god is to humans. “Softly , surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations , simon's dead body went out toward the open sea.” (LOTF) THe sliver creatures was a halo as angels have as a christ figure dies and depicted is taken back by the earth. Simon never was just a little boy lost on an island he was so much more. Although Piggy was smart he did not understand things the way simon did and probably never could have. Early in the novel we see him tell ralph that he is gonna make it through alright, he didn't say we will make it out alright he said you will, how did he know Ralph would live and he wouldn't be so fortunate. How did he understand the help he gave Ralph with building the huts was important, or that the real beast wasn't an animal. SImon was a truly impressive character that depicted much more than just a kid with epilepsy and a knack for siting in a grove. He himself although written by golding made it make sense to us the meaning of humanity against

"His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit like a pig after it has been killed" (217). This is what can happen to someone when all signs of civilization, order and power disappear and have no more meaning to members of a group or society. In the writing of William Golding's Lord of the Flies (1954), the symbol of power and civilization is the conch. Once that is lost, all bets are off. When the novel begins, two boys are talking about what has happened and why they are on this island. While walking on the beach, the main character Ralph then proceeds to find a shell which the two boys call the conch. Blowing on this shell Ralph calls a

He is always helping the Littluns when they are struggling and many other boys that are vulnerable such as Piggy. "Simon sitting between the twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the rocks to piggy, who grabbed it" (Golding 74). This quote interprets an example of Simon showing his whole heartedness by giving Piggy food when Jack did not want to feed him because he did not hunt. "The vast majority of people reside prominently in civilized society, and they dismiss their instinct for aggression and dominance" (Wood, Bryan). This quote shows that people like Simon are always more civilized than those who begin to change into savages, Simon is the last piece of civilization on the island. "What I mean is...maybe it's only us" (Golding 89). Simon, himself, proposes to the rest of the boys that perhaps the beast is not only an external force, but an internal force within themselves. Simon is the only character to reveal Golding's point that innate human evil exists.

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding the stranded boys come into contact with some particular elements that represent an idea which are called symbols. These symbols include the beast which represents the fear of the unknown and the darkness of mankind. The second symbol is the signal fire which represents hope. The third symbol is the conch shell which represents order. Golding indicates that when man is taken out of civilization, they have a natural instinct is to become evil, darkness and barbaric and these symbols help to support his opinion.