Aspects Of Symbolity In The Lord Of The Flies

As a base of human desire and need, power has always been one of the number one desire of mankind since the dawn of time. To place yourself above others, or gain control over your followers or a situation brings safety and comfort to a leader. A well written example of this concept lies within the twisted world created by William Golding in his, “Lord of the Flies”. Throughout the story, Jack seeks power above all else, and stops for nothing in this lustful quest of dominance. We can get a glimpse of Jack’s desires through his iron grip within his choirboys, how he clashes with Ralph, and how Jack’s actions bring about a deeper symbolism underlying within the story.

Symbols are often used in literature to drive plot, give clues to events in the story, and develop key characters. They have more than one meaning, and in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are three key symbols used: the conch, Piggy’s eyeglasses and the impaled pigs head. These three symbols will be discussed by using specific references to the text as well as examining how they negatively impact the characters in the story.

Jack, an evil child from Lord of the Flies was put into power by false hope and intimidation. Even though jack promises food he does not have the best interest of the tribe in mind “we’ll hunt. I’m chief”(Golding 133). Jack shows his evil a bit by mentioning hunting, which is a normal thing to to to but the way jack hunts are brutal, savage, and almost inhuman. Jack uses his power to get the boys of his tribe to brutally kill a pig and nastily chant “kill the pig, cut her throat spill the blood” (Golding 69). He enjoys hurt the other boys on the island ”he felt the point of his spear with his thumb and grinned with amusement. Whoever they tried that on would be stuck squealing like a pig” (Golding 182).This psychopathic adolescent enjoys hurting others which a leader of any kind should not. Jack reacted with violence and aggression towards anyone who dared not

He is physically weak and suffers from ‘ass-mar.’ However, Piggy is intellectually smart and is a fat orphan, who extremely fears Jack because of the nicknames he made. As mentioned in the story, when Piggy’s parents died he went on to live with his aunt over the years. In the story, Piggy plays an important role because he taught Ralph how to use the conch and the main uses for it. In the story, the conch symbolizes loyalty, law, order, and respect. Roger, a hunter from Jack’s tribe, pushes a giant rock with smashes Piggy, and rolls him down forty feet into the

Oftentimes authors will use symbolism through the characters in order to represent a larger encompassing theme. William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies is no exception to this pattern—as various characters in the book have such allegorical meanings. In the case of Jack, he could be said to represent the evilness in humanity, proven by three established concepts in the story: the true nature of his hunting tendencies, the progression of events that happen in his dancing rituals, and his interactions towards other symbolic figures. These three reasons, furthered by evidence shown throughout the novel, fit Jack into a role of symbolic evilness (add something here).

In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies” Novel, symbolism is a very important element of the book, Many symbols show how the boys on the island are slowly becoming savage and losing their civility.

Fear and Symbolism make up a big part of the Lord of the Flies book. They co-exist amazingly in this book. Symbols appear everywhere in the book, from the conch to the beast, they all symbolize a part of our life today.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel where man is fending for survival. Boys are aground on an island at the time of a war. The two main characters Jack and Ralph, who represent civilisation and barbarism, have a strong conflict. This has an effect on the rest of the boys throughout the book. All of the boys slowly turn into savages further into the story. Close to the end of the book Jack states “And the conch doesn’t count at this end of the island.” pg. 186 When Jack says this, it represents that he does not want rules. Jack is a savage and he refuses to be civil and organized. In the novel, The lord of the Flies, by William Golding the conflict man vs. society, man vs. man, and man vs. nature illustrate humanity.

The children landed uncharted island far from any semblance of police, parents, or even teachers. The island was almost like the “Neverland” that Disney taught us about years ago, but without Tinkerbell and a magical home with all their needs. Jack and the children in this adventure were in a heap of trouble. They were many, some smaller and some bigger (littleuns and bigguns). These kids had to organize themselves into some sort of unit, to more efficiently find a way home. That is where the trouble begins. When one or more humans come together, a hierarchy is always established. Similar to when one goes to a restaurant and the waitress only addresses our father for the majority of the tables decisions. When this hierarchy forms, the decisions this leader takes will always be classified as good or evil, and the society will be judged by the character at their forefront. In William Golding’s novel “Lord of The Flies”, Jack Merridew is the character that takes leadership in the society and proves humanity is inherently evil by demonstrating human’s: selfish tendencies, competitive nature, and hopelessness.

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is a very iconic book in my opinion. This novel consists mostly of symbolism. Lord of the Flies talked about the relationship of teenage boys who survived a plane crash together. The boys are all on their own and struggling. They encounter many incidences that comply symbolism. A couple of the acts of symbolism are the beast the boys kept imagining, Piggy’s glasses, and the conch. The boys are all afraid of the beast, Piggy’s glasses demonstrate the fact that he saw everything more clear then the boys and how he started the fire. Lastly, the last of the most important symbolisms in the novel is the conch, showing the civilization and order.

The symbols in the Lord of the Flies all change meaning throughout the novel. As the boys change and develop, the symbols change with them. Some may become more positive or more negative and some may change meaning completely. Ralph, Piggy, and Jack all adjust to being stranded on the island differently and therefore react to and treat the objects on the island differently. With Jack’s development into savagery throughout the novel, his carelessness is evident in his lack of acknowledgement of symbols that are important to Ralph and Piggy who look at this experience more logically and optimistically. One symbol that changed dramatically throughout the novel is the fire. The fire in the Lord of the Flies is introduced as a symbol for hope, develops into destruction and is finalized as a representation of salvation.

Jack Merridew is a character in Lord of the Flies who always fights against Ralph about who should be in charge. Jack is described as a tall, thin, ugly boy with light blue eyes that seem to turn angry at any moment. When Ralph first sees Jack, he also notices a group of choir boys behind him. Jack is the leader of the choir, and enjoys being in control. If he is not in control, he relentlessly tries to become the figure in power. Jack discredits the power of the conch and lies about Ralph so the children will not want him as leader. “‘The conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain,’” (Golding 42). When Jack is embarrassed, he becomes violent. When Piggy embarrasses Jack about the signal fire, Jack becomes upset and “… stuck his fist into Piggy’s

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of English school boys who are stranded on a tropical island after their plane has been attacked and crashes during World War II. In the beginning, the boys like being on their own without adults. The boys separate into two groups, led by Jack and Ralph. Jack is obsessed with hunting, and he and his group pay do not pay attention. Ralph is concerned about keeping a rescue fire lit so they will have a chance to be rescued, but no one else seems too concerned about it. At least one ship passes by without noticing the boys on the island. Things on the island deteriorate into chaos and savagery. Jack and his tribe are consumed with hunting and

Lord of the Flies has symbols throughout the story, each character brings a different point of view. Piggy, Ralph, and Jack take a leading role with all the boys, although they vote Ralph in charge both of the other boys take a leadership position. Goulding uses the boys to show the faults of mankind and the roots of all evil. Four symbols Goulding used in the novel were: Piggy’s glasses, the Conch Shell, The Beast, and Simon’s hiding place. Therefore, the symbols show the true character of the boys who are stranded on an island.

Lord of the Flies: William Golding has said that his novel Lord of the Flies was symbolic from the beginning until the end when the boys are rescued. During the course of the novel these symbols are constantly changing, giving us a new interpretation of the island society.