Essay on Biblical Allusions in Lord of the Flies

In addition to his actions, Simon’s encounter with evil further characterizes him as a Christ figure and an oracle archetype. The novel’s title, Lord of the Flies, originates from a mistranslation of Beelzebub, another name for the devil. The sacrificed sow head on a spear, called the Lord of the Flies, symbolizes the devil. Since Simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies occurs in the midst of a delusion, it can be considered a prophecy similar to an oracle’s vision. Both Christ and Simon meet with the devil while in altered physical states. Simon’s confrontation with the Lord of the Flies is a result of severe dehydration and an epileptic fit indicated by “a pulse [that] began to beat on the brain” which parallels Christ’s meeting with the devil during the forty days he went into the wilderness without food or drink (Golding 138). In his vision, Simon realizes that “things are what they are” because

He even is sacrificed on the island just as Jesus Christ was. Foster writes a list of characteristics given to characters to represent christ and one of them is turning his back from temptation. The beast overwhelms the boys on the island, and Simon is the only one who actually understands the beast. While all the other boys are turning into beasts Simon remains the same. He also sacrifices some of his own food for Piggy, and he helps others. Another implication that Simon is a christ figure is his name, Simon. Simon is one of the names of the twelve apostles. The author portrays Simon in this manner to give a perspective the readers. there is symbolism in the fact Simon represents Christ and he is the one who is misunderstood and different from the

A great allusion is the character Simon. He alludes to Jesus. He is the only sane boy on the island, and knows that there is no beast. Simon tries to inform the others boys that there is no beast, only the boys, and that the beast is inside all of them, but they pay him no mind. “I don’t know-” His heartbeats were choking him. “What I mean is...maybe it's only us” (pg 89). He speaks to the head of the Pig, or The Lord of the Flies, just like Jesus talks to the devil. In the Bible, Jesus goes out into the desert, and is confronted by Satan. He talks to Jesus and tempts him three times. Jesus refuses all three, just like Simon ignores the prodding of the head. “They think you’re batty. You don't want them thinking you’re batty, do you? You like Ralph a lot, don't you? And Piggy, and Jack?”(pg 143) It warns Simon of possible danger toward his friends, and Simon runs off, shaken by the encounter. Another allusion is The Lord of the Flies, or the head itself. The head alludes to the Devil. It is the invisible force surrounding all of the evil on the island. After the savages leave the Pighead, Simon approaches it. The head calls out to Simon, boasting of its power and attempting to confuse Simon. “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And i'm the Beast. We are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else-” (pg

Later on, to clear up his thoughts Simon ventures off into the island alone. He encounters the impaled head of a sow and immediately hallucinates a conversation. The fly infested pig head begins talking to Simon as the Lord of the Flies, “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! . . . You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close,

Mankind's ultimate descent into savagery is the theme of this novel and the death of Simon signals the complete desecration of shred of humanity. "That was murder."(Golding 156) Ralph is quoted as saying. In the majority of societies across the globe, murder is forbidden to the highest degree and to have such young boys commit such a heinous act as this can only be a purposeful way in which to highlight savagery. Evil is not just in the pig's head, it's everywhere, the flies, the island and especially in the human heart; which is why Simon's death is of such importance. Simon knew this, and in fact evil confronts him saying, "You know you'll only meet me down there - so don't try to escape." (Golding 143) It conveys that key idea evil is everywhere, in everyone. As even though the pig's head remains on the stick, evil too is waiting on the beach, in the heart of each and every

Lord of the Flies Symbolism Essay (Rough Draft) Lord of the Flies is chalk full of different types of allegories such as historical, political, moral, and religious. However, we will focus specifically on the religious allegory. To support the religious allegory, William Golding uses specific objects and characters to represent religious entities. To be more specific, Golding uses Simon as a Jesus-like character, the mountaintop to represent the holy ground or sanctuary, and the fire to represent salvation.

For example, the signal fire represents rescue and hope because Ralph and Co. utilize the fire to get rescued. What is meant by that is that the fire is the only chance of rescue, therefore making it a symbol of hope as well. “I said ‘smoke’! We’ve got to have smoke.” (11.173). The Conch symbolizes civilization and fair government. Introduced in the beginning of the book, this object is important throughout the story. It is noticed that once the conch was broken, all order and civilization ceased to exist. Another symbol is the island itself. When the boys first arrive it appears to be a garden of Eden. It is beautiful with plenty of food and water. It is then shown as hell when Jack lights the island on fire, and everything goes downhill from there. Also, The pig head is referred to as the Lord of the Flies which is a translation of the Hebrew word “beelzebub (The Devil)”; The Devil represents the demoralization, decay, and destruction of mankind. All the symbols in Lord of the Flies create connections to themes; they show the fragile nature of society and the nature of

During the boys’ initial weeks on the island, they encounter a dead pilot but think he is a beast. This occurs after a long while, and through fear and primitive lifestyle they changed significantly. Simon, one of the boys, discovers there is no beast, it is merely the savagery within the boys. The beast itself represents their human nature as primal, as said in the book, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter.

Jack and Ralph are very symbolic. Most of what they do has a direct correlation with what will happen or with a theme. The conflict between the two boys personifies the conflict between civilization and savagery. Jack represents savagery and Ralph represents civilization. From very early on, Jack shows signs of being violent, or savage. After the boys elect Ralph chief, he tells Jack he can choose what he wants the choir to do, to make up for Jack not winning. Jack immediately chooses for the choir to be hunters (30). This shows that he has a desire to hurt and kill, even if right now, he does not realize how serious it really

He makes the ritual sacrifice of a wild sow to the beast and lets the head of the animal hang on a stick, ostensibly to appease the beast. Only Simon does not believe in the existence of a beast. In his wanderings in the forest he comes across the head of the sow and the entrails of the animal which have attracted a lot of flies by now. He has a hallucination in which the head appears to him as lord of the flies and speaks to him. The symbolism of the beast is also stated in this imaginary conversation in so many words, as follows: “You knew, didn’t you? I am part of you?...I am the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” The beast is within man, not without. It is the darkness in men’s hearts. It is their primitive nature, hidden behind a thin layer of civilization.

I believe that the episode involving Simon and the pig’s head represent Jesus and Satan. Throughout the course of the novel, Simon has been portrayed as a Christ figure through numerous actions and behaviours. When Simon escapes to his sanctuary, he sees a pig's head covered in flies; he knows it as the Lord of the Flies. As Simon and the Lord of the Flies speak, the flies slowly begin to cover Simon, representing the evil trying to corrupt him. In many biblical stories, Satan ridicules Jesus and tries to deprave him but Jesus resists, just like Simon does.

In the novel Lord of the Flies, religious allegory is used the entire time throughout the novel. Golding uses subtle comparisons of Christian idealogy throughout the novel, such as the island being the Graden of Eden, the beast being the devil, and Simon being a christ figure. Religius allegory such as stated is included for a number of reasons. Goulding would attempt to include this in his novel to demonstrate the concept of good versus evil, and how far the goodness in himanity when behavior limitations are taken away, such as when the limitation in the garden of eden was the tree of knowledge, and humanity was taken away once they disobeyed their morals. Allegory can be used as strong visual imagery that helps the reader understand in a

The novel Lord of The Flies ,by English William Golding, is an allegorical novel that takes place around World War II, in which English schoolboys are left stranded on an island and face their inner evil. As they are left stranded, their inner savage or evil becomes exposed as they start to forget their civil life and adapt to their savage lifestyle. Allegory is a type of figure of speech where abstract ideas and principles describe terms of character, figures and events.The objective of an allegory is to teach some kind of moral lesson. In an allegory, symbols are used to stand for an idea or an event. Symbols that brilliantly define the novel Lord of The Flies as an allegorical novel are “the conch” which represent law and order, the

‘Lord of the Flies’ was running through a lot of symbolistic features, with the staked pig’s head being symbolic of ‘The Bestie’, but also a symbol of the book itself. That same pigs head adds further meaning when Simon sees it as ‘The Lord of the Flies’ as that is the synonymous alias of ‘Beelzebub’ in the New Testament and also known as the ‘Prince of Devils’ (Occultopedia Staff, n.d.). The Conch shell that the boys ‘Ralph’ and ‘Piggy’ found early in the story was symbolic of the law and order on the island; as its first use was to call the boys on the island to one place, to make democratic decisions about their marooned situation. It gave whoever holds it, political legitimacy and the freedom to speak unchallenged. However ideal, this concept struggled in practice, as seen with Jack and Piggy the statement

The first major event that really stands out as a representation to Simon’s Christ-likeness is when Jack brings back the first pig for the boys to eat. Jack is the hunter in the group and the most evil character of the boys. Even though he provides food, his desire for power and the re-occurring events of his evil actions show his downfall from civilization. Upon Jack’s return with meat, he gives all the