Essay On Symbolism Of Civilization In Lord Of The Flies

In this quote the two boys Ralph and Jack start thinking about making a fire. They quickly come to realize they have no matches to start a fire. As they look around in embarrassment they quickly see Piggy’s glasses. From this we are able to see the glasses that were being used as an item to see quickly becomes a tool of innovation, that is able to start fires without Jack and Ralph looking like an embarrassment after they had no matches or tools.

"His specs-use them as burning glasses” (Golding 40)! This quote was said when Ralph and Jack were trying to figure out how to start the fire. As the boys figure out how to use the lens to create fire, the idea of the glasses representing power increases. The glasses also seem to increase their chance of survival. The spectacles represent the kids’ only way of achieving the fire, by reflecting the sun’s rays. "Piggy's glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks"(Golding 71). In this quote, Jack hit Piggy on the head, resulting in the fire. This caused the glasses to be broken. When the glasses broke, it represented the last tie of humanity the boys

When he first met Piggy, Ralph thought of the glasses as a joke- a way to make Piggy feel lesser than himself. “‘What did you expect?’ ‘I didn't expect nothing. My auntie-’ ‘Sucks to your auntie!’” (13, Golding) Ralph knows Piggy is not as physically capable as him and therefore is not afraid to throw insults. Then, the spectacles became an important tool to build the fire. Ralph and Piggy developed together throughout their time on the island and as time went on, Ralph understood an underlying meaning of the glasses. The spectacles represent the strengths of each person and how they contribute. No one would have guessed Piggy could be helpful, but he can if it regards itelligence. This applies to others like the littluns, Simon, and even Jack. There is no order because the kids do not choose to come together and use everyone’s strengths to their advantage, instead there are multiple people competing for the same spots and some who feel like they have nothing to offer. Ralph sees this, but it is already too late to return back to an organized

The human mind is made of up two instincts that constantly have conflict: the instinct to live by society’s rules and the instinct to live by your own rules. Our civilized will has been to live morally by law and order, and our savage will has been to act out for our own selfish needs. We each choose to live by one or the other depending on how we feel is the correct way to live. In this allegorical novel, William Golding represents the transformation from civilization to savagery in the conflict between two of the main characters: Ralph who represents law and order and Jack who represents savagery and violence. Lord of the Flies has remained a very controversial novel to this day with its startling, brutal, and truthful picture of 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 the beginning of the Lord of the Flies we are introduced to two young boys, who have survived a tragic plane crash. The aircraft was an evacuation plane and it was transporting the group of boys out of England. One of the boys named Piggy is trying to catch up to the other boy, Ralph. Piggy is described as being very fat and shorter than Ralph. He wears “thick spectacles” (William Golding 7) and he is the first to determine that they are on an island. Piggy is also the one that knows how to use the conch shell and comes up with the use of it, which is to call everyone else to the beach. He believed the conch created order. Once the conch had been used we are introduced to more boys and they gain interest in Piggy’s glasses. They discover that Piggy’s glasses can start fires and they refer to them as “burning glasses” (Golding 40). The boys also rejoiced when they discovered that his glasses could create the fires. They proclaimed, “His specs - use them as burning glasses!” (Golding 38). The spectacles symbolize Piggy’s intelligence, which distinguished him from the others. Without the glasses Piggy would be blind and he would not know what to do. Although Piggy is portrayed as being physically weak and not having a great chance at survival, he is the only one that seemed to know a few survival skills. He is the one that created the fire, sundial and shelter. Without his glasses he would not be ‘intelligent’. His appearance and personality cause him to be shunned

Piggy’s glasses symbolize reason and innovation throughout the novel; Golding most commonly associates them with the old camp on the beach. Piggy uses his glasses to help the other boys “see”, both physically and intellectually, the best and most reasonable way forward. However, any time they are removed from the beach, chaos is sure to ensue. The first time, when the boys go to the mountain to light the signal fire, Jack and the other boys pry the glasses off Piggy’s face so they can use them as burning glasses. While this does help to start the signal fire so they can be seen by a ship, it traumatizes Piggy since even at this point in the book, Jack scares him. Despite the good intentions for the fire, it soon goes wild and even results in the death of a littlun.

William Golding kills off everything important to survival and by this he means that the world is doomed. So many significant objects are broken by the end of the book, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which is a novel about a bunch of inexperienced boys being trapped together on an island and are forced to find means of survival. There are a lot of symbols in this book that all represent the only way they can survive. Each symbol represents a piece of the world and how it functions. Without all of these pieces, the world can’t function. William Golding clearly shows that the world is doomed by one by one killing off all of the objects and symbols that keep them sane and alive.

Secondly, Piggy’s glasses shows the reader a clear view of what the boys know and what they think they know. With the glasses Piggy is able to inform the boys with things he knows that they don’t which gives him an advantage for duration he has them. It is Piggy’s glasses that start the fire and afterwards he suggests building shelters which helps them out during storms and when the boys split up into tribes.

They symbolize intelligence and smartness. The boys use piggy’s glasses to start a fire because they had nothing else to use.The glasses that Piggy wears are also very important to the boy’s survival and getting off the island. They are also a symbol of science because they created fire. The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses (296-302.)

“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” This quote from the author, William Golding, summarizes the themes and morals presented in his novel Lord of the Flies. Despite society’s progression towards civilization and acceptance of the idea that human tendencies towards goodness, each individual is susceptible to their natural darker instincts. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding's characters begin as seemingly innocent school boys who deteriorate into savages. The author uses the characters of Piggy, Ralph and Jack

His character is related to a great part of the symbolism used by Golding and has a very important role in preventing the descent from civilization to savagery, however, he sadly he witnesses the turnover. Piggy's glasses represent many different ideas. The initial importance of the specs is that they represent the ability to make fire, which they hoped would provide the rescue they needed. Piggy’s glasses also signify Piggy's ability to see literally and figuratively. Without them, he is helpless and blind.  He is unable to serve as well as Ralph's right-hand man and voice of logic. When Piggy is "blinded" it symbolizes the blindness of the Jack's tribe to the evil to which they are succumbing.  Piggy's murder completes the boys’ lost of sight (figuratively speaking) and forces them into total darkness, which leads to the hunting of Ralph.

Without Piggy’s horrible eye sight, and him needing to wear glasses, the boys would never have been able to start a fire, a fire that ultimately led to their rescue. This is very ironic considering Piggy was killed before he would ever see rescue… a rescue that without him would never have happened. Golding did this to reinforce the importance of Piggy in the novel. It showed that no matter how useless he may have seemed, he still was the one that helped the most, in the long run. He was the most important boy to be on that island. He, in reality, saved Jack, an abusive boy who harassed him ever since they crashed, and Roger, the boy who threw stones, and the boy who murdered the innocent Piggy. “Though Piggy reaches his greatest stature at the moment of his death, it is also the moment of his greatest blindness, rendered for us at a level far deeper than his lost spectacles”. (Kinead-Weekes. Mark. 43). Piggy was completely blindsided from Rogers’s boulder. This moment in the novel makes readers realize the tragedy of Piggy’s death. The shattering of the glasses represents his knowledge and insight turning to dust, all in front of the very people he saves, from the cage that is the island. The conch was also with him at the moment of his death. This is significant because it symbolizes the shattering of all that Piggy believed in. He truly believed the conch would save him from anything on the island, and in the end it simply did not

Without Piggy’s glasses the boys would not have any other way to start the fire. Golding considers Piggy as the brain of the group because he came up with all the ideas. Jack would tend to torture Piggy and not listen to anything he had to say, but the conch was what gave Piggy a chance to get his opinions across at the meetings. Ralph and Piggy were the only ones that were coming up with ideas to be rescued off the island while the other boys played around. The boys would take Piggy’s glasses because they knew Piggy was scared to get them back. When Ralph said that he did not want to lead the group anymore Piggy was upset because he knew if Jack took over he was going to torture him even more. All Piggy wanted was to find ways to be rescued

From this point on, the change in the leadership brings with it the transformation of the boys from ordered society to savages. Through the downfall of Ralph’s leadership and the resulting descent into savagery, Golding is able to reveal how the dark side of human nature can prevail. Golding’s character Piggy portrays the voice of reasoning and logic and his glasses symbolize his wisdom. Ralph recognizes Piggy’s ability to think with clarity and soon depends upon him in his role as leader. Piggy’s idea to use the conch to assemble all the survivors leads to Ralph’s election as leader. Ralph uses Piggy’s ideas for building shelter and Piggy’s glasses to ignite the signal fire. “Ralph moved the lenses back and forth, this way and that, till a glossy white image of the declining sun lay on a piece of the rotten wood” (30). Golding shows his pessimistic view of human nature as Piggy, whose ideas and logical thoughts have been so important to the