In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies, the boys on the island come in contact with many different elements that symbolize ideas. Golding demonstrates that when human beings do not have rules, authority, and a government they allow their natural savage instinct to take over. Through the use of symbolism, Golding uses the Conch, The Painted faces of the boys, and Piggy’s glasses to portray this thesis. During Lord Of The Flies, The conch is an important symbol that represents democracy and is an effective object that symbolizes the fall of civilization as savagery took over. The conch was initially used to gather the kids together so they can assemble and create rules. This is evident in the quote “We’ll have hands up, Like at school” …show more content…
Degeneration of the civilized way of life on the island is very evident through the painted faces. When concealed by the masks, the hunters and Ralph changed to a different personality and they dismissed the society that once kept them from their savage natural urges. This is shown when Jack first paints his face and the author explains this moment by “he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (64). This shows that Jack felt like a different person when he painted his face. It also proves this because Jack would have never done these types of actions back in his home society. In addition to this Golding uses the colours of the paint to illustrate human nature. The paint was red,black, and white and these colors are closely interpreted with violence. Secondly, the feeling of liberation gained from the paint caused the boys to participate in barbaric actions and the hunts they went on symbolized their primal urges. When Ralph tried to explain the importance of keeping the signal fire alive the boys did not listen whatsoever as they were occupied with thoughts of their hunts. A quote that supports this argument is when Jack interrupted Ralph and said “ There was lashing of blood” (69) and “ You should’ve seen it” (69). This emphasizes how badly the boys wanted to hunt and they …show more content…
Golding uses the glasses as a symbol of common sense and rationality. Both of these qualities are possessed by a civilized human being. Golding shows the glasses as a symbol of power and introduces this when the boys say “His specs, use them as burning glasses” (159). This shows that initially the glasses were used as a piece of tech and symbolic of technological advancement made by man. The glasses also started a fire which was used as a signal to catch the attention of a plane or ship. Throughout the novel, the glasses get soiled by dirt. When Piggy speaks in front of the assembly he finds himself taking off his glasses and wiping them, “Piggy took off his glasses and blinked at the assembly while he wiped them on his shirt.” (38). In this quote, an analysis that can is that as Piggy’s glasses were getting worn out and his vision was less clear the boys also start getting blinded by reason, common sense, and cruelty. Furthermore, it shows that the more rules are broken the dirtier the glasses get. As it is known, the glasses are a sign of power and as the urge to rule spread on the island it became a fight for power. This fight of power lead to jack stealing and breaking Piggy’s glasses, “From his left dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (131). The glasses had become the most important item on the island and this emphasizes to the reader that society can be destroyed by cruelty if rules
Throughout both worlds, of reality and literature, an object can represent multiple ideas on a literal and theoretical implication. In William Golding’s Lord Of the Flies, the conch and many other objects are used as symbols to further establish the understanding of the story. The conch, originally discovered by Ralph and Piggy, was unintentionally used to signal the other survivors on the island. It was a physical shell whilst acting as a symbol for unity throughout the novel. In reality, accessories used to represent the idea of unity are wedding ring exchanged in a ceremony of marriage.
From Lord of the Flies, there were many things like Conch and Fire that symbolized something. One of the most important symbols was the Conch. The Conch, which is a big shell that can be seen at the beach symbolizes many things in the Lord of the Flies. The Conch represents power because it once was able to control the boys with it, and it also symbolizes democracy because of anyone who has their ideas and can speak their thoughts. The Conch represents unity because it was used to call an assembly and was used to put the boys and keep the peace between the boys so nobody would fight with each other. So, the conch is an important symbol in the novel, because it represents power, democracy, and unity.
Lord of the Flies is often claimed to be an allegory of modern society. While this is true, Golding’s intentions in writing this novel are much deeper. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies provides an enlightening insight into the true nature of human beings; along with why people refrain from acting upon the evil that resides within them. He presents these ideas through symbolism within the novel and it proves effective in many ways. Through symbolism, Golding can unfold the excellent plot of his novel, while subsequently sharing his ideas on the relationship of mankind and society. Golding uses the beast, the conch shell, and Piggy’s glasses to symbolize the human impulse towards ‘savagery’ and the social constructs put in place to prevent it.
The conch is just a shell, But it does represents much more than that, the conch is power, order, respect and civility and when it's broken, It’s the loss of civilization. The conch is first found by Piggy and Ralph when they first get to the beach. Piggy who’s seen one before at someones house said “He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It’s ever so Valuable”(11). Then later Ralph used it to do the same thing by blowing in it to find all the boys on the island and to call meeting later. During one of the
One’s behaviour can have an substantial impact on a society's outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies”. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature, by using symbolism to delineate this theme. Golding’s extensive use of symbolism, such as the conch, the signal fire and the painted faces helps demonstrates the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent effects on the boys’ behaviour, which undoubtedly illustrates the defects of human nature on society.
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.
Throughout the novel, the face paint that Jack and his crew used simultaneously masks their faces as well as their civility. The first mention of the facepaint is made when Jack is strategizing a way to sneak up on a pig and he decides to camouflage himself. Jack says that his “half-concealed face” is “for hunting. Like in the war” (63). The incomplete coverage of the paint indicates that Jack is not fully immersed into his savagery. However, his interest in aggressive acts, hunting and war, insinuates that he does have a tendency towards aggressiveness as well. Perhaps the most blatant reference to the fact that face paint induces savagery within the boys, specifically the hunters, is when Golding states that “the mask compelled them” (64)
Would you let the desire for power corrupt you like it did to the boys in the Lord of the Flies? In this novel, William Golding illustrates how the longing for power has an ability to corrupt the minds of the innocent and how the symbolic meaning of Piggy’s glasses, the conch shell and fire can change over time to help enable or drive this desire for power.
In his book “ Lord of the Flies”, Golding uses the conch as a symbol of power and order. For example, the boys use the conch to have an order in the right to speak; whoever has the conch has the turn to speak. When Ralph mentions the rules he explains “ We can’t have everybody talking at once”... “I'll give the conch to the next person” (Golding 33). This quote illustrates how the conch is used for control to ensure a civil relationship. This helped them stay organized when they were talking in meetings. The conch was also the only way to gather everyone together and speak one at a time.
"A conch he called it. He used to blow it and his mum would come. It's ever so valuable" Piggy, Lord of the Flies. The conch is a sea creature, its shell is revered in many cultures such as Hinduism and Buddhism for its beauty and the sound it makes. The conch is also that shell in Lord of the Flies which is blown into to gather the boys. The author, William Golding, uses the conch to show that democracy will succumb to rule by force in the face of serious trouble or need. In the book, it is a symbol of democratic power but it is not without its enemies who eventually overrule it.
“His specs-use them as burning glasses!”(pg.40), a boy on the scar said this discovering their first use of technology. It’s funny how something as simple as glasses is considered technology, now we have computers and such, but to them it was a big deal. The glasses made a signal fire in which they can use to get a plane or boats attention to get them off the island. Piggy was happy that they got a fire started, but one of his lenses broke along the the way, this will surely be an issue if they want to be quick to start the fire. Technology and hope is what the glasses stand for, and without that the boys would have
The Lord of the Flies Essay The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a great example of how authors can use literary techniques such as symbols to express ideas of human nature. Golding not only uses the boy's personalities as comments on the society of the time but he also gives the boys materialistic approaches to governing their island to mirror their home country. The first symbol of government in the novel is the conch.
The Lord of the Flies, is a novel about a group of young boys getting stranded on an island. The boys soon have to face obstacles no child should ever have to face. William Golding uses symbolism and irony to show how ordinary objects hold tremendous power, and how some day something so valued could mean nothing the next day. The author chooses to put a great deal of significance on certain items. However, the conch and fire have the greatest impact on the boys.
The conch is seen as one of the major symbols of the novel. The conch can symbolize a democratic government. The conch has brought the boys together, formed their society. The conch has made their rules and regulations. In the book no one was suppose to talk unless they had the conch. Halfway through the book the conch starts losing its power. The boys split up into two different tribes. The conch symbolizes the rise and the fall of society’s rules, order, and regulation. It made people understand how much rules and regulations are important in a world’s society. Therefore, the conch mad the “Lord of the Flies” a smaller version of what our society is today.
Many who attend high school has the pleasure to read “Lord of the Flies”. A novel where the main characters are all little boys who have to learn how to live without adults, stranded on an island. Alone on the island, they try to accustom themselves to their new lives while still preserving all the fun they had at home, using the fire as a symbol of hope, the conch as a symbol of unity, and the pig as innocence. Little did they know, all of this will change for them as time goes by. In Golding's Novel “Lord of the Flies” he presents to us an intricate story with a deeper meaning than just boys on an island. Some main points of the story, like the fire, conch and the pig's head symbolize