Lord Of The Flies Archetypal Analysis

Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding. It is about british schoolboys who are stranded on an island after their plane is shot down. They are on the island with no adult supervision. Their group is civilized but turns to savagery. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the characters of Ralph, Jack, and Roger to symbolize that there are violence, evil, savagery, and good that exist in every society.

During a nuclear war, a group of young boys plane crashes on a hot deserted island in the middle of nowhere with little possibilities to be rescued and no alive adults. For months the boys have to manage to feed themselves, regulate the island, create rules, and assign roles, all the while trying to get rescued any way they can. As a result, they progressively become more savage and forget the rules that modern day civilization has set. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows the character archetypes the shadow and the stern parent through the characters Roger and Ralph and uses them to develop the theme of all people are inherently evil.

William Golding can be clearly seen as a writer who knows what he is doing. From vivid description down to the most scrutinous detail to his plethoric of symbolism seen throughout the novel, it is clear that he is an experienced writer. From his other books like The Inheritors and The Scorpion God it can still be seen that one of his earlier books, Lord of the Flies, is truly one of his greatest masterpieces. That book would also be the topic of this essay, and from the very beginning was obviously a piece of literature that has aged well despite its year of publish. From the stranding on the island to the undertone of war seen throughout it grips the reader and never lets go.

Irony is a literary technique utilized by writers in an attempt to convey a message different than its literal meaning. For this reason, this technique used often in satirical writing, such as Lord of The Flies by William Golding. Irony is an important element in literature as it provides writers with a vehicle to communicate a deeper, more meaningful message. In his literary critique, How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster emphasizes the significance of irony in literature, stating repeatedly, “irony trumps everything” (Foster 261). In “everything”, Foster refers to all other components of the story: character development, theme, symbolism, etc. In writing this, Foster suggests that the significance of all other aspects

Unique skills an individual possesses contribute to what makes them a great leader. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, is about a group of stranded British boys on an uninhabited island. While Ralph is elected chief of the group, he appoints Jack as the leader of the hunters. Ralph and Jack gradually grow to dislike each other as they disagree over certain decisions. The group eventually splits into two as the boys lose sight of the etiquette of civilization and descend into savagery. Over the course of the novel, the power struggle between Ralph and Jack grows increasingly obvious while the other boys question who to follow. Ralph is a better leader because he shows initiative while prioritizing tasks and stresses the importance

In the novel, “Lord of the Flies,” the author William Golding develops the theme of conflict between having a civilized society and humans savage instincts. This is shown through, the conflicts between Jack and Ralph, the destruction of the conch shell and the murder of murder of Piggy.

In order to create a character strongly in foil with the evil deeds of the island, Golding uses the archetype of the Christ figure in Simon’s self-sacrificing behavior, his time spent in the jungle alone, and in his confrontation with the evil Lord of the Flies to further portray the great potential for loss of human empathy and emotion in the other boys due to dire circumstances.

In all grade eleven and twelve English academic classes at Académie catholique Mère-Teresa in Hamilton, the students must study a novel assigned by their teacher and then have to write an essay in comparison with another novel of their choice. In grade eleven, the assigned novel is Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. On a list of novels suitable for thematic comparison with Lord of the Flies, one would find such novels as American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Many would observe that these are profane, inappropriate works that do not deserve their place in high school classes due to the profanity found in these novels. However, many of these are written to shock and surprise for a good reason, with a clear point in mind; because some words or situations that would be censored are period-appropriate and important to the plot, and because often, profanity is used to emphasize something and is not useless.

Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, reflects upon the very core of human beings. Golding described human beings as innately evil. He also showed readers that all it takes to bring humans’ true nature out is by being in an unknown environment that is free of laws. Being surrounded by mysterious creatures in an unknown land, the stranded boys are left for dead. In the small world without adults, the boys slowly corrupt in to follow their instinct to satisfy their immediate desires. By being in a microcosm of society with no rules or restriction, the boys begin to seek absolute power. By setting the novel in an island without adults, Golding shows how civilization can quickly deteriorate into savagery.

William Golding uses literary elements perfectly to describe characters and scenes in the novel. Focusing on the choir, we can see that Golding introduces the choir by calling them associating them as “creatures”. As they approach Ralph and the rest of the boys Golding writes “the sweating march along the blazing beach had given them the complexion if newly washed plums” (Golding 19). This metaphor compares the sweaty boys to a washed plum; they both are dripping of water/ sweat from the heat. Golding also uses a lot of imagery to describe the characters. “He was tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red underneath … His face was crumpled and ugly”. (Golding 20). This quote by Golding illustrates Jacks looks. Golding tends to repeat the

One’s behaviour can have a 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 demonstrate the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent

William Golding's Lord of the Flies explores two sides of human nature: goodness and peace juxtaposed against cruelty and violence. When Jack first arrives on the island, he is civil and cooperative. As time carries on, Jack begins to develop savage characteristics. The consequences of war, from both the outside world and on the island, extinguish any bit of humanity left in Jack which ultimately shows that man's true nature is evil.

The argument over the importance of the signal fire is the main conflict in the novel. Ralph believes that the signal fire will be able to alert any passing ships to the boys’ presence. Ralph makes this his “campaign” as he speaks to the tribe about selecting a leader and the whole tribe agrees including Jack. However, Jack strays away from this group goal as he slowly begins to gain more power over the tribe after Ralph gives him power over the hunters. He becomes less and less concerned with rescue and more interested in his newfound power over his tribe. As Jack leans further and further away from the logical option of building the fire to create a smoke signal he slowly convinces the boys that hunting and having fun is more important. Moss says, “two different parties begin to emerge: those who

People often spend a lot of time trying to determine what it takes to drive a person into the dark depths of human nature, but this book explains just that. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding starts with two characters on an abandoned island after a plane crash trying to figure out what to do. They find a conch shell and use it to call all of the other children on the island. When they all gather they decide to set up a government of sorts to try and be rescued but also survive. They quickly learn that this will not last when there is a challenge for chief and how to run the day. Things quickly go from bad to worse when the tribes go head to head, which in bloodshed. When the first group of kids have all but one been eradicated, the savage group decides to hunt. They chase him all over the island, setting it on fire to draw him out, and follow him all the way back to shore and to his saving grace. He runs up to find a navy officer and his crew who seen the smoke from the fire, though ashamed of their actions he is still their savior. This book brings about a whole new thinking of the fight between the extreme sides of human nature.

The book, The Lord of the Flies, covers a lot of topics about human nature. The book shows what life would be like if humans were reverted back to their savage-like ways, after a corruption of society. The boys on the island started out with a sense of civilization and order, but society broke down and the boys resorted to murder. Civilization broke down due to, what I see as, three key reasons, which are fear, acceptance, and respect for leadership. Fear causes the children to form groups in order for survival, because it is evolutionarily advantageous to be in groups. In order to be in a group, you must be accepted by the group. Then, in order for the group to function properly, there must be a leader that is respected. Instead of this civilization, the boys on the island were corrupted by “the beast”, which symbolizes the darkness inside of man. Fear caused the boys to form groups, but there was conflict. The boys didn’t get along so there was minimal acceptance, and due to two leaders fighting for supremacy, the tribe split and there was a lack of respect and cohabitation.