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Lord Of The Flies: Facts Of Allegory

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The Lord of the Flies – Artifacts of Allegory The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is an allegorical tale of a group of boys stranded on an island, who fall prey to their natural and not so natural instincts. Set in major wartime, the boys are shipped out from the war zone, but, somewhere on their route, their plane crashes. The story covers the idea of civility vs. savagery and the natural instinct of human nature through the use of many symbols and artifacts in their island life. Below are just a few of said artifacts. The Conch Shell In the book, the boys struggle to create structure in a place that shuns the idea. One chance comes in the form of a conch shell, found on the beach by Ralph and Piggy. This shell is originally used to call all the boys together and is eventually a symbol of democratic debate between the boys. It is with that same conch shell that Ralph gives his philosophical speech and lays down the ground rules to the group for the island. It also gauges the level of civility that the boys maintain; the more savage they become, the more the shell …show more content…

Due to their childish nature, the boys run into fire related issues twice. The first time the fire rages through the island forest, and we are left to believe that this fire kills one of the boys, as he disappears. The second time, the fire is neglected and dies out completely. It is at this point in the book the boys have neglected the rules, becoming more and more unruly. Unlike the fire, their savagery begins to burn bright. Eventually, this flame engulfs the boys themselves, as their now savage instinct turns them against each other. It is the resulting flame that eventually brings the remaining boys back to safety when a plane sees the fire started by Jack in attempt to hunt down Ralph. The fire is not only the boys’ hope of rescue, but the eventual destruction of some and the rescue of

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