Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Analysis

This shows that Piggy is beginning to understand what is happening on the island. I know this because his statement just opened up a whole new world of answers. On page ninety two, the text states, “He can’t hurt you: but if you stand out of the way he’d hurt the next thing. And that’s me”(Golding 92). This shows that Piggy is afraid of Jack and what would happen if Ralph gave up is Chief role. I know this because just reading that sentence shows that Jack is the “bully” and Piggy is the “victim”. These pieces of text show that the boys began to fear each other by giving subtle hints before the trust is broken.

During the meeting where the boys are questioning the reality of the beast, Simon says this,”What I mean is...maybe it’s only us”(Golding 89). While everyone else is debating on whether or not the beast is real, Simon is trying to propose that the actual beast is the boys themselves in the form of their savage impulses. Simon is the first character in the novel to see the beast as the evil nature of humans instead of a physical being. The Lord of the Flies confirms Simon’s thought, saying,”Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!”(Golding 143). This establishes that the only thing to fear on the island is the evil human instinct inside of

The tragedies that unfold their civilization occur when they brutally beat Simon to death. After Jack and his hunters place the mother sow’s head in the forest as an offer to the beast they think exists, Simon encounters it and sees that it is covered in flies. Suddenly, the head started to talk to Simon as he feels like he is going to faint. It identifies itself to be the Lord of the Flies. It says, “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” (Golding 158). Simon then realizes that there is no physical beast, but a mental beast in each and every boy on the island. They all went from being joyful to a bunch of savages. Their

William Golding, winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature, argues in his 1954 book Lord of the Flies that humans are evil in nature. He uses multiple symbols to define what savagery really is and how it can affect even the youngest of society. Some symbols, such as painted faces or a pig's head on a stick are used as shocking narrative tools but are necessary in order to portray these children as ruthless monsters. Golding’s use of painted faces does symbolize that when there is anonymity, humans will commit atrocious acts, especially if they are in a position of power.

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 William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies” Novel, symbolism is a very important element of the book, Many symbols show how the boys on the island are slowly becoming savage and losing their civility.

Simon is often referred to as the beast during this chapter, showing how the boys are only seeing him as an animal that they must hunt and kill. Found on page 153, Golding writes, “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws.” This use of words with a very negative and animalistic connotation brings about a feeling that the boys have changed quite a lot whilst being on the island, and are no longer hunting for meat, but to satisfy an animalistic instinct inside of them, as Golding depicts in

But the beast was the evil inside the capability of humans. To bad Simon didn’t get to warn the kids before his death, one of the last words he ever heard was “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! ” from document F. He never made it out of alive.

That night while they are sleeping God sends down a sign of a dead parachutist that gets stuck in the thing and is titled as, “The thing that bowed”. Little Sam and Eric are alone on the mountain tending to the fire and they think it is the beast. This shows that the world is doomed because God sent them a dead parachutist as a sign. Which represents that their is not very much hope for them if that is all he could send them. Another thing that represents all forms or Christianity begin dead is when Simon dies. “Jack leapt on to the sand. ‘Do our dance! Come on! Dance!’” (151). As all of the savages where in a delirious state, doing their dance in the middle of the night, Simon happened to crawl out of the forest to come and tell them all what the actual Beast was. They all thought he was the beats and torturously ripped, clawed, and bit him to death. Simon is the Christ figure of the group, and in this moment, Christ had died. In the Bible Jesus suffered a very painful and torturous death, as did Simon in the book. This represents the world being doomed because God created the world and without him, their is no hope for anyone to live or survive.

Simon is the first to realize that the beast is “only us” and tries to give voice to “mankind’s essential illness” (Doc F). Later, when Simon finds the dead parachutist, he attempts to tell the others the “Beast is only human.” (Doc E). Rather than listening to his words, Simon is brutally attacked and killed by them: “There were no words and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (Doc F). Ironically, Simon, the sensitive boy with the goal to tell of man's violent nature, is instead mistaken for the beast. Therefore he is murdered by the true, human beast: the boys with “teeth and claws.”

The symbols in the Lord of the Flies all change meaning throughout the novel. As the boys change and develop, the symbols change with them. Some may become more positive or more negative and some may change meaning completely. Ralph, Piggy, and Jack all adjust to being stranded on the island differently and therefore react to and treat the objects on the island differently. With Jack’s development into savagery throughout the novel, his carelessness is evident in his lack of acknowledgement of symbols that are important to Ralph and Piggy who look at this experience more logically and optimistically. One symbol that changed dramatically throughout the novel is the fire. The fire in the Lord of the Flies is introduced as a symbol for hope, develops into destruction and is finalized as a representation of salvation.

There are many aspects of fear portrayed in this novel. It is often dark when bad actions occur, which lead the boys to fear the darkness and what is hidden in it. Ralph tries to take action in building huts for the littluns to protect them and make them feel safe. When the huts were built, Ralph said, “We need shelters because of the-” (52). He is referring to the beast that the children think lives in the darkness around them.

He talks of a slithering object at night that tries to get him while he is asleep. There are many other accounts of a beast, even a pig’s head and a parachutist who did not make it. The Beast represents the fear that the boys have and everyone. The Beast is altered or changed depending on the boy who speaks of it because they are all scared and afraid of what might be out there or what might come to be. However, after Simon is killed and the parachutist is gone, they believe the beast is gone.

Simon is symbolized as things such as depression and loneliness which is very important, in the book because there is one point where someone says to the boys on the beach, which means that he thought about it while the others did not think about it. He thought about the problem and the things that the boys did, he becomes the beast himself. The story states, ”maybe we are the beast” (Golding).

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, three significant symbols throughout the novel include the conch shell, the beast, and the Lord of the Flies. These symbols not only aided in the development of the characters but also in their rescue. By the time the boys are rescued the meaning of each symbol has either been diverted or given a new interpretation.