Masks In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Similar to William Golding’s idea of mankind, William James, who was an American philosopher, had the idea that, “We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.” This idea transfers nicely to William Goldings’ book, Lord of the Flies, which follows British boys who have been stranded on a deserted island, and now must survive, using their surroundings, as well as their wit. However, it isn’t all smooth sailing for the boys, and eventually almost all of them become savage-like, and disconnected from the outside world. The conch, and the mask are both important symbols in the book, that demonstrate how the boys turn from innocent school-boys to unforgiving beasts, capable of evil.

Throughout the history of humanity, humans have different behaviors that change depending on what situations they are in. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo spent many years exploring human nature and has developed many theories about human behavior. One of Zimbardo’s ideas is about situational factors that states “one’s behavior is assumed to be dependent upon their current circumstances, situation or the environment that they are in.” He concluded the concept of situational factors after his Stanford Prison Experiment, in which he gave authority to regular people and observed any changes. The experiment proved that people’s behavior will change when they are in different situations. Zimbardo also believes that evilness is the exercise of power to harm people in anyway possible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil.

Life is a costume party in which some are tricked and others are treated. Imagine a world where one’s true self was hidden behind a series of masks, each mask hiding an individual's specific character flaw, personality trait or even a desire to do harm. Against the backdrop of World War II, uniformed soldiers presented themselves to an enemy as a single mass of camouflaged danger. Each similarly dressed and trained to kill or capture an enemy without feeling any remorse. William Golding’s own involvement during World War II allowed him to experience wearing his own mask while tremendous violence was occurring as he was aboard a Royal Navy boat in 1940. Further, his involvement in the battle of Normandy(France) and the epic struggle on its beaches is reflected in his writing in the lives of young boys who similarly try to maintain order on their own island. Therefore in the same way that a soldier's uniform provides anonymity, the characters in William Golding's Novel The Lord of the Flies wore masks to conceal their true identity, shown when Jack who is civilized put on a mask to become a savage, and when Roger took off his civilist mask to reveal his inherently present inner savage.

The literary device of the mask in Fahrenheit 451, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Lord of the Flies is recurring in each of the stories. The metaphoric mask is a both physical and symbolic object that alters the characteristics of an individual; usually the protagonist. The protagonist either gradually puts on or takes off the mask to change as a person. The mask itself acts how you would expect a real mask to work. A mask typically obscures the vision so that you can only see in one direction, and some obscure our vision to a blur. Despite that, the mask has a much deeper connotation in literature. The obscurity produced by the mask placed on one is not a true mask, but an event or decision significantly altering the traits of an individual. Such a transition is portrayed in literature as the putting on or removal of an actual mask. This makes easier for readers to understand, and creates a perceptible connection between the symbolism and reality. In the Lord of the Flies and Star Wars:

Symbols in a story allow readers to understand the main message and idea that the author attempts to convey within literature. Often, masks are used to perform, be disguises, and even act as protection. William Golding includes the use of masks in his book, Lord of the Flies. The mask is worn by the ferocious leader Jack Merridew. Jack creates the mask with materials that he found scattered around the island. On his face, he uses black, red, and white charcoal which creates a covering of his face. He uses the mask to become a different being which changes his attitude and changes his conscious. As the novel progresses, the mask terrorizes kids and eventually begins to terrorize the animals and nature that surround the boys. The symbol of the mask in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies begins as anonymity, becomes a protection from guilt, and concludes as savagery.

Golding used personification to make Piggy’s death an important part of the novel. An example of this device is “the sea breathed again, in a long slow sigh” this quote makes the reader imagine how the sea is moving and gives an inanimate object emotions. The way the sea is describes reminds me of when a mother watches her child be naughty and she breaths a long sigh like she is tired of the child’s behaviour. The personification of the sea makes the sea sound like it is an adult who has watched the boy’s behaviour since they got stranded on the island.

Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel.

Symbols in literature are like the Earth, there are multiple layers until you get to the core meaning. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, William Golding, utilizes symbols in order to get his deeper meaning across. In a novel about boys isolated on an island during the time period of World War II, Golding shows the outcomes of what isolation can have on a group of people. While trying to get these messages across, the author uses symbols as an aid These symbols range from strength, hope, and fear. One of the most important symbols in the book is Jack’s mask. The mask starts out as a way to help Jack hunt and grows from there. Therefore, Jack’s mask begins as protection from Jack’s own identity, evolves to his strength, and

In the “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding uses ordinary items to symbolize bigger universal ideas. These symbols can be seen throughout the text and will evolve as the story progresses. In the beginning of the Lord of the Flies, one of the most frequent topic the boys discuss is hunting and their desire to have meat. However, not a single boy is able to hunt successfully as they are all afraid of killing another living thing. The boys only have a successful hunt when they use the mask. The mask in the Lord of the Flies is one of the many symbols used to communicate Golding’s universal ideas. When the mask is used in the Lord of the Flies the mask serves the purpose to hide the boys from the pigs when they hunt. However, when the text is examined in an allegorical means, the mask can be defined as hiding from oneself, strength, and savagery. The allegorical definition of the mask, proves how the mask does not only hide the boys from the pigs, but also hides the boy’s inner connections with their former selves. The mask in the Lord of the Flies initiates as hiding from oneself, evolves to strength, and ends a savagery.

Masks are a covering for parts of the face that are worn for a disguise, pleasure, or to scare people. Greek theatre utilizes masks innumerable times for evident characters in their plays. The actors/actresses who position their masks on, become divergent people. The denotation the boys’ have behind the mask is unique from when they have the mask off. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the mask is used as a disguise from their normal society and civilization. Jack, Ralph and Roger prove that this statement is true throughout the novel. Golding once said that civilization is “the mask which enables the individual to hide his primitive nature.” This illustrates how one will disguise himself as someone or something that triggers their primal nature. William Golding’s purpose in writing this novel is to present to the readers when an individual loses connections with society they can regenerate one's true self to become someone they are not. The masks are utilized by these three characters to shield their nefarious doings. Jack, Ralph and Roger all have measures that delineate the diabolic and shadow within all humanity.

There is something that all people have in common: masks. Whether it is behind a computer screen, a Halloween mask, or makeup, all people have one thing that they hide their true identity behind. At the time, World War II was a furious war filled with atomic bombs and thousands of deaths. Soldiers across the country were putting on their uniform and going out to battle. Millions of people died during this war- and most of them were ordinary civilians. A war this destructive convinced William Golding, a schoolteacher and film director, to not only join the army, but also to write about it. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses his knowledge of war and humanity to create a book featuring the war inside humans. A major topic he used in his novel to show the darkness in a man’s heart was the theme of masks. The anonymity of a mask is something that is pondered by the characters in the book, especially by Ralph- the athletic and charismatic boy on an island filled mostly with savages. The savagery comes out as a result of the masks worn by the boys on the island. By putting on a mask, the boys were able to let their inner savages come out and commit violence against others. Wearing a mask increases the boy's willingness to dehumanize themselves because the taboos of society are gone, it allows them to let their inner beast out, and the anonymity relieves the wearer of responsibility.

Everyone uses masks to free them to do, say or act in a manner that they normally wouldn’t. People use them all the time, whether it is just changing to treat someone a certain way or just needing to be a different way to make a situation better, but can also be used in harmful ways that can be used to compel violence. Masks manipulate us to hide from our true selves, they will make the one who wears one inferior to all others. In the story, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the world is in the middle of the biggest war ever, the power of masks and anonymity throughout this time period establish the terror. They put on these masks to give them the freedom to commit terrorizing acts and have no shame, alike with how William Golding allowed his characters have their power over the others. Golding had his characters apply paint to their faces which then altered the boy's mindset to act in a detrimental way. The mindset these boys obtain leads to many cruel parts in the story, including the killing of other boys on the island. This demonstrates the effect and power of being anonymous that is provided to these blood-thirsty boys. Before Jack and the boys used their masks to release their inner-savage, they were civilized, but having anonymity enables them to kill, not only pigs but other boys.

“Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?” (Alexander) Evil and cruelty often conceal themselves behind the mask of polite civilization. When the mask is removed, the true savagery is revealed. In William Golding 's dark novel, Lord of the Flies, humanity’s true savage nature is covered by a mask of civility. The group of boys crash onto a deserted island. And in order to survive, the boys attempt to recreate civilization and designate the conch as a symbol of authority. However, when the natural instinct to survive seizes the boys, resulting in the removal of their civilized masks, the savagery inside the boys emerges. Throughout the boys’ adventure on the island, Jack loses his mask of innocence and civility,

The mask shows the beginning and the end of the boys on the island. At the beginning they were all together, they feared for the beast together, and worked together. The island is first described with large palm trees, and the boys are smiling and playing. In the end half, the island is burned down, boys are dead, and the boys have become savages. One side of the mask shows the boys together with a shelter, and the possible beasts. The other side shows the boys split with the island crying at all the damage, and there is no longer a beast since they are the beast. The land has been destroyed with the boys who died in the sea, and the once standing shelter is now broken. They are no longer civilized and may have now shown their true