Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Essay

confide in the conch and when the conch is held up, it is a sign of

The forest where Simon wanders upon in earlier in the novel symbolizes this loss of innocence. At first, it is a place of natural beauty and peace, but when Simon returns, he discovers the bloody sow’s head upon a stake in the middle of the forest. This use of imagery depicting ruin is seen in the passage. “Simon found he was looking into a vast mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread” (pg. 144). The bloody offering to the beast has disrupted the paradise that existed before; a clear

Even thought Piggy is physically blind without his glasses he has insight as to his surroundings. Jack shows dislike towards Piggy by ridiculing his physique by saying , “Better Piggy the Fatty”. (40) His intelligence is undermined by the fact that Jack makes fun of him.

Simon, a symbol of light, discovers the truth that the beast, a figment of the boys’ imagination, was just a dead parachutist. He came out of the forest to tell the tribe the truth. The boys mistake him for the beast in their wild chant and dance.“A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly” (Golding, p 175). The boys then proceed to attack the beast in their fear. “The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill… At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt onto the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (Golding, p 175). The boys end up killing Simon and have completed their transformation into savagery. The light has turned to darkness. This descent is shown to us in a way that is very cruel. The last occurrence of light and dark imagery is at the end of the book. The imagery of fire is used again, this time, for evil intentions. Jack starts a fire on the island to smoke out Ralph in order to kill him. “Then Ralph was running beneath trees, with the grumble of the forest explained. They had smoked him out and set the island on fire” (Golding, p 228). Ironically, it is this fire that ends up saving the boys because a passing ship sees the

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.

Many of the boys as it has been told have lost their morals as well as some of the boys try to maintain who they were before. How Piggy and Jack have changed throughout the novel will be discussed. Piggy announced, “‘I got this to say. acting like a crowd of kids.’ The booing rose and died again as Piggy lifted the white, magic shell” (Golding 180). Piggy was so attached to his auntie at the beginning of the novel that he would think about what she had told him and what she would expect. Now, Piggy wants to be respected and state his ideas without knowing what his auntie would say. Now, it is time to discuss and recognize the ways that Jack has changed, even though he sticks with some of his qualities there is also a major change throughout the novel. Jack stated, ‘“All the same you need an army一for hunting. Hunting pigs一”’(Golding 32). When Jack is first introduced to us he is leading a group of choirboys but as the novel progresses, he refers to himself as a hunter but is still looking to be given leadership and power. Some of the boys have changed drastically while others have changed in the simplest of ways, Piggy has definitely lost his innocence that he carried through the beginning while Jack maintained his drive for leadership but has also gone from a choir leader to a hunter.

"They lay there listening, at first with doubt but then with terror to the description the twins breathed at them between bouts of extreme silence. Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the awful unknown and menace." At this time of the book, Sam and Eric (or Samneric) found the dead body of the pilot but because it was dark, they mistook it for the unknown and ran back to camp believing they saw the claws of the beast. This takes the fear of the beast over the edge. They all believe that the beast as real and they all start getting paranoid and light fires and only go in the forest in groups. This event is a major turning point in the book; it also is the cause of Simon's death later in the book.

Lord of the Flies, a suggestive name for the Devil, a devil whose name proposes that he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization and panic, exactly what William Golding had in mind when using symbolism in this novel. The Lord of the Flies (1954), is a novel in which interpretating the symbols are a main key to not only understanding, but also enjoying the novel. After tying many of the symbols together, you can figure out more about what the author is trying to depict, the overall scene.

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.

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.

Lord of the Flies: William Golding has said that his novel Lord of the Flies was symbolic from the beginning until the end when the boys are rescued. During the course of the novel these symbols are constantly changing, giving us a new interpretation of the island society.

Authors use symbols throughout their writing to demonstrate a common theme that is shown as the writing progresses. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of boys become stranded on an island after a plane crash, and during their time on the island, they experience several hardships, such as struggling to survive and work together. With no properly enforced rules, they slowly forget their morals and begin turning to their malevolent natures. William Golding changes the meanings of various symbols, suggesting that when humans undergo difficult experiences with little to no societal restrictions, their innate evil emerges and dominates, leading them to turn to savagery.

Golding uses allegories, satire and symbolism to convey the deeper meaning of his novel, ‘Lord of the Flies’. The author’s style is deceptively simplistic, acting as a mask to its true intentions and meanings. Golding takes a seemingly innocent group of boys and twists their actions to represent the battle of humanity between good vs evil. The story starts off light and simple, the boys stranded on an island via airplane crash, but as the story progresses we see the school boys split into two groups: the Hunters and the Survivors. The Hunters are led by Jack, the main protagonist of the novel, who represents the dark side of human nature. He contrasts Ralph, chief of the Survivors, who is the embodiment of good and civilization. The divide is shown early on, "Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass." (Chapter 2, Page 30). Between these two groups, the reader can see the battle between order and chaos.

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