Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

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.

How does William Golding show symbolism in his famous novel, Lord of the Flies? Golding’s style of writing is descriptive. However, the book has many hidden meanings. Lord of the Flies is one of William Golding's most well-known novels, and it takes place around World War II. Adolescent boys crash onto a tropical island with no adult supervision, leading them all into savagery. William Golding's Lord of the Flies displays democracy and reason by using Piggy's glasses and the conch. Golding mentions them throughout the book on multiple occasions.

Symbolism in novels incorporate factors into the story which are understood but unstated. In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbolism to express the sanity and emotions of the boys stranded on the island. The boys used fire to cook and as a signal for any ships at sea in an attempt for rescue. The fire’s diverse intensities exemplify the authority Ralph or Jack hold over the boys which affects the group’s overall conscience.

(Golding 181). This example of symbolism is a perfect response by Golding to savagery because of the inhumane way that Piggy was killed. With the conch being destroyed it symbolized a new beginning of a dictatorship filled with lack of democracy. Another symbolic piece found in Lord of the Flies was Piggy’s glasses. Piggy’s specs were crucial throughout the novel because it symbolized hope by creating fire and a chance for escape from the island.

Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, there are many characters that show symbolic traits. Jack, Simon, and Piggy are examples of characters that possess symbolic traits. Jack represents a savage humanity. On the other hand, Simon represents the goodness inside of humans and a civilized humanity. The last character that will be discussed, Piggy, represents science and intellect. These three characters will be analyzed throughout this paper.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding uses characters and symbols in order to elaborate on the idea that human instinct is to be consumed by maliciousness and savagery.

Piggy’s specs symbolize the logic and rationality that, however hard to hold on to, is desperately needed by the boys. Being stranded on an island is a stressful and terrifying situation. Rational thinking is one of the most important things in this type of situation, yet the voice of panic usually drowns it out. Glasses, however stereotypical,

“Which is better-- to have laws and agree or hunt and kill?” (Golding).The boys have to decide if they want rules or to live like savages and they need a leader so they end up having a vote. The boys have a gathering to decide who is going to be in charge, Ralph won the vote, and he chose to go by the rules. The boys need order, hope, and survival skills to survive being on the island, without them they would run lose like a bunch of savages. In the novel, Lord of the flies, by William Golding the conch symbolizes order, the fire represents hope, and Piggy’s glasses illustrates survival.

In Lord of the Flies (LoF) by William Golding, symbols are used to illustrate Golding’s bleak views of the basic instincts of man. It appears that Golding believes that no matter whom you are or what your life is like, your basic instincts and compulsions are dark, and self-preserving. The majority of this story can be read symbolically whether through the islands structure, the characters if the boys, or the objects occurring within the book. However the symbolism of the conch, the lord of the flies, and both fires are the three most important symbols that illustrate the true darkness of man.

In real life, common objects may not hold much value and are often taken for granted. However, authors use such common objects to help symbolise ideas that strengthen their point of view. William Golding's award winning novel, Lord of the Flies, reinforces the author's view of humanity being consumed of evil and darkness; through the use of language features such as symbolism. A group of boys are stranded on an uninhabited island, and come in contact with many unique elements and objects. The author uses a pig, mask, and Lord of the Flies as symbols. Golding foreshadows the dissolution of the young English boys' civilised, educated, disciplined behaviour — as they accustomed into vicious barbarians — ultimately losing their innocence.

By understanding symbols, you get a better picture of the novel “Lord of the Flies” and the hidden messages and references to human nature and a criticism of society.

Humans live and develop in societies with rules, order and government, but humans are not perfect, they have many deficiencies so does the societies they live in. When a group of schoolboys land on a tropical island, Ralph takes on the role of leader by bringing all of the boys together and organizing them. He first explains “There aren’t any grownups. We shall have to look after ourselves.”(p.33), this brings up the question if the boys will have prosperity or will they succumb to the evil on the island. At first the young boys start being successful and civilized but chaos soon overruns them and evil starts to lurk over the island. William Golding’s effective use of symbolism helps emphasize and tie together the relationship between the evil in society and in human nature. The fictional story of the group of British schoolboys stranded on an island and the decisions they make, relate back to our society and the decisions we might make in a difficult situations. Lord of The Flies is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The use of symbols in the novel to represent the flaws of human nature, helps create this theme. The conch is one of the main objects the boys use and has a very strong evolution throughout the novel. Likewise, painted faces are used as a method to show the change in human nature throughout a long period of time. Another object that is persistent throughout the novel are Piggy’s specs, they are principally used to start fires but have a more deeper significance.

Piggy is one of the main characters in the novel. It is notable that he is also the only character who wears glasses. Because of his ideas and approach to different situations, he is seen as the outcast of the group. Piggy symbolizes wisdom and the adult world because of his intelligence and rationally approaches situations compared to the other childish boys on the island as well as his possession of glasses. The boys start to lose

The novel, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, is symbolic from start to finish. Many of these symbols change their meaning as the novel takes a darker turn. At the beginning of the novel, the symbols have a sense of innocence and democracy. However, as the novel progresses, the symbols change and begin to carry a much darker and more savage tone. Three of the main symbols in the novel are: the conch shell, the beast, and the island itself. The symbols of the conch shell, the beast, and the island are impacted by the savagery that begins to run rampant and help the reader to see how easily the evil inside of man can grow into utter destruction.

Symbolism is used everywhere in life, books, music and television to name a few. It is especially used in the book Lord of The Flies, by William Goulding. The novel is set in the fifties when a group of British boys, ages six to twelve, crash land onto a deserted island all alone. The boys fight and struggle for their own survival, while turning against each other. They start out with a plan to get rescued but their hope soon turns into savagery against each other. The novel Lord of the Flies, by William Goulding has many different symbols that change throughout the books progression, like the conch representing the rise of power and government, then the fall, Piggy’s glasses representing technical advances then the loss of humanity, and the