Essay about Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

In the book, the readers can tell that Jack only cares about savagery and hunting pigs. Jack feels that he can replace Ralph as leader, because Ralph does not take much of responsibility. He falls into the savagery category because when he puts on the mask to kill the pigs, it hides his inner inhibitions. “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.”(pg. 69). This quote shows Jack’s evil side when it comes to the death of their first pig, and it is also a political allegory. “The conch doesn’t count on the top of the mountain… so you shut up.”(pg. 42) Jack feels like he is a dictator, so he decides to take control of Piggy. “You should have seen the blood!”(pg. 70). This shows Jack’s loss of innocence, and the savagery inside him and the

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.

William Golding kills off everything important to survival and by this he means that the world is doomed. So many significant objects are broken by the end of the book, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which is a novel about a bunch of inexperienced boys being trapped together on an island and are forced to find means of survival. There are a lot of symbols in this book that all represent the only way they can survive. Each symbol represents a piece of the world and how it functions. Without all of these pieces, the world can’t function. William Golding clearly shows that the world is doomed by one by one killing off all of the objects and symbols that keep them sane and alive.

Throughout Golding’s novel, Ralph represents a democratic government, where everyone has a voice, as well as a just Civilization. During the reading you will see that Ralph is backed by Truth, human goodness, logic, and scientific intellect, all characteristic in which Piggy and Simon represent.

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is a very iconic book in my opinion. This novel consists mostly of symbolism. Lord of the Flies talked about the relationship of teenage boys who survived a plane crash together. The boys are all on their own and struggling. They encounter many incidences that comply symbolism. A couple of the acts of symbolism are the beast the boys kept imagining, Piggy’s glasses, and the conch. The boys are all afraid of the beast, Piggy’s glasses demonstrate the fact that he saw everything more clear then the boys and how he started the fire. Lastly, the last of the most important symbolisms in the novel is the conch, showing the civilization and order.

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.

Jack represents physical power and bold action while Piggy is the intellectual who would rather think than act. Roger reveals a cruel nature and

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies presents a story of young, English boys who fall onto an island due to a plane attack during World War III. Their first objective is to create a stabilized society, but over time their attempt to do so rapidly devolves into mayhem. The main conflict of the plot includes polar opposites Ralph and Jack, who compete for leadership throughout the novel. In the story, the differences between the protagonist and antagonist cause the reader to sympathize and develop an opinion to why Ralph is the better leader even though all of the remaining characters follow Jack by the end of the book. Ralph is symbolic of the order and civility of adult society, while Jack represents violence, disorder, and the desire Golding

and four in chapter seven. This finally solidifies at the ending of the book, Close to the end jack completely lets his instinct take him over and has zero sense of societal standards left. “Then there was that indefinable connection between himself and jack; who therefore would let him alone” Said by Ralph, on page one sixty eight. Jack in confronted with the choice, to kill Ralph and gain ultimate power and dominance, to be the only leader, or to let him go, and due to Jacks time in the darkness of the island he of course resorts to chasing Ralph down to kill him. Jack however is not the only corrupted one on the island, other boys were also dramatically affected. Roger is much like jack in the sense of sanity. He too also had a breaking point in which he lost the sense of moral good. This evil was first introduced in chapter eight “With his spear whenever pig flesh appeared.... Roger found a lodgement for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight” This is the point when roger starts the decent into savagery. This is finalized when he in the end kills piggy with out thought “High overhead, roger with a sense of

Roger is the second antagonist in the novel. Jack Merridew’s best friend is Roger and they both are too close to each other. Roger has got black hair. The boy is described as a barbarian, cruel, furtive and dark boy. He is the most violent, naughty and aggressive of all the boys.

There is a message about human nature, and the way that nature would react under pressure. Golding wrote The Lord of the Flies during World War Two, during a time when people were fighting, and showing no mercy toward innocent people. This was a disturbing time in our history, one where people were showing almost savage tendencies. Golding wanted to convey these conflicts through symbolism and allegories, and did so with the conflict between Jack and Ralph, the conch and the beast’s shifting power, and the climax of Piggy’s death and the destruction of the

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.

The Lord Of The Flies, written by William Golding, is a political allegory where the island illustrates the world while Jack and Ralph both symbolize conflicting ideologies, totalitarianism and democracy because Ralph and Jack, in a power struggle, fight for control over the island, trying to spread their respective ideologies, just as it occurred during the inception of the book. Stranded on the island, the boys, haggard and bedraggled, chose Ralph as their chief. During the voting process, Ralph and his conch, the device use to talk in the tribe, are described: "There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most importantly, yet most powerful, was the conch" (22). The quote,

The theme of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between human impulse and savagery, and the rules of the civilization. The point of the civilization is the minimize if not abolish the conflict. This conflict is shown to us by the differing ideas of Ralph and Jack. Ralph and Jack Represent civilization ad savagery. Simon although the boys think he is odd and a loner is actually very kindhearted and helps piggy since piggy is constantly teased. Jack only wants to have full control/power over the rest of the boys, Ralph on the other hand establishes rules, protects the group. he also uses morals and ethics of the English society they were all raised in. Jack also expects all the boys to follow his lead and do everything

Throughout the Lord of the Flies, a major theme is power and leadership. Whether it is the battle for power between Jack and Ralph, or the readers inferring similarities about today’s ways to gain leadership with the books. Ralph is elected chief in the beginning of the book, because he has something nobody else has, the conch. “Him with the shell. Ralph! Ralph! Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing” (Golding 23), It is similar to how in today’s society, people compete by saying “I have this,” “I can give you that.” This is what happened with Ralph, because he had the conch. When Jack doesn't become chief, he creates his own group, “The Tribe”, and slowly throughout the book gets more kids to join his group and leave Ralph. “He turned and trotted away and after a moment they followed him obediently” (Golding 187). Thusly, it shows how Jack is “in charge” of the boys and thinks he needs to lead. A common way to gain trust and control over people is fear, which William Golding shows in Lord of the Flies.