Symbolism in The Lord Of The Flies.

The need for civilization, innocence and loss of power is shown through the impaled pig's head. In order for the group to survive, animals must be killed in order for the boys to eat. Jack takes on the role of hunter because he enjoys killing living things, as seen when he states, “Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!” (104) Ralph is a more calm person and does not enjoy killing as much as Jack, although he takes a small part in killing the pig. However, in the end, Jack gains all the power because everyone looks up to him as leader because he attempts to hunt the pig throughout the novel and is successful in the end. “We’ll take the meat along the beach.” “Pick up the pig,” Jack said. (150) Meanwhile, Ralph doubts Jack's abilities to kill the pig, and constantly mocks him about being successful. “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up.”(51) Jack proves Ralph wrong and kills the pig. “Jack begins to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling."(58) He celebrates

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, Piggy’s glasses represent both weakness and power. The symbolism for the glasses progresses throughout the novel.

    To Piggy, the owner of the spectacles, the glasses at first represented the basic ability to see. They were thought no more of than a helpful accessory. “His specs- use them as burning glasses!” (40, Golding)  As the story progressed and the once well-mannered group slowly turned into

The beast is important, because it is a universal personification of the fear that ensnares most of the boys on the island. The strong belief in the beast allows Jack to take control. Furthermore, the fear of the beast scares Ralph to such a degree that he calls a meeting to vote on whether the beast is real or not. The book points to clear evidence of this: “Maybe, ...there is a beast, I don’t know, what I mean, maybe it's only us,” (Golding 84). This quote shows that Simon wasn’t terrified of the beast like the others as a living, breathing monster. Simon fears that the boys are becoming the beast by their actions on 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).

Piggy has been shown as a weak individual since he suffers from many physical and medical issues, however could be displayed as the most rational

The theft of Piggy’s glasses demonstrates that the selfish and savage side of human nature can appropriate scientific knowledge and advances for less-than-worthy purposes. Next, when Jack and the other boys kill a pig and the signal fire goes out, Ralph and Piggy try to confront

William Golding, author of the classic novel, Lord of the Flies, had a number of life experiences that impacted his view of the world and led to the creation of his book. The most prominent experience he has had might of been his time spent in the Royal Navy, which revealed a darkness in himself and his writing. This darkness was portrayed by the beast by aspects of War, Fear, and Savagery.

    Despite the progression of civilization and society's attempts to suppress man's darker side, moral depravity proves both indestructible and inescapable; contrary to culturally embraced views of humanistic tendencies towards goodness, each individual is susceptible to his base, innate instincts. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, seemingly innocent schoolboys evolve into bloodthirsty savages as the latent evil within them emerges. Their regression into savagery is ironically paralleled by an intensifying fear of evil, and it culminates in several brutal slays as well as a frenzied manhunt. The graphic consequence of the boys' unrestrained barbarity, emphasized by the

Ralph and Piggy believe that Jack and his tribe are after the conch, and leave it behind when they go to see what is going on at the other side of the island. Jack then begins to signal to the audience and the boys that the conch is now useless. It is has no meaning to anyone on the island, specifically his tribe. He indicates this statement by saying, “ You left it behind… and the conch doesn’t count on this side of the island-”(150).This passage from the novel exemplifies how the boys have lost their sense of command and order within one another. The message from the statement made by Jack is guiding the reader to see how each boy is transforming into a more ruthless individual, not caring about any rules or individuals in their lives. With author, William Golding, having the conch’s purpose be lost and forgotten begins to exhibit the children’s loss of reason within one another.

This passage is a demonstration of loss of hope and the strength of civilized instinct. Ralph’s hope has decreased when there is no one beside him but a few biguns and a few littluns, his strength of civilized instinct diminishes causing him to forget why there needed to be a signal fire in the first place, until Piggy reminds him of the fact. He proclaims he did not forget even though he did, however he does not own up to it.

And I’m the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” which is what the beast says to simon and shows us how the “Beastie” is within us. It is a great quote to show this. The “Beastie” is a lot like “The Darkness” from Gone and shows how it is a metaphor for inner savagery in the same way.

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.

In the words of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Our greatest evils flow from ourselves.” In other words, humans harbor an ever present looming evil nature within themselves. Evil is the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin, or the wicked or immoral part of someone. This concept of inner evil rising to the surface permeates William Golding’s dystopian novel Lord of the Flies, that evil exists in every human, proven through the characterization of the marooned boys. There is foreshadowing of the dangers of the boys’ inner immorality from one of the boys, Simon. As the novel progresses, evil starts asserts itself as the boys cast off their innocence and humanity, and turning against each other. Even the