What Does The Glasses Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Piggy's glasses were used many times throught out the novel, where the boys of the island in fact found good use in them, and treated his glasses as a symbol of discovery,innovation, and source of civilization on the island such as creating the fire. Once piggy's glasses break, the innovation, and civilization is gone.

Lord of the Flies is a gruesome, dark and intense novel written as a political allegory by the author William Golding. In this novel Lord of the Flies, there are various significant symbols the most being Piggy’s glasses because of how it allows a logical smart boy to see and perform tasks, it becomes a tool of innovation being able to start fires, and how it leads to the destruction of an island.

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

Lord of the Flies is often claimed to be an allegory of modern society. While this is true, Golding’s intentions in writing this novel are much deeper. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies provides an enlightening insight into the true nature of human beings; along with why people refrain from acting upon the evil that resides within them. He presents these ideas through symbolism within the novel and it proves effective in many ways. Through symbolism, Golding can unfold the excellent plot of his novel, while subsequently sharing his ideas on the relationship of mankind and society. Golding uses the beast, the conch shell, and Piggy’s glasses to symbolize the human impulse towards ‘savagery’ and the social constructs put in place to prevent it.

Piggy’s glasses symbolize reason and innovation throughout the novel; Golding most commonly associates them with the old camp on the beach. Piggy uses his glasses to help the other boys “see”, both physically and intellectually, the best and most reasonable way forward. However, any time they are removed from the beach, chaos is sure to ensue. The first time, when the boys go to the mountain to light the signal fire, Jack and the other boys pry the glasses off Piggy’s face so they can use them as burning glasses. While this does help to start the signal fire so they can be seen by a ship, it traumatizes Piggy since even at this point in the book, Jack scares him. Despite the good intentions for the fire, it soon goes wild and even results in the death of a littlun.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you”. Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding written in 1954, centering on a group of boys stuck on an island who unsuccessfully attempt to govern themselves. They struggle against fear of outside forces as well as themselves, and the reader observes as they lose their innocence and slowly decline from civility in all its forms. In his novel, Lord of the Flies, William S. Golding portrays the theme that society can be corrupted because individuals are naturally corrupt through his use of the symbols of the beast, Piggy’s glasses, and the fire.

In the novel Lord of The Flies, Piggy’s glasses symbolise the boys’ last reminder of civilisation, the social structure outside of the island and humanity. These glasses are linked to Piggy because they are a part of his identity and his glasses are a way to help Piggy not be ignored by the boys, as he otherwise is seen as the outsider. Throughout the novel, as the glasses become shattered, it results in more savagery. When they discover the significance of the glasses, and how to start a fire, the glasses begin symbolise hope of survival and rescue, and as they become shattered their hope of survival and rescue is diminished.

William Golding uses tons of symbolism throughout the book, Lord of the Flies. One of the major symbols of the book is Piggy’s glasses. Golding uses the glasses to symbolize a connection to society. Piggy’s glasses are also used to show that the boys lose more and more connection to society as the book progresses. Without the specs, the boys chances of being rescued are very slim. The boys use the glasses to create a signal fire to notify passing ships that there is life on the island. As long as they are in possession of the glasses, they still have a chance to regain a connection with society.

In literature, symbolism is one of the most important aspects in telling a story; without this, a story would simply appear to be inconsequential and have no reason. Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, it is portrayed that with a lack of unity, rules and order comes the dismantlement of civilization. Over the course the novel, Golding uses a number of symbols to represent these themes, most importantly though, piggy’s glasses. He uses this object in particular to symbolize Piggy’s feel for reason and universal ethical laws by which all human beings should follow; while on the other hand, for Jack and the other “savages”, it is are a tool to control the children and that is why Jack feels the need to break them.

The glasses represent intelligence, perspective and thought in the society. The boys are always taking the glasses and even break them, which symbolizes a disregard for intelligence and thought that some of the boys have. Towards the end of the book, Jack and the hunters raid the village where Piggy and Ralph were staying in order to get fire to cook their meat. After they raided, Jack walks down the beach where “from his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168). The broken glasses symbolize the broken perspective the hunters have.

Fire, in today’s society, is used for several different reasons including warmth, cooking, and destruction while prescription glasses have mainly one purpose, to help aid in eyesight. But for Piggy, the most rational of the group, and Ralph, the leader of all the kids, fire and a pair of bifocals are solely used for survival. Jack on the other hand, who is the leader of the savages, uses fire to harm and control others around him. Lord of the Flies by William Golding acquires an elaborate way to develop deeper meanings of each of the symbols especially fire and Piggy’s glasses.

Piggy’s glasses in the novel Lord of the Flies represent many things such as advancement, innovation, and discovery. The glasses symbolize not only Piggy’s knowledge but also the way the children see things and how they become blind and can no longer function like a civilized society. When the glasses lens is cracked and broken in foreshadows the destruction of civilization and Piggy’s death. Although there are many symbolic objects throughout the novel Piggy’s glasses prove to have the greatest significant in many ways.

Lord of the Flies has symbols throughout the story, each character brings a different point of view. Piggy, Ralph, and Jack take a leading role with all the boys, although they vote Ralph in charge both of the other boys take a leadership position. Goulding uses the boys to show the faults of mankind and the roots of all evil. Four symbols Goulding used in the novel were: Piggy’s glasses, the Conch Shell, The Beast, and Simon’s hiding place. Therefore, the symbols show the true character of the boys who are stranded on an island.

Piggy’s glasses symbolize knowledge. The glasses also represent society’s reliance upon technology because humans are sometimes weak. The glasses were created to make Piggy’s eyesight better than before. His life is better with the glasses because he can see, without them I don’t know what he would do. Jack slaps the glasses off of Piggy’s face, and in that