Welcome to Eden. Beautiful, with fruitful trees and crystal oceans surrounding it on every side. The perfect paradise, unless you’re stranded there. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses a religious allegory to prove that in times of crisis, most people stray away from a hope of salvation, but a select few have a strengthened relationship with God.
A hope of rescue is hard to come by in Lord of the Flies, but a few characters naturally have a grasp on their goal to get home. Simon, for example, is the definition of innocence. From the beginning of the book, he is seen as a good, Christ-like character. “Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they couldn’t reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the …show more content…
Evil surrounds the boys on the island, consuming them as they devolve from sophisticated young boys to vicious animals. “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think…” (Page 91) The boys varying priorities on the island show their true colors. Some act like animals, thinking only of killing and violence. Others see this evil in a different light, observing the savages from the outside, but not becoming savages themselves. “It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our actions.” (Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets) Good versus evil. It’s a choice people tend to let their lives make for them. For example, Jack’s barbarous actions and feelings seem repulsive, but his determined attitude is attractive to others, and more boys choose to follow in his aggressive ways. This is similar to Satan’s plan to keep us from being redeemed by God. Roger, Jack’s partner in crime, also has this lust for power over living things. “I ought to be chief.” said Jack with simple arrogance. (Page 16) Jack comes across as an obvious and devious leader. He masks himself in paint and says whatever is on his mind. Roger, on the other hand, “kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy.” (Page 22) Roger represents Jack's worst characteristic, wanting control over the island and the boys. He is pessimistic and threatening, and …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, no sin had happened on the island, making it completely innocent, unless otherwise changed by the boys themselves. "This is our island. It's a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we'll have fun." (Page 26) The island is very much like the Garden of Eden. “The novel's uninhabited tropical island is a paradise, but the children who are cast on it cannot reclaim the state of innocence it represents. When things go wrong the island becomes an image of their lost and isolated condition.” (van Vuuren, Marijke) Completely innocent, no sin had entered the world yet. Pink resembles innocence, and the island is flooded with pink: pink rocks, pink cliffs, the pink conch, and even pigs. The book even says the boys were pink before they became sunburned and dark, which proves their innocence in the first couple chapters. When the boys first realize there are no adults on the island, they were actually overjoyed. From this point on, the boys never really seem like children. "Aren't there any grownups at all?" "I don't think so." The fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy. "No grownups!" (Page 5) At the end of the book, the island has been almost completely destroyed. Officers show up to take the remaining boys home, sees their war, and hardly thinks
A hope of rescue is hard to come by in Lord of the Flies, but a few characters naturally have a grasp on their goal to get home. Simon, for example, is the definition of innocence. From the beginning of the book, he is seen as a good, Christ-like character. “Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for them the fruit they couldn’t reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the …show more content…
Evil surrounds the boys on the island, consuming them as they devolve from sophisticated young boys to vicious animals. “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think…” (Page 91) The boys varying priorities on the island show their true colors. Some act like animals, thinking only of killing and violence. Others see this evil in a different light, observing the savages from the outside, but not becoming savages themselves. “It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our actions.” (Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets) Good versus evil. It’s a choice people tend to let their lives make for them. For example, Jack’s barbarous actions and feelings seem repulsive, but his determined attitude is attractive to others, and more boys choose to follow in his aggressive ways. This is similar to Satan’s plan to keep us from being redeemed by God. Roger, Jack’s partner in crime, also has this lust for power over living things. “I ought to be chief.” said Jack with simple arrogance. (Page 16) Jack comes across as an obvious and devious leader. He masks himself in paint and says whatever is on his mind. Roger, on the other hand, “kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy.” (Page 22) Roger represents Jack's worst characteristic, wanting control over the island and the boys. He is pessimistic and threatening, and …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, no sin had happened on the island, making it completely innocent, unless otherwise changed by the boys themselves. "This is our island. It's a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we'll have fun." (Page 26) The island is very much like the Garden of Eden. “The novel's uninhabited tropical island is a paradise, but the children who are cast on it cannot reclaim the state of innocence it represents. When things go wrong the island becomes an image of their lost and isolated condition.” (van Vuuren, Marijke) Completely innocent, no sin had entered the world yet. Pink resembles innocence, and the island is flooded with pink: pink rocks, pink cliffs, the pink conch, and even pigs. The book even says the boys were pink before they became sunburned and dark, which proves their innocence in the first couple chapters. When the boys first realize there are no adults on the island, they were actually overjoyed. From this point on, the boys never really seem like children. "Aren't there any grownups at all?" "I don't think so." The fair boy said this solemnly; but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him. In the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy. "No grownups!" (Page 5) At the end of the book, the island has been almost completely destroyed. Officers show up to take the remaining boys home, sees their war, and hardly thinks