Beneficial Ambiguity
Twice has it happened that the entire world was consumed by fear with each time bringing a harsher reality. These global conflicts came to be known as the World Wars, both of which would involve the slaughter of millions of innocent people. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, examines what would happen should a third World War take place. In the novel, a group of boys finds themselves stranded on an unpopulated island after their plane is shot out of the sky. While they attempt to remain civilized, things quickly turn grim as a group of “big ‘uns” (older boys) descend into savagery; things continue to grow worse until rescue comes in the final chapter of the novel. By examining how deeply the boys in Golding’s …show more content…
Figurative language abounds; there are layers upon layers of meaning, most of which is not obvious upon the first read. Once the reader works past the confusion, it becomes easier to interpret the work. Golding wrote his work as a reaction to the horrendous events of World War II; taking that into consideration, the novel is a wonderful example of an allegory. The children can be read as the Allied Powers versus Germany with Ralph, Piggy, and Simon representing the allies whereas Jack is a Hitler-esque figure and Roger functions as Mengele. They entered into their own war because their personalities and perspectives clashed too much. Jack made several attempts to establish himself as the provider, transforming his choir into a group of hunters, and led his tribe through intimidation. If anyone were to oppose him, just as Ralph eventually does, he would make a point of converting or eliminating them; Ralph, on the other hand, is one of the only people who doesn’t give succumb to his primal urges. Continuing to interpret the novel in terms of the second world war, the naval officer who doesn’t arrive until the very end represents the role of the United States in that “global” conflict. He saw none of the conflict; without first-hand knowledge, he cannot hope to understand the situation fully. The best he can hope for is to salvage as much as he as much as is feasible from the wreckage. Lord of the Flies functions as …show more content…
Many questions remain unanswered whereas others are left open to interpretation by the reader. For example, the welfare of the boys after their rescue is never mentioned; one might conclude that they were all reformed, or else struggled to readjust to society and suffered a downward spiral. Many questions inspired by the novel are never answered within the text. One question that remains unanswered is that of what was meant by the twins’ cryptic message to Ralph - “a stick sharpened at both ends”. Those six words are repeated several times within the last chapter as Ralph struggles to comprehend them. They could refer to the rivalry between Ralph and Jack - conflict isn’t one-sided; multiple parties are involved, and the most likely result is that all those involved will end up hurt. Another question that is never officially answered relates to the morals of the boys - nowhere is it stated that they realized how fundamentally wrong the deaths of Simon and Piggy were. By looking closely at the passages following both of their deaths, one can come to conclusions of what they think happened. Ralph, along with ‘Samneric’ (Sam and Eric, a pair of twins), all try to rationalize what happened; with Simon, they claimed they were provoked as he snuck up on Jack’s tribe in the woods, whereas Piggy’s death is brushed aside as merely an accident. An ambiguous ending allows for the reader to come to their own conclusions in regards to how the
Twice has it happened that the entire world was consumed by fear with each time bringing a harsher reality. These global conflicts came to be known as the World Wars, both of which would involve the slaughter of millions of innocent people. William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, examines what would happen should a third World War take place. In the novel, a group of boys finds themselves stranded on an unpopulated island after their plane is shot out of the sky. While they attempt to remain civilized, things quickly turn grim as a group of “big ‘uns” (older boys) descend into savagery; things continue to grow worse until rescue comes in the final chapter of the novel. By examining how deeply the boys in Golding’s …show more content…
Figurative language abounds; there are layers upon layers of meaning, most of which is not obvious upon the first read. Once the reader works past the confusion, it becomes easier to interpret the work. Golding wrote his work as a reaction to the horrendous events of World War II; taking that into consideration, the novel is a wonderful example of an allegory. The children can be read as the Allied Powers versus Germany with Ralph, Piggy, and Simon representing the allies whereas Jack is a Hitler-esque figure and Roger functions as Mengele. They entered into their own war because their personalities and perspectives clashed too much. Jack made several attempts to establish himself as the provider, transforming his choir into a group of hunters, and led his tribe through intimidation. If anyone were to oppose him, just as Ralph eventually does, he would make a point of converting or eliminating them; Ralph, on the other hand, is one of the only people who doesn’t give succumb to his primal urges. Continuing to interpret the novel in terms of the second world war, the naval officer who doesn’t arrive until the very end represents the role of the United States in that “global” conflict. He saw none of the conflict; without first-hand knowledge, he cannot hope to understand the situation fully. The best he can hope for is to salvage as much as he as much as is feasible from the wreckage. Lord of the Flies functions as …show more content…
Many questions remain unanswered whereas others are left open to interpretation by the reader. For example, the welfare of the boys after their rescue is never mentioned; one might conclude that they were all reformed, or else struggled to readjust to society and suffered a downward spiral. Many questions inspired by the novel are never answered within the text. One question that remains unanswered is that of what was meant by the twins’ cryptic message to Ralph - “a stick sharpened at both ends”. Those six words are repeated several times within the last chapter as Ralph struggles to comprehend them. They could refer to the rivalry between Ralph and Jack - conflict isn’t one-sided; multiple parties are involved, and the most likely result is that all those involved will end up hurt. Another question that is never officially answered relates to the morals of the boys - nowhere is it stated that they realized how fundamentally wrong the deaths of Simon and Piggy were. By looking closely at the passages following both of their deaths, one can come to conclusions of what they think happened. Ralph, along with ‘Samneric’ (Sam and Eric, a pair of twins), all try to rationalize what happened; with Simon, they claimed they were provoked as he snuck up on Jack’s tribe in the woods, whereas Piggy’s death is brushed aside as merely an accident. An ambiguous ending allows for the reader to come to their own conclusions in regards to how the