Literary Analysis Research Paper
Golding’s Lord of the Flies is clearly a story about a return to primeval human instincts of savagery and fear in the face of isolation and danger rather than just a story of the dilemma faced by teenage boys stranded on an island. Throughout the novel, underlying tones such as political ideologies are reflected by the boys’ actions. However, as the novel progresses, it is clear that expansive symbols and motifs largely mirror attitudes of the boys and on a larger scale, closely resemble aspects of society necessary for growth and development. According to Bufkin, this novel contains an intricate network of interrelated symbols and images that, composing the texture of Lord of the Flies, enlarge and universalize …show more content…
The boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon realizes that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys are offering it sacrifices and treating it as a god. The boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become. What reinforces this behavior is the physical existence of the Lord of the Flies, a severed cow’s head on a pike with flies around and a Biblical allusion to Beelzebub, a demonic devil. As Bufkin states, “the materialization of this devil coincides with the emergence of savage evil in the boys, revealed in the acts that they commit” (48). This confirms the idea that the “physical” manifestation coupled with the mental manifestation of the “beast” created a primal instinct of fear that influenced the uncivilized actions of the boys. In terms of political ideology, Diken et al. considers these states of chaos and irrational behavior as typical of fascist violence, which on a larger scale brings about radical changes to the society and the state; in this case, the “society” of the deserted island
Golding’s Lord of the Flies is clearly a story about a return to primeval human instincts of savagery and fear in the face of isolation and danger rather than just a story of the dilemma faced by teenage boys stranded on an island. Throughout the novel, underlying tones such as political ideologies are reflected by the boys’ actions. However, as the novel progresses, it is clear that expansive symbols and motifs largely mirror attitudes of the boys and on a larger scale, closely resemble aspects of society necessary for growth and development. According to Bufkin, this novel contains an intricate network of interrelated symbols and images that, composing the texture of Lord of the Flies, enlarge and universalize …show more content…
The boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon realizes that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys are offering it sacrifices and treating it as a god. The boys’ behavior is what brings the beast into existence, so the more savagely the boys act, the more real the beast seems to become. What reinforces this behavior is the physical existence of the Lord of the Flies, a severed cow’s head on a pike with flies around and a Biblical allusion to Beelzebub, a demonic devil. As Bufkin states, “the materialization of this devil coincides with the emergence of savage evil in the boys, revealed in the acts that they commit” (48). This confirms the idea that the “physical” manifestation coupled with the mental manifestation of the “beast” created a primal instinct of fear that influenced the uncivilized actions of the boys. In terms of political ideology, Diken et al. considers these states of chaos and irrational behavior as typical of fascist violence, which on a larger scale brings about radical changes to the society and the state; in this case, the “society” of the deserted island