Lord Of The Flies Symbolism

Decent Essays
In the Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is about boys surviving on an abandoned island. There were no adults whatsoever. At first, most of the boys were enjoying their lives without grown-ups. However, Jack and the hunters left the fire for hunting. It burned out, making it the first sign of savagery. Therefore, the novel’s theme is Civilization vs. Savagery and symbolism, point of view, and mood contributed the most to the novel.
Golding uses symbolism in his novel. The conch shell is one of the symbols. The shell symbolizes civilization, and its first use was to have the boys together. Another symbol used would be Piggy’s glasses. It is shown as intelligence, which he has. But, people ignored that part of him. They look over his looks before his intelligence.
…show more content…
For Lord of the Flies, the third person omniscient point of view is used. This point of view shows what the narrator knows about the characters’ actions and feelings. Ralph’s point of views is mostly used, with Jack’s and Simon’s sometimes. Ralph wants civilized order, while Jack wants savagery, and Simon is looks at things like a philosopher. Thus, the reader can understand that those characters have intelligence in their own

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    2. The boys came to the island because they got shot down. 3. The symbol of authority that the boys have is the conch shell. The conch shows who is the boss, and who has the right to speak at times.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Vs Beah

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In both Lord of the Flies and A Long Way Gone, William Golding and Ishmael Beah depict the plight of young boys who are forced to endure various hardships. Through their characters’ adversity, both Golding and Beah suggest that fear and the struggle to survive may result in the degeneration of civilization and logical thought, the loss of one’s humanity, and the corruption of leaders. Both Golding and Beah illustrate how society can collapse due to terror and chaos. For example, in Lord of the Flies, the boys heatedly debate the existence of a monster, and “to Ralph...this seemed the breaking of sanity” (Golding 88). Golding clarifies how the boys’ fear of the beast makes them wary and unreasonable, hinting at the start of their civilization’s…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Piggy's Glasses Analysis

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The conch also symbolizes what made Ralph the leader of the whole group because he was mainly elected for him to blow in conch and bring everyone together. Lastly, the book symbolizes the scar the plane that has crashed and crashed landed on the Island. The quote “When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I saw the other part of the plane.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Michael Zhang 1/28/17 Period 5 Lewis English 1 Honors Lord of the Flies essay William Golding, Author of the novel Lord of the Flies states,“What a man does defiles him, not what is done by others.” The novel is placed in a futuristic environment simultaneous to a massive world war. Golding, through his book and quote, is trying to convey a pessimistic principle of human nature. By using the conch, the beast and fire as symbols, he is describing the inner darkness and savagery of human nature. By showing the reader the inner savagery of a human, he drives the readers to reflect on modern day situations and human morals.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Symbols in the Lord of the Flies Every great story has some kind of moral lesson or theme, and this theme is developed with the help of significant symbols. Whether it is Faith’s pink ribbons that symbolize innocence in “Young Goodman Brown” or the serpent in the Garden of Eden that symbolizes evil and temptation, symbols are important to any story. Three significant figures in the “Lord of the Flies” include the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, and fire. The conch shell is the first symbol seen in the “Lord of the Flies.”…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Lord of the Flies, the author, William Golding, portrays significant aspects of vision and insight through the supporting characters of Piggy and Simon. Piggy makes intelligent and perceptive contributions on a practical level that are helpful to Ralph, while Simon takes on the role of mystic and visionary despite the fact that many of his keen observations go unheeded. Constantly, throughout the novel Piggy has depended on his intelligence to explain the seemingly supernatural island they’re living on. The character Piggy serves as knowledge to offset the emotionally driven boys on the island .Piggy…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    -Goldings weave of religious imagery and symbolism in the Lord Of The Flies is heavily imbedded using simon as a religious figure to kinda represent God. I do believe there is redemption with simon being the simon being the savior figure, and that is when he is killed or when there saved from the island or when the conch was smashed. Doing a little research on the garden of Eden I found that the translation is “related to an Aramaic root word meaning "fruitful, well-watered. " This textual evidence does help compare the two islands that is that the boys do find fruit on the island, and not just fruit but food in general and also that the island is well watered because there is water surrounding it and that the use of trees in the book are well…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The literary novel Lord of the Flies is an allegorical text that is complex and identifies common day issues through the eyes of its author William Golding, who had experienced the horrors of WWII. Golding created a story where a large group of British boys crash land on an island and are stranded. In the beginning, the boys try to stay civilized by selecting a leader and following that leader and a direct set of rules. Ralph one of two-man characters was chosen as leader. His rival Jack resented him for this and throughout the novel, the two groups diverged and Jacks group especially began to lose a civilized state of mind and moved towards savagery.…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Authors use experiences and events that have happened around them to develop realistic and relatable stories. This occurs in the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding through the use of christian references as well as the loss of innocence and growth among characters throughout the novel. This story is about a group of boys stranded on an island and their struggles to overcome conflict, death and fear. Golding was able to advance the story by using past knowledge and understanding of war and his interests in human relations. The whole world involved in World War II and the island that the boys live on, while they are different, show us that separation of religion, race and class leads to conflict and savagery.…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In William Golding’s novel, “The Lord of the Flies” starts out as a group of young boys get stranded on an island with no adults. They are forced to build their own set of rules and society. Golding portrays many unique conditions and situations that symbolize ideas or concepts. At first, this seems like a paradise, a dream come true but it soon leads to conflict. Such symbols as Simon and holiness, fire and power, to beasts and darkness, to pigs and craziness are all what help Golding put the novel together.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord of the Flies (Symbolism) Symbolism is present in the books we read. Symbolism develops the plot of a story and creates depth and detail to the characters. Books include symbolism that is significant to the story and pushes the story further. For example in the book, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, the main characters all symbolize a trait.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consequences Of Savagery

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The author stresses the negative consequences of savagery are clearly stated throughout the novel. In the early chapters of the novel, he proposes that one of the important roles of a society is to provide an outlet for human impulses. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in which the theme of savagery versus civilization is explored. William Golding uses word choice and Sam and Eric’s impressions, looks, and actions to reveal their attitude of being positive and nice. Firstly, Sam and Eric’s attitude of being positive and nice is revealed through the whole novel.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine being castaway on an island stripped of one’s rights but at the same time thinking about unlimited freedom and pleasure. At first peaceful thoughts occupy one’s mind. When no boundaries are established turmoil begins to seep into one’s mind, shrouding it from reality. Turmoil becomes the swirling vortex of insecurity that writhes in one’s body. One must not embrace these ideas or turmoil begins to generate other negative emotions such as anger.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of boys were stranded on an island in the depths of wilderness, with no sense of direction or authority. This lead to chaos and destruction to erupt between them; the boys were left to make their own decisions and choices to figure out survival on the island. In the novel, the power struggle between Ralph and Jack to become chief, ultimately led to savagery, a lack of innocence and society on the island. In particular, the antagonist, Jack Merridew was strongly influenced by the uncivilization which lead to great…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses political allegory to illustrate that differences in leadership results in division of citizens and civil unrest. Ralph represents a responsible, democratic leader while Jack is the judgmental dictator type of leader. When the deserted boys find each other on the island, Piggy was the very first to be judged. Piggy volunteers to go with Jack “Merridew”, Ralph, and Simon to venture the island, Jack snapped back, “‘We don’t want you’”…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays