Symbolism in Lord of the Flies
The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is very symbolic and by including key symbols in the story Golding reveals the deeper meanings of them in the book Lord of the Flies. The most important symbols in the Lord of the Flies that symbolize what is happening to the boys and the island are the conch, the glasses and fire. A first reason for how the symbols make the story better is the way the conch is used in Lord of the Flies. Right from the beginning the conch is given power when it is used to call the boys together and Ralph becomes the leader. From that point onwards it represents power, rules and authority. An example of this is when they are deciding who should be chief and Ralph is set apart because …show more content…
19) This quote shows that the boys wanted Ralph to be chief because he was in control of it when the voting happened which put him above the others because he had the conch. In the middle of the book the conch begins to lose its importance and reliability of summoning everyone because Jack is starting to ignore the rules and challenge Ralph and the conch. An example of this is when the boys run away from the assembly to follow Jack to the beach and Ralph won’t call them back “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it.” (pg. 99) This shows that Jack and soon some of the other boys don’t respect the conch and what it stands for anymore and the conch is beginning to lose some its value. Near the end of …show more content…
At the beginning of the book the boy’s first goal for fire is to try and alert a passing ship but they get to carried away and a piece of the island gets burned down. It starts out as a symbol for hope and rescue but we also see the destructive side of fire. The hope that fire brings can be shown when Ralph says “If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” (pg. 37). This quote shows that the boys believe that they can be rescued if they build a fire on the mountain. Later in the book some of the boys start to forget about the fire and rescue as they get more and more savage. An example of this is when Ralph mentions rescue to Jack and “Jack had to think for a moment before he remembered what rescue was.” (pg. 54). This shows that people are beginning to lose sight of being rescued and are turning to more primitive behaviors like hunting instead of maintaining the fire. At the end of the book the boys have completely forgotten about the signal fire and the hope of rescue and fire is only used for destruction. This can be shown when Jack lights the island on fire in an effort to smoke out Ralph and kill him but Ralph is saved when he runs into a naval officer on the beach “We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?” (pg. 223). This shows that
The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is very symbolic and by including key symbols in the story Golding reveals the deeper meanings of them in the book Lord of the Flies. The most important symbols in the Lord of the Flies that symbolize what is happening to the boys and the island are the conch, the glasses and fire. A first reason for how the symbols make the story better is the way the conch is used in Lord of the Flies. Right from the beginning the conch is given power when it is used to call the boys together and Ralph becomes the leader. From that point onwards it represents power, rules and authority. An example of this is when they are deciding who should be chief and Ralph is set apart because …show more content…
19) This quote shows that the boys wanted Ralph to be chief because he was in control of it when the voting happened which put him above the others because he had the conch. In the middle of the book the conch begins to lose its importance and reliability of summoning everyone because Jack is starting to ignore the rules and challenge Ralph and the conch. An example of this is when the boys run away from the assembly to follow Jack to the beach and Ralph won’t call them back “If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it.” (pg. 99) This shows that Jack and soon some of the other boys don’t respect the conch and what it stands for anymore and the conch is beginning to lose some its value. Near the end of …show more content…
At the beginning of the book the boy’s first goal for fire is to try and alert a passing ship but they get to carried away and a piece of the island gets burned down. It starts out as a symbol for hope and rescue but we also see the destructive side of fire. The hope that fire brings can be shown when Ralph says “If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” (pg. 37). This quote shows that the boys believe that they can be rescued if they build a fire on the mountain. Later in the book some of the boys start to forget about the fire and rescue as they get more and more savage. An example of this is when Ralph mentions rescue to Jack and “Jack had to think for a moment before he remembered what rescue was.” (pg. 54). This shows that people are beginning to lose sight of being rescued and are turning to more primitive behaviors like hunting instead of maintaining the fire. At the end of the book the boys have completely forgotten about the signal fire and the hope of rescue and fire is only used for destruction. This can be shown when Jack lights the island on fire in an effort to smoke out Ralph and kill him but Ralph is saved when he runs into a naval officer on the beach “We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?” (pg. 223). This shows that