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.” Ralph finds it in the lagoon and it becomes an object of his fascination. Piggy informs him of how he can produce a sound with it, and Ralph uses it as a way to call a meeting with everyone on the island. The audience can see from this event that it is way to create order after the chaos of the plane crash. The next …show more content…
When the boys want to build a fire, they use his glasses as “burning glasses.” The glasses symbolize science and technology on the island, which is important to any civilization. The next significant impact the glasses have is when the fire goes out and Jack gets mad and slaps Piggy in the face so hard that his glasses fall off and break. This symbolizes the declination of intelligence on the island. The boys’ only cared about hunting and they did not do the smart thing and keep the signal fire going. The last trace of intelligence disappears when Jack and his choir boys start their own tribe for fun and hunting. They do not care about getting rescued and returning to civilization. But when they kill a pig, they need a fire to cook it. Jack and his crew steal Piggy’s glasses in the middle of the night, “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.” (Golding, p.168). This represents the downfall of intelligent thought. Savageness has taken over when the smartest one of all is
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.” Ralph finds it in the lagoon and it becomes an object of his fascination. Piggy informs him of how he can produce a sound with it, and Ralph uses it as a way to call a meeting with everyone on the island. The audience can see from this event that it is way to create order after the chaos of the plane crash. The next …show more content…
When the boys want to build a fire, they use his glasses as “burning glasses.” The glasses symbolize science and technology on the island, which is important to any civilization. The next significant impact the glasses have is when the fire goes out and Jack gets mad and slaps Piggy in the face so hard that his glasses fall off and break. This symbolizes the declination of intelligence on the island. The boys’ only cared about hunting and they did not do the smart thing and keep the signal fire going. The last trace of intelligence disappears when Jack and his choir boys start their own tribe for fun and hunting. They do not care about getting rescued and returning to civilization. But when they kill a pig, they need a fire to cook it. Jack and his crew steal Piggy’s glasses in the middle of the night, “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses.” (Golding, p.168). This represents the downfall of intelligent thought. Savageness has taken over when the smartest one of all is