Symbolism In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

All the boys participate in assaulting Robert because they believe it is just a game and that nothing will go wrong, but this is not true. The mask plays a part in this as it disguises the boys from their civilized sides, and brings out their savagery causing them to brutally beat Robert even when not wearing it. Moreover, as Simon attempts to inform the boys about how the beast is actually a dead parachutist, they mistake him for the beast and , “The sticks [fall] and the mouth of the new circle [crunches] and [screams]. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abdominal noise…”(152).

In the imagination of the boys, the beast is a tangible monster of evil on the island. At first, most of the boys disregard the Beast, but as they fall further from civilization, they put more faith in it. The Beast is a symbol for the evil and malice that reside within everyone, and it gets more powerful as the boys capitulate to their savagery. It causes life on the island to deteriorate. Simon is the first one to realize that it is them who are becoming evil and that there is no beast on the island.

The boys struggle with the evil that is taking them over, and they begin to feel like animals; “That world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” (Golding 178). The boys begin to see everything slip away. All of their civility and their happiness that they once shared crash on the island. In conclusion, Lord of the Flies has many objects that represent the boys struggle between savagery and civility on the island. The beast represents the evil that got inside of the boys causing them to kill Simon.

Fear also comes into play when all the boys believe that there is a big beast that comes in the night. At first, they did not believe it, but as time went on, they saw more and more signs that it was real, even though it was not. Many of the boys are scared, which leads them to think that one of the boys is the beast that they are all scared of. They kill the boy, which shows that fear and chaos not only affect Roger, but some of the other boys, too. This all causes Roger to become more violent, which is out of his own hands because of the conditions that he is put in, therefore not his

After a littlun, Percival, tells everyone “the beast comes out of the seas,” (94). the boys argue about what the beast is and where it comes from. When Simon has the bravery to speak up about what he thinks, he says, “what I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (96). This is the first time someone has identified the possibility that the horrid 'beast' is the boys themselves, and that they should be scared of themselves and each other. This thought is also established by the Lord of the Flies later on in the novel when it says to him, “fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!

I’m the reason why it’s no go?” (Golding 143). Simon’s hallucination reveals to him that the boys’ beast lives inside them and cannot be killed. The boys’ supposed physical beast reveals itself as the evil desire all men possess. Golding supports his belief that all men contain uncontrollable wicked desires even at a young age by making the

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”-Edgar Allan Poe. Lord Of the Flies, by WIlliam Golding, is a story about young school boys whose school is being bombed. They are taken on a plane to a safer place when their plane crashes and they are stranded on a island by themselves. As the story unfolds we see the different relationships the boys form. They all face several struggles while alone, and the island impacts them all individually.

But it is the other way. The beast wants simon to leave forever because he was the one that was brought common sense and knowledge that evil was taking over. So the boys, that had already crossed the line, let the beast take over. And when they did that, they killed simon. So it just goes to show that just by crossing the line, it is hard to get back across.

When people are left alone they do not know what to do so they turn to cruelty, savagery and bullying. They create an enemy for themselves and become obsessed with it. In this novel they create the beast, an enemy that only exists inside their minds and was caused by a man that they only felt but did not see inside a dark cave they were exploring. A pig’s head which they managed to kill is then placed on a stick as an offering to the beast so it would not attack them. Jack so strongly believes that there is a beast that he kills Simon, mistaking him as the beast attacking.

The beast demonstrated each beast inside of the boys, and it caused the boys to bring out their inner beast due to the fact their terrified of the beast. The weather shows that there is a big plot change and Golding wants us to recognize it. Ralph has started to worry and the beast inside of him has started to show. “‘Bathing’, said Ralph ‘that’s the only thing to do.’ Piffy was inspecting the looming sky through his glasses. ‘I don’t like them clouds.