William Golding Lord Of The Flies Textual Analysis

A world without rules, a society without order…Such fantasies that once only wandered in the imagination of people’s younger selves comes to life in William Golding’s philosophical novel, Lord of the Flies. The piece illustrates a dystopian view of the world through a social experiment with school-aged boys that spirals out of control. Gradual deterioration of humanity unveils itself with the expanding division in values as well as the swelling fear of a beast. Essensuating the story is Golding’s unique style; the narrative is written in a poetic yet sinister tone, embellished with numerous biblical allegories and symbols. With such devices, he is able to further emphasize the purpose of the text. William Golding successfully shines light upon

To further enhance the purpose of the text, Simon serves as a Christ figure throughout the novel. To begin, Simon provides the boys with numerous prophecies, as Jesus does in the gospels. He repeatedly reassures Ralph that “You’ll get back alright. I think so, anyway...I just think you’ll get back all right”(121). Though a strong friendship exists between him and Piggy as well, Simon does not say the same to him. As a result, Piggy becomes one of the three boys who does not live to see rescue. What's more, Golding also foreshadows Ralph’s survival as the tribe tries to take his life through Simon. Stylistically, this not only effectively provides dimension to the plot by building suspense, thickening it to better prepare for the falling action in the last chapter, it also contributes to the meaning of the text as it further highlights the tragedy and desperation in the scene of Simon’s death. Much like Christ preaching the Christian truth to the multitude only to be betrayed by Judas then crucified, when Simon attempts to inform others of the truth behind the beast from air, he is brutally murdered by the boys-including Ralph who he considers to be a valuable companion. Golding then illustrates that “The water rose further and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. The line of his shoulder became sculptured marble”(170). This tranquil image creates a sense of sacredness in Simon

In Lord of the Flies, the conch acts as a significant symbol of order and civilization provided by laws within society. Prior to Ralph is elected chief, the conch is nothing less than the very emblem of authority and structure: “...yet most powerfully, there was the conch”(19). The boys arrive at the consensus that the holder of the conch possesses all respect. In the early stages of the novel, Golding implies the roaming power of the conch in its ability to provide civilization. At this stage, a cage provided by society still constrains the boys’ inner inhumanity. However, Jack later alerts Ralph that “‘...the conch doesn't count at this end of the island’”(166). This quotation suggests the ineffectiveness of the conch on half of the island, illustrating its decaying power with the expansion of savagery in a simplified yet metaphoric way that can be easily grasped by readers. Finally, “...the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist,” mark the end of civilization, order, and complete fall into chaos and primitivism(200). With the development of the conch and establishment of its purpose, the scene of its shattering brings the novel to its climax, both in terms of plot and theme. Golding does not simply write that the control society has over the boys is broken, but does so through the symbolism of the conch. This is a