Lord Of The Flies Metaphor Analysis

Lord of the Flies, the title in and of itself, is a metaphor. This book is founded on metaphors, ranging from objects representing unity, to people representing “good and evil”, depending on which perspective the book is taken from. The change in perception will ultimately change the way each metaphor is interpreted. However, one metaphor that is universally agreed on is that of Piggy, a physical representation of knowledge. Throughout the book, metaphors seem to be hidden everywhere, but when broken down one idea is shown above the rest; Piggy was and still is the key to survival in any scope the book is peered through. Ultimately his death led to the downfall of the rest of the tribe, and when he dies, the tribe essentially does too. Piggy’s

Piggy is murdered, but specifically “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee…” (pg. 181) The idea of having his head crushed is a clear metaphor that where the knowledge was once stored to keep the boys alive, is now gone. And then again, immediately following, the entirety of the set power roles are reversed, and Ralph then becomes the hunted and the newly defined savages take over and overthrow him and would’ve (if uninterrupted) killed him, showing the importance of knowledge in this type of scenario. Knowledge is the foundation for civilization and without it the “primal instincts” that everyone possesses kick in and their priorities then become skewed. Every primal need is based on the “appetite” they require, whether it be water, shelter, or food; which is what Jack feels is the most necessary to have throughout the book, whereas Ralph was focused more so on shelter and tactics for rescue, like keeping the fire going. Ralph and Piggy were both focused on the most immediate need for survival, rescue. When Piggy is crushed, the knowledge and support Ralph had behind him, crumbled with him. The loss of “knowledge” was what got the ball rolling to the ultimate destruction of the tribe. Everything, literally, went up in flames as the story came to a destructive