Lord of the Flies Intro Paragraph The purpose of an author writing a piece of literature usually has a deeper, more symbolic meaning from what is read at a surface-level. The author of The Lord of the Flies by William Golding relies on the use of symbols to give the novel a deeper meaning. When the boys first land of the island, Piggy and Ralph stumble across a conch, which is symbolic for the state of their society. As the boys stay on the island longer, their hair grows out and their clothes become tattered, symbolizing their loss of humanity. Lastly, the unelected leader, Jack, created a dance and a chant for their hunting victories, which takes a complete turn as more of the boys' humanity is lost. In the novel Lord of the Flies,
On the surface, The Lord of the Flies seems as if it is just a common adventure story about the struggles of a group of young boys. However, if you look closer you will realize it is a complex story about power and the power of symbols. The plethora of unspoken symbols and the impressive use of power in The Lord of the Flies transforms the novel into much more than just a favorable story. The Lord of the Flies is a legend in the world of literature, and the novel’s fascinating use of symbols allowed it to become this way.
In the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding uses various items to show the main themes of the book. The book takes place in the midst of World War II and in the first few chapters, these themes start to appear. When Golding describes one of the main characters known as Piggy, he makes the readers perceive him as an intelligent boy by giving Piggy glasses. Throughout the book, the boys on the island disregard the intelligence of Piggy which leads to the fall of their civilization. Another item he uses to illustrate symbolism is the conch shell that Piggy finds on the beach.
Written in the symbolistic era of writing, William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, contains many symbols meant to express an overarching theme: the nature of human instincts. Being stranded on an island by a plane crash, a British group of boys have to survive on their own without any connections to the adult world. Described as having a weight problem, poor eyesight, and asthma, Piggy is not your prototypical leader; instead, he is more of an advisor with wisdom and knowledge to help the boys keep order. Similarly, the conch shell represents what civil order was left on the island once man’s essential illness took over. Although there are many symbols and relationships that are shown throughout the book, Piggy’s connected nature to the
The Collapse of the Conch In Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes symbolism throughout the novel in order to distinguish between civilization and savagery. The novel uses various symbols to relate concrete objects to the deterioration of the boys’ society. The boys’ society on the island morphed from an orderly group of children communicating with each other into a group of immoral beings with no laws to govern their actions. Golding uses the symbolism of the conch as a representation of order to argue the regression from civilization into savagery on the island.
In “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, and “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, survival is very important in both of the books plots. In both books, all characters show a need for survival, whether they are stranded on an island or trying to make it through concentration camp. In both books they show signs that adapting to their surroundings would help them survive better than others. In “Night”, Elie must adapt to the concentration camps so that he could get used to what he would have to deal with for future camps. In “Lord of the Flies”, Ralph must adapt to the island because, until rescue comes, all he has is the food and shelter that the island provides.
In the novel, "Lord of the Flies," by William Golding, there are many examples of symbolism throughout the text. These symbols play a big role in the plot and resolution of the story. Piggy is a very important character in the story. Piggy symbolizes the importance of scientific thought and intelligence on the island. "Which is better- to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?"
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys get stranded on an island with no adults in the midst of a war. The boys were orderly and civilized in the beginning but then as they began killing pigs they slowly became savages and lost their civilization. The boys began turning on each other and the evil within them became present. Golding uses a variety of literary devices including personification, symbols, metaphors, and irony, to project the theme that pure and realistic people in the world can be unheard and destroyed by evil.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the author’s war experience through his characters: Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack as allegories. Ralph posed as democracy and order, Piggy represented the intellect, Simon was the allegory of religion, and Jack was taken as corrupt power. Although, Golding focuses how society struggles when the foundation of civilization, which include morals, gradually deteriorates. This is illustrated by narrating English boys who are deserted on an island, especially Jack Merridew who is introduced as the tall, thin, red-headed leader of a choir group.
In William Golding’s The Lord Of The Flies, a significant amount of symbolism is displayed. For example, the island itself that all of the boys get trapped on, is symbolizing a microcosm of a new world the children will share. “Within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake,” (Golding 10). This embodies the difference between what most people see on a normal basis, and what the boys will all start seeing.
In Lord of The Flies by William Golding, dozens of british schoolboys find themselves stranded on an island after an horrific plane crash. As the boys get more accustomed to life on the island, they lose their grasps on civilization and even result to savage tendencies such as murder. Right before the barbarous boys, who were deceived by their power-crazed peer, (Jack) were about to kill their former chief, a navy general arrived to the island and brought them back to civilization. Golding uses an abundance of symbolism throughout the novel to give characters complex and deeper attributes. For example, hair is a major symbol and is used frequently throughout the novel to give us insight on characters and the setting.
Literary Analyses of the Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies demonstrates a wide variety of symbolism; from Christ to Satan the children are portrayed in an abstract manner to represent these religious beings, as well as a symbol of great strife for power. Two of the main symbolic devices are used in the form of a mystical Conch and a cumbersome Sow’s head perched atop a stake; however these symbols represent very different ideas. Next the Lord of the Flies demonstrates the burden and struggle of power in multiple ways. William Golding included within this novel the power of symbolism, using inanimate objects, characters, or even landmasses to represent ideals derived from basic human morals and Christian religion that has a major influence
Author, William Golding, in his novel, "Lord of the Flies," follows a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to govern themselves. One of the boys, Piggy, is constantly bullied and considered a nuisance by the power-hungry boys on the island. Golding's use of an isolated setting in the midst of the other boys illustrates Piggy's struggle to liberate himself from their oppression. However the need to survive reveals Piggy's inventiveness and rational mindset.
The boys were pushed to this level of savagery by the need for power. In chapter nine of Lord of the Flies, William Golding employs symbolism, repetition, and animal imagery to convey the theme that the need for power can cause people to become savages. Golding uses the rhetorical strategy symbolism to convey the theme that the need for power can cause people to become savages. In this story they use a conch shell to symbolize order within the group.
The Lord of the Flies novel, by William Golding, is a symbolic allegory, delving deep into the true horrors of war, savagery, and the loss of innocence throughout the duration of time the children spent on the island. I the novel a situation arises involving a dead parachutist, still he represents so much more than Mr. Golding makes apparent. Commonly applied to the story is the ideology of a “beast,” the concept behind these two aspects are similar, yet have a distinct separation between them. Just like the notion of the “beast” and the dead parachutist is the “Lord of the Flies” himself, pertaining to reasons related to that of the other two major examples of symbolism. The dead parachutist is so much more than what you see, you must go deeper
Lord of the Flies remains Golding’s most accredited piece of work. It is an apparently simple but densely layered novel that has been categorized as fiction, fable, a myth, and a tale. Generous use of symbolism in Golding’s work is what distinguishes him with other authors of the same genre. For example, the conch shell, that represents a vulnerable hold of authority which was finally shattered to pieces with Piggy’s death. Secondly, for the other boys, Piggy’s eyeglasses represented the lack of intelligence which was later defeated by superstition and savagery.