“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (204). In William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies, a plane carrying British boys is shot down over the Pacific. Many of the boys survive the crash, the pilot does not, and they find themselves stranded on a deserted island stranded with no adult supervision. On the island the boys recreate the culture they left behind by electing a leader named Ralph. Another character, Jack who wants to be a leader, slowly drives the boys from civilization and many rules to savagery which causes the death of two main characters, Piggy and Simon. Golding shows that humankind embraces their cruel, savage, and barbaric nature when not guided by civilization. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding uses several symbols to portray how evil will overcome …show more content…
Because Piggy is one of the more intelligent boys on the island, he knows, recognizes, and understands some of the things the other boys don’t. Ralph being the leader amongst the boys orders the them to make signal fire so ships will see the smoke and they will be rescued. They make the signal fire by using Piggy’s glasses as a source of technology. “His specs- use them as burning glasses” (40). The glasses later become a harmful source when they are misused by Jack. “He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). The glasses were stolen by ‘Jacks Troop’ to have power and control. The boys use the glasses as a source to keep the fire going, but once the group splits up, they fight each other for possession of the glasses. Piggy's glasses can be used to help mankind or ruin it. Golding's use Piggy’s Glasses to portray when people are not guided by civilization they turn cruel and do things they would never do in
Ralph and Jack were trying to start a fire on the mountain when Jack had the idea of using Piggy’s glasses. “His specs-use them as burning glasses” (Golding 40) Piggy’s glasses symbolizes power and a connection to humanity. The boys used his glasses several times throughout the book to start signal fires. The glasses signified humanity and a connection to the real world.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding has many symbols within it, but the strongest and biggest symbol is Piggy’s glasses because them being stolen from him marked a significant change in their behaviors from civil to savage and they were the reason the fire was made that led to their rescue. Towards the end of the book, Jack and a few others stole Piggy’s glasses from him with brute force. Not only did this action make Piggy useless, but it gave the most powerful thing on the island to the most corrupt and savage boy. When Jack attacked the shelter, “Ralph and Piggy’s corner became a complication of snarls and crashes and flying limbs,” (Golding 167) proving that Jack was far from civil in his way of obtaining the glasses. This moment
Piggy’s glasses are also used to symbolize his weakness that allows the boys to pick on him so frequently. Also since they used his glasses as the primary means of making fire on the island they were also a symbol of power. The boys used fire to stay warm, to keep away "night things", and to cook food, so it was very important. Whomever controlled fire had the power. Which leads to when Jack takes them from Piggy to light the fire for his own tribe of boys.
From Reason to Destruction The allegory Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding in 1954. The story begins when a group of British boys crash land onto a deserted island with no adults present. Not long after, they are required to take on adult roles and form a functioning civilization with rules. One of the main characters in the novel Piggy, is an intellectual, shy twelve year old boy with physical imperfections including asthma and glasses.
Piggy's glasses are an important factor of this novel and its importance changes a lot. In the book piggy talks about how they keep on taking his glasses and it foreshadows that the glasses are becoming more valuable than piggy. When the glasses break they fall down on rocks which foreshadow what will happen to Piggy when he dies. In the beginning of the novel his glasses represent his physical weakness, his intelligence, and towards the end when they figure out that the glasses can start a fire the glasses become a symbol of power. As the book goes on the glasses become more and more important and they eventually help them get saved.
In the story, Jack has created his own society that focuses on hunting. One night, he and some of his followers sneak out to steal Piggy’s glasses. They fight Ralph and Piggy but come out victorious. Jack is now seen as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (168).
Piggy’s glasses represent science, therefore, Piggy has the ability to do the mathematical procedure of making a sundial. But, Ralph struggles to understand the mathematics behind the scientific project. Since the rest of the boys on the island aren’t knowledgeable enough, Piggy fails to bring civilization through making a sundial, and his idea goes unappreciated. Soon after, Jack and Ralph get in an argument and “Jack [smacks] Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses [fly] off and [tinkle] on the rocks.
The mistake made by Sir William Golding in Lord of the Flies is regarding Piggy’s glasses. Furthermore, Piggy is portrayed to be very nearsighted meaning he is unable to see things relatively close to his eyes or being myopic. However, the boys use his glasses to start fires when in a scientific perspective, it is impossible to start a fire with the glasses of a person who is myopic. In addition, it is as a result of the concave lens which diverges light rays to form an image on the retina of an eye. The only possible way to start a fire with glasses, is with the spectacles of a farsighted or hyperopic person as the lens are convex as they converge light rays to a specific focal point in front of the lens, depending on the focal length.
(page 18) The entire time they are trapped on the island, Ralph is determined to get rescued. He views a fire with a smoke signal to be the only way to be saved. Piggy's glasses are the only way the boys know to start a fire so this give him some degree of importance.
When Jack broke his glasses, it symbolized a partial destruction of civilization, although one lens was broken, it did not stop Piggy from being intelligent and providing the boys with ideas to survive on the island through Ralph. As the novel progressed, savagery had slowly overcome the intelligence of the boys. In the beginning, Piggy’s glasses represented intelligence and how he saw everything in a different view than the other boys. Even though no one took Piggy seriously, he still managed to get his ideas out through Ralph by being loyal to him and not joining Jack’s tribe. Later on in the Lord of the Flies, Piggy’s specs got damaged by Jack then also stolen by him to create fire for his own tribe.
The boys took advantage of his weakness to make a fire but they also degraded Piggy. Piggy complains that he can’t see and that everything is just a blur and the glasses symbolize how the boys made him feel weak by taking them away from him. Finally, later on in the book Jack hit Piggy on the back of his head and that is when his glasses fell and broke on the rock. Then “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy’s head. Piggy’s glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks”(71).
Thesis Statement: In Lord of the Flies William Golding throughout the book is trying to show you that society should recognize man is evil. Introduction Paragraph: In the book Lord of the Flies the author William Golding shows a group of boys losing their innocence throughout their life stuck on this inhabited island in the pacific ocean. These boys go from being quiet and shy to violent and dangerous young little boys. Golding uses the pigs, hunting, and the boys face painting to show their lose of innocence throughout the story. There 's no rules of any sort on this island these boys landed on they are free to do whatever they want whenever they want.
William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is about a group of young boys, aged around 6-12, that crash land on an uninhabited island, and without adults, they fail miserably. In E.L Epstein’s article “NOTES ON LORD OF THE FLIES” Golding reveals in his novel that the flaws in human nature lead to a flawed society; which is seen in society (Epstein par. 3). Lord of the Flies provides an example of how imperfections in human nature start to surface when people are in a groups. One imperfection is their tendency to do violent and demeaning things as a mob.
William Golding’s Use of Rhetorical Strategies to Illustrate Society in “Lord of the Flies” Written in the 1950’s by William Golding, Lord of the Flies is a novel that follows a group of young boys,stranded on an island with no contact to an adult world. Throughout the novel Golding elicits how savage humans can be when there is no authority controlling them, and Golding’s use of thematic vocabulary conveys how power and corruption can lead to a dismantling of order. As a result, this disruption in society causes people to reveal their true savage human nature. In Chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies, William Golding employs repetition, diction and symbolism to convey the theme that civilization has become a shield that conceals humanity 's natural wildness and savagery.
In chapter two, Fire on the Mountain, the boys are attempting to light a fire to signal nearby planes or ships to come rescue them. Ralph, the cheif of the boys, asks, "Does anyone have a match?" And, of course, none of the boys do. Then, one boy has the idea of using Piggy 's glasses to light the fire