Lord of the Flies - Analysis

Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding, which takes place during World War 2 on a stranded island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Golding uses a lot of symbolism in The Lord of the Flies. The entire book is symbolic of the nature of man and society in general, as the island becomes a micro society in comparison to society as a whole. He tells the story of a group of English schoolboys deserted on a tropic island after their plane is shot down during a war. The schoolboys have survived a plane crash that was caused by warfare; they are innocent victims of adult violence. At first, the island seems to offer the boys sufficient food, water shelter, and even the possibility of eventual rescue. Free from the rules and structures of civilization and society, the boys on the island descend into savagery.

Ralph’s nakedness in chapter one not only shows us his innocence and purity as he is unconscious of his nudity but also begins and foreshadows the boy’s total abandonment of the society in which they used to partake as clothes are an integral part of civilization. They have completely discarded its rules and order. Therefore, chapter one is the ideal exposition.

In the first chapter, the Island is portrayed as Edenic, which is a harsh contrast as we see the ruin of this Eden as the story progresses and the boys’ humanity degenerates.

In chapter one, Ralph and Piggy discover the conch shell on the beach, after discovering each other. Ralph blows into it, thus using it to summon the rest of the boys that are victims of the plane crash as well. By being used in this way, the conch shell becomes a powerful symbol of civilization and order in the novel. The boy who holds the shell holds the rights to speak, and the shell effectively governs the boys' meetings. In this way, the shell consists of political legitimacy and democratic power. As civilization among the island erodes, the conch shell loses its power and influence among the boys.

Fire in this novel is symbolic for both good and evil. It represents not only pre societal conditions and civilization, but also destruction. The signal fire is kept burning at the top of a hill, burning with the hope of rescue. It acts as an indicator of the boys' connection to civilization, and of their desire for civilization. In the beginning of the novel, the boys show their desire to be rescued and return to society by maintaining the signal fire. Eventually the boys allow the fire to burn low, and even go out. This represents their desire to be rescued, diminishing before their eyes, as they begin to accept their savage lives on the island. The signal fire measures the amount and strength of the civilized instinct that remains on the island.

The war paint Jack influenced his gang with also symbolizes the rejection of society. As they applied their mask of war paint, they in a way, removed their mask of society and revealed their inner savage selves.

The ‘beast’ is a metaphor for the animal within all the boys that comes out later in the story. In chapter two, Jack claims that the English are the most civilized and that it is their responsibility to civilize the rest of the world. This statement is extremely ironic as jack represents the colonial repression in England and the violence that was also inherent in England at that time.

In the earlier chapters of the novel, we see the purity and innocence present in the boys but later, we see how Jack, who is the voice of dictatorship, take advantage of their childishness and mould them into savages.

In chapter three, we see that the social construct on the Island has changed and is completely different from that of the ordinary society. They start dressing differently, completely abandoning their shirts. Their hair is growing longer and they seem to have formed a language of their own with different slang words. The rules they have created on the Island seem to be of their own, different from that of the macro society.

Chapter four is where we see the more obvious degeneration of the boys. We see how Jack and the hunters derive pleasure out of taking the life of the animal. Once again we experience the foreshadowing of piggy’s death. The blood on Jack’s hands represents vulgarity, and is a harsh contrast to the Edenic, pure ralph we saw in chapter one. We can also tell that the satisfaction to kill will soon override the boys’ humanity. This shows a loss of innocence.

This chapter also shows us the decline of Ralph’s order that he had established in the beginning of the novel. We see