FREE ESSAY ON BOOK ANALYSIS OF LORD OF THE FLIES

BOOK ANALYSIS OF LORD OF THE FLIES

Book Analysis: 
Lord of The Flies 
Why is it that when people are placed in situations where sanity and reason are the keys
to survival, people go crazy and end up ruining their chances to live? All that they
needed to ensure a chance for their rescue was the fire. I don't see what is so hard
about that. The fire gives off smoke, they then see the smoke as a signal showing
inhabitants on the island, then passers-by will go and search for them. Plain and simple!

Why did you require us to read this book? I can think of one reason, being that no matter
how old you are, morals and law are necessary for survival. Yet, I still believe that
this book, despite its strong message, was weak and uninteresting.
What was so great about hunting? This obsession with hunting was what baffled me the most
throughout this book. I honestly don't see what was so great about it, and why they let
it interrupt their responsibilities. If they had not been distracted with hunting and
just tended to the fire like they were supposed to, it's possible that could have been
rescued earlier on in the book.
Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in! (Chap. 7, pg. 114) This line
shows that they have pretty much lost it by now. It describes their loss of hope for
rescue, and that they have developed a superiority complex. The rush they get from ending
a life has made them go insane and clouded their judgement. As the book goes on and they
say this line more often, wackiness follows.
Coming? (Chap. 7, pg. 119) Although Ralph was a good leader and had good intentions, he
was still somewhat passive because he always gave in to whatever Jack said. He would let
Jack walk all over him which was a factor in the biguns leaving his group and joining
Jack's chaotic tribe.
No. They're not as bad as that. It was an accident. (Chap. 12, pg. 184) Despite the bad
things they've done and the chaos that was spreading throughout the island, they were
still just children. Innocent, naive, and unaware of the outcomes of their actions. They
know that what they've done was wrong but they refuse to admit it, they dilute
themselves.
The title: Lord of The Flies relates to the story mainly through Simon. We hear about him
seeing and speaking to the Lord of The Flies and the pig's head in the book. He is the
only character known to interact with the Lord of The Flies and is told by him that he
holds their fates on this island.
Also, the title Lord of The Flies relates with the story through the children. They
flutter around the animal carcasses the way flies would. The boys celebrate killing pigs
by dancing about its carcass. Similar to the way flies swarm around a rotting corpse.
Which would make Jack, the Lord of The Flies since he leads the boys in their wrong
doings and gets the biggest rush from killing, and celebrates the most. 
The scene opens with the survivors gathering and trying to act rationally by creating
electing a leader and focusing on the most important thing, their rescue. This relates to
the way the boys try to act civilized and just, yet they cannot escape the fact that they
are still mere children. Susceptible to the dark side and not fully responsible. It
describes how naive they are.
The physical setting of this story, takes place on an uncharted desert island in the
ocean. Very similar to the tropical islands of the Pacific. It is very lush, verdant, and
fruitful. The island is shaped like a boat. It contains a jungle and orchards that are at
the low end of the island, which rise to a treeless, rocky mountain ridge. There is a
warm water lagoon which the boys bathe in, and a natural platform of fallen trees where
they would hold their meetings. Also, there is a castle at the other end of the island
that rises several hundred feet above the sea.
The societal structure was democratic yet bias. All of the boys were from somewhat
aristocratic societies since they most likely belonged to a rich boarding school if they
were flown from place to place. They discriminated against the littluns and Piggy because
they were unable to help and saw them as useless. Many felt the need to be in a higher
position than the other. Yet they elected a chief and made up laws. They were
contradicting themselves.
The values of the children really varied from boy to boy because most were insane and
diluted, and very few were sane. Ralph valued how others perceived him more than being
rescued. He should have just lectured from the very beginning instead of caring what Jack
thought of him. When he finally realized that Jack was an idiot and decided that being
rescued was more important, it was too late to keep the other boys. Since they now saw
Ralph as a weak leader and that Jack's tribe showed more promise. The boy who had values
was Piggy.
He was the brain, and he knew that the fire was the most important thing, and that Jack
was a threat to Ralph's leadership. If Ralph had only listened to Piggy earlier, they
could have averted many bad things.
A major conflict in the story was Hunting vs. The Fire. They develop this in the book
when many of the boys lose faith in their rescue. They decide to dilute themselves by
painting prettier, more happier pictures by hunting and becoming savage. They lose sight
of what is important and decide to hunt rather than tend to the fire in the hopes of
being spotted and rescued. This is relevant because adolescents are always distracted and
from doing the right thing, and often we are put in a position where we'd feel that
taking the easy way out would be better. Or here, become delusional and not be rescued.
Another is the conflict in leaders, Ralph vs. Jack. They see this conflict very early in
the book with their many opposing ideas and petty little arguments. Basically, Ralph is
the light side and Jack is the dark side. Naturally they clash with one another,
especially since both are somewhat power-driven in certain ways. Ralph was reason, Jack
was rebellion, and the rest of the boys didn't know who to follow because they were
without responsible adults to guide them. This relates to me because in many ways
teenagers are stranded on an island.
There are often when there won't be an adult to tell us what to do and it will be up to
us to decide. We'll need to know who's right and who's wrong, a process we need to pick
the right friends.
Ralph is the main character. He's a tall light-skinned, light-haired, and slightly. In a
certain way, he takes on slightly an anthropocentrism-type feel, since he is the center
of everything. The main character, the leader, the decision maker, and the one screw up.
He allowed Jack and the other to walk over him, which is not good to do if you're
supposed to be a leader. He's assertive, yet passive. Intelligent, yet a fool. He knows
what is right, yet has a hard time grasping it, evident in the way he treats Piggy.
Jack is another main character, being the enemy of Ralph. He has red hair, freckles, and
is slightly scrawny. He's a rebellious and chaotic young boy, which I find hard to
believe sometimes. He's a young boy yet he behaves like a mischievous, spoiled,
vindictive, and pessimistic adult. Jack reminds me of that little boy Damien from The
Omen.
Piggy is the only reasonable person on that island. He's the only boy who doesn't go
insane! He's a short, fat, little boy who is very smart and wears glasses. So typically
the other boys to pick on him because he's different. Piggy's character develops in the
story as Ralph notices how much he should listen to him rather than Jack. In some ways,
Piggy is reason. Piggy is Ralph's support and conscience, always letting Ralph know what
is right and giving him confidence when Jack stole Ralph's group. Naturally, Jack hates
him because Ralph always listens to him and because Piggy knows about many things.
The narrator of the story would be Ralph. He is the integral character and many things
are the way they are because of him. They see many things from his point of view and the
story focuses on him, his actions, thoughts, and the story is focused on him. He narrates
the story because was the one who blew the conch, found everyone else, formed the
government, leads them, ruined them, and fought to convince them of what was right. I
brought up a sort of anthropocentric feel in this book, it is true because of Ralph,
because he is the center if everything in the story. Also, they told it through his point
of view because he was the only good leader that was sane.
The conch was a very big symbol throughout the book. It symbolized power and authority
over everyone else. When it was held in one's hand, it gave you the power for you and
only you to speak. Which is why Piggy treasured it because holding the conch was the only
times that people would really listen to him and not interrupt or make any comments.
The pig's head symbolized the boys' spiral down toward insanity. At this point, when they
decided to plant a pig's head on a stick, they were already obsessed and diluted with
hunting and killing. They were off their rockers.
The beastie/Lord of the Flies, symbolized the darkness a human can possess in his soul.
I never thought it possible for young and innocent children to be capable of such heinous
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