FREE ESSAY ON LORD OF THE FLYS

LORD OF THE FLYS

The Lord of the Flies
In his classic novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes many elements of
symbolism to help accomplish his motif, which is man is basically evil. Symbolism can be
anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used
to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. As one reads this novel, he or
she will begin to recognize the way basic civilization is slowly stripped away from the
boys. Let us know look closer at the ways Golding uses this form of symbolism. From the
very beginning of the story the boys inwardly strip themselves of the remnants of the
basic civilized world. This is shown when the boys shed their clothes; their school
sweaters, then the rest of their clothes are torn off. Their hair becomes increasingly
disheveled, long, and entangled with small twigs. Since the boys are left without any
adult supervision they have to turn to their collective unconscious. The collective
unconscious was discovered by the renown psychologist Carl Jung. Let us now look further
into each individual character in the novel, and discover how they each contribute to
portray the ending of the story. Ralph is one of the older boys on the island and remains
the leader throughout most of the novel. He is described as a pure, English lad. Such
details as his fair hair and the fact that he is wearing his school sweater symbolizes
many things. First of all the fact that he has fair hair represents that he will be the
positive force throughout the novel, as opposed to Jack who is described as having red
hair. The fact that he keeps his school sweater symbolizes his desire to keep the island
somewhat civilized. He does everything he can to keep the boys under some kind of
society. He makes laws including the freedom of speech. Ralph becomes very popular in the
beginning, however as the novel proceeds and the society deteriorates, the popular leader
is abandoned for a strong-armed dictator; Jack Merridew. The impression that we have of
Jack is that he is a tall thin boy with a shock of red hair at the summit of a black
cloak. Jacks appearance seems to suggest evil. Unlike Ralph who stands for common sense
and a desire for normal civilized life, all Jack cares about is hunting. Because of this
opposition between Jack and Ralph, Jack is Ralph's main antagonist. Symbolically Jack
breaks away from good when he baptizes himself with the blood of the slaughtered pig.
Jack eventually breaks away from Ralph and the others and forms his own group which will
basically strive for blood. This leads to multiple murders. With the exception of Ralph,
Piggy, and a few others, Jack lures the other boys to join him. According to the laws of
Freudian Psychology Jacks Id has taken over. Another character portrayed in Lord of the
Flies is Piggy. Piggy is the object of much mockery and is obviously a fat boy. Piggy
foresees both the need for a closely watched signal fire and for secure shelters on the
beach. Piggys spectacles are used to start the fire. Piggy could represent knowledge or
intelligence, a figure which is often depicted as a fire-bringer. A familiar expression
that can represent this is the fire of inspiration. Even though Piggy represented all
good he was often jeered at. Simon is a Christ figure. He is quiet, almost unnoticed, yet
he speaks wiser than the others. His wander deep into the heart of the woods in chapter
three, is representative of Jesus' journey's to isolate himself to pray to his Father. As
we can clearly see, William Golding has used much symbolism to help portray the ending of
the novel, Lord of the Flies. A running theme in Lord of the Flies is that man is savage
at heart, always ultimately reverting back to an evil and primitive nature. The cycle of
man's rise to power, or righteousness, and his inevitable fall from grace is an important
point that book proves again and again, often comparing man with characters from the
Bible to give a more vivid picture of his descent. Lord Of The Flies symbolizes this fall
in different manners, ranging from the illustration of the mentality of actual primitive
man to the reflections of a corrupt seaman in purgatory. The novel is the story of a
group of boys of different backgrounds who are marooned on an unknown island when their
plane crashes. As the boys try to organize and formulate a plan to get rescued, they
begin to separate and as a result of the dissension a band of savage tribal hunters is
formed. Eventually the stranded boys in Lord of the Flies almost entirely shake off
civilized behavior: (Riley 1: 119). When the confusion finally leads to a manhunt [for
Ralph], the reader realizes that despite the strong sense of British character and
civility that has been instilled in the youth throughout their lives, the boys have
backpedaled and shown the underlying savage side existent in all humans. Golding senses
that institutions and order imposed from without are temporary, but man's irrationality
and urge for destruction are enduring (Riley 1: 119). The novel shows the reader how easy
it is to revert back to the evil nature inherent in man. If a group of well-conditioned
school boys can ultimately wind up committing various extreme travesties, one can imagine
what adults, leaders of society, are capable of doing under the pressures of trying to
maintain world relations. Lord of the Flies's apprehension of evil is such that it
touches the nerve of contemporary horror as no English novel of its time has done; it
takes us, through symbolism, into a world of active, proliferating evil which is seen,
one feels, as the natural condition of man and which is bound to remind the reader of the
vilest manifestations of Nazi regression (Riley 1: 120). In the novel, Simon is a
peaceful lad who tries to show the boys that there is no monster on the island except the
fears that the boys have. Simon tries to state the truth: there is a beast, but 'it's
only us' (Baker 11). When he makes this revelation, he is ridiculed. This is an uncanny
parallel to the misunderstanding that Christ had to deal with throughout his life. Later
in the story, the savage hunters are chasing a pig. Once they kill the pig, they put its
head on a stick and Simon experiences an epiphany in which he sees the perennial fall
which is the central reality of our history: the defeat of reason and the release of...
madness in souls wounded by fear (Baker 12). As Simon rushes to the campfire to tell the
boys of his discovery, he is hit in the side with a spear, his prophecy rejected and the
word he wished to spread ignored. Simon falls to the ground dead and is described as
beautiful and pure. The description of his death, the manner in which he died, and the
cause for which he died are remarkably similar to the circumstances of Christ's life and
ultimate demise. The major difference is that Christ died on the cross, while Simon was
speared. However, a reader familiar with the Bible recalls that Christ was stabbed in the
side with a a spear before his crucifixion. William Golding discusses man's capacity for
fear and cowardice. In the novel, the boys on the island first encounter a natural fear
of being stranded on an uncharted island without the counsel of adults. Once the boys
begin to organize and begin to feel more adult-like themselves, the fear of monsters
takes over. It is understandable that boys ranging in ages from toddlers to young
teenagers would have fears of monsters, especially when it is taken into consideration
that the children are stranded on the island. The author wishes to show, however, that
fear is an emotion that is instinctive and active in humans from the very beginnings of
their lives. This revelation uncovers another weakness in man, supporting the idea or
belief that man is pathetic and savage at the very core of his existence. Throughout the
novel, there is a struggle for power between two groups. This struggle illustrates man's
fear of losing control, which is another example of his selfishness and weakness. The
fear of monsters is natural; the fear of losing power is inherited. The author uses these
vices to prove the point that any type of uncontrolled fear contributes to man's
instability and will ultimately lead to his [man's] demise spiritually and perhaps even
physically. The author chooses to use an island as the setting for the majority of the
story. The island is an important symbol in all of Golding's works. It suggests the
isolation of man in a frightening and mysterious cosmos, and the futility of his attempt
to create an ordered preserve for himself in an otherwise patternless world (Baker 26).
The island in the novel is the actual island; it is not simply an island, though. It is a
microcosm of life itself, the adult world, and the human struggle with his own
loneliness. Left alone on the island of the self, man discovers the reality of his own
dark heart, and what he discovers is too abominable for him to endure. At the highest
pitch of terror he makes the only gesture he can make -- a raw, instinctive appeal for
help, for rescue (Baker 67). Man grows more savage at heart as he evolves because of his
cowardice and his quest for power. The novel proves this by throwing together opposing
forces into a situation that dowses them with power struggles and frightening situations.
By comparing mankind in general to Biblical characters in similar scenarios, the novel
provides images of the darker side of man. This darker side of man's nature inevitably
wins and man is proven to be a pathetic race that refuses to accept responsibility for
its shortcomings. In his first novel, William Golding used a group of boys stranded on a
tropical island to illustrate the malicious nature of mankind. Lord of the Flies dealt
with changes that the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the isolated freedom
from society. Three main characters depicted different effects on certain individuals
under those circumstances. Jack Merridew began as the arrogant and self-righteous leader
of a choir. The freedom of the island allowed him to further develop the darker side of
his personality as the Chief of a savage tribe. Ralph started as a self-assured boy whose
confidence in himself came from the acceptance of his peers. He had a fair nature as he
was willing to listen to Piggy. He became increasingly dependent on Piggy's wisdom and
became lost in the confusion around him. Towards the end of the story his rejection from
their society of savage boys forced him to fend for himself. Piggy was an educated boy
who had grown up as an outcast. Due to his academic childhood, he was more mature than
the others and retained his civilized behaviour. But his experiences on the island gave
him a more realistic understanding of the cruelty possessed by some people. The ordeals
of the three boys on the island made them more aware of the evil inside themselves and in
some cases, made the false politeness that had clothed them dissipate. However, the
changes experienced by one boy differed from those endured by another. This is
attributable to the physical and mental dissimilarities between them. Jack was first
described with an ugly sense of cruelty that made him naturally unlikeable. As leader of
the choir and one of the tallest boys on the island, Jack's physical height and authority
matched his arrogant personality. His desire to be Chief was clearly evident in his first
appearance. When the idea of having a Chief was mentioned Jack spoke out immediately. I
ought to be chief, said Jack with simple arrogance, because I'm chapter chorister and
head boy. _ He led his choir by administering much discipline resulting in forced
obedience from the cloaked boys. His ill-nature was well expressed through his
impoliteness of saying, Shut up, Fatty. at Piggy. (p. 23) However, despite his unpleasant
personality, his lack of courage and his conscience prevented him from killing the first
pig they encountered. They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the
knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood. (p. 34)
Even at the meetings, Jack was able to contain himself under the leadership of Ralph. He
had even suggested the implementation of rules to regulate themselves. This was a Jack
who was proud to be British, and who was shaped and still bound by the laws of a
civilized society. The freedom offered to him by the island allowed Jack to express the
darker sides of his personality that he hid from the ideals of his past environment.
Without adults as a superior and responsible authority, he began to lose his fear of
being punished for improper actions and behaviours. This freedom coupled with his
malicious and arrogant personality made it possible for him to quickly degenerate into a
savage. He put on paint, first to camouflage himself from the pigs. But he discovered
that the paint allowed him to hide the forbidden thoughts in his mind that his facial
expressions would otherwise betray. The mask was a thing on its own behind which Jack
hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. (p. 69) Through hunting, Jack lost his
fear of blood and of killing living animals. He reached a point where he actually enjoyed
the sensation of hunting a prey afraid of his spear and knife. His natural desire for
blood and violence was brought out by his hunting of pigs. As Ralph became lost in his
own confusion, Jack began to assert himself as chief. The boys realizing that Jack was a
stronger and more self-assured leader gave in easily to the freedom of Jack's savagery.
Placed in a position of power and with his followers sharing his crazed hunger for
violence, Jack gained encouragement to commit the vile acts of thievery and murder. Freed
from the conditions of a regulated society, Jack gradually became more violent and the
rules and proper behaviour by which he was brought up were forgotten. The freedom given
to him unveiled his true self under the clothing worn by civilized people to hide his
darker characteristics. Ralph was introduced as a fair and likeable boy whose
self-assured mad him feel secure even on the island without any adults. His interaction
with Piggy demonstrated his pleasant nature as he did not call him names with hateful
intent as Jack had. His good physique allowed him to be well accepted among his peers,
and this gave him enough confidence to speak out readily in public. His handsome features
and the conch as a symbol of power and order pointed him out from the crowd of boys and
proclaimed him Chief. There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out:
there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerful,
there was the conch. (p. 24) From the quick decisions he made as Chief near the beginning
of the novel, it could be seen that Ralph was well-organized. But even so, Ralph began
repeatedly to long and daydream of his civilized and regular past. Gradually, Ralph
became confused and began to lose clarity in his thoughts and speeches. Ralph was puzzled
by the shutter that flickered in his brain. There was something he wanted to say; then
the shutter had come down. (p. 156) He started to feel lost in their new environment as
the boys, with the exception of Piggy began to change and adapt to their freedom. As he
did not lose his sense of responsibility, his viewpoints and priorities began to differ
from the savages'. He was more influenced by Piggy than by Jack, who in a way could be
viewed as a source of evil. Even though the significance of the fire as a rescue signal
was slowly dismissed, Ralph continued to stress the importance of the fire at the
mountaintop. He also tried to reestablish the organization that had helped to keep the
island clean and free of potential fire hazards. This difference made most of the boys
less convinced of the integrity of Ralph. As his supporters became fewer and Jack's
insistence on being chief grew, his strength as a leader diminished. But even though
Ralph had retained much of his past social conditioning, he too was not spared from the
evil released by the freedom from rules and adults. During the play-fight after their
unsuccessful hunt in the course of their search for the beast, Ralph for the first time,
had an opportunity to join the hunters and share their desire for violence. Ralph too was
fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to
squeeze and hurt was over-mastering. (p. 126) Without rules to limit them, they were free
to make their game as real as they wanted. Ralph did not understand the hatred Jack had
for him, nor did he fully comprehend why their small and simple society deteriorated.
This confusion removed his self-confidence and made him more dependent on Piggy's
judgement, until Piggy began prompting him on what needed to be said and done. Towards
the end of the novel, Ralph was forced into independence when he lost all his followers
to Jack's savagery, and when Piggy and the conch were smashed by Roger's boulder. He was
forced to determine how to avoid Jack's savage hunters alone. Ralph's more responsible
behaviour set him apart from the other savage boys and made it difficult for him to
accept and realize the changes they were undergoing. Becoming lost in his exposure to
their inherent evil, Ralph's confusion brought about the deterioration of his initial
self-assurance and ordered temperament, allowing him to experience brief outbursts of his
beastly self. Piggy was an educated boy rejected by the kids of his age group on account
of his being overweight. It was his academic background and his isolation from the savage
boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from his primitive experiences on
the island. His unattractive attributes segregated him from the other boys on the island.
He was not welcomed on their first exploratory trip of the island. We don't want you,
Jack had said to Piggy. (p. 26) Piggy was like an observer learning from the actions of
others. His status in their society allowed him to look at the boys from an outsider's
perspective. He could learn of the hatred being brought out of the boys without having to
experience the thirst for blood that Ralph was exposed to. Although he was easily
intimidated by the other boys, especially by Jack, he did not lack the self-confidence to
protest or speak out against the indignities from the boys as the shy former choirboy
Simon did. This self-confidence differed from that of Ralph's as it did not come from his
acceptance by their peers nor did it come from the authority and power Jack had grown
accustomed to. It came from the pride in having accumulated the wisdom that was obviously
greater than that of most of the other kids at his age. Piggy not only knew what the
rules were, as all the other boys did, but he also had the patience to at least wonder
why the rules existed. This intuition made Piggy not only more aware of why the rules
were imposed, thereby ensuring that he would abide by them even when they were not
enforced. When the boys flocked to the mountaintop to build their fire, Piggy shouted
after them, Acting like a crowd of kids! (p. 42) Piggy was a very liable person who could
look ahead and plan carefully of the future. He shouted at the boys' immature
recklessness, The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the
beach... Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn't no use. Now you been and
set the whole island on fire. (p. 50) Like Ralph, his sense of responsibility set him
apart from the other boys. The author used the image of long hair to illustrate Piggy's
sustenance of his civilized behaviour. He was the only boy on the island whose hair never
seemed to grow. (p. 70) The author's description of his baldness also presented an image
of old age and made Piggy seem to lack the strength of youth. The increasing injustice
Piggy endured towards the end of the novel was far greater than any that he had
encountered previously. In his fit of anger, Piggy cried out, I don't ask for my glasses
back, not as a favour. I don't ask you to be a sport, I'll say, not because you're
strong, but because what's right's right. (p. 189) This new standard of harshness brought
tears out of him as the suffering became intolerable. For a brief moment, Piggy's anger
at the unfairness and his helplessness robbed him of his usual logical reasoning, which
returned when he was confronted with his fear of the savages. Piggy was an intelligent
boy with a good understanding of their situation on the island. He was able to think
clearly and plan ahead with caution so that even in the freedom of their unregulated
world, his wisdom and his isolation from the savage boys kept him from giving into the
evil that had so easily consumed Jack and his followers. The resulting cruelty Jack
inflicted upon him taught Piggy how much more pain there was in the world. Lord of the
flies used changes experienced by boys on an uninhabited island to show the evil nature
of man. By using different characters the author was able to portray various types of
people found in our society. Their true selves were revealed in the freedom from the laws
and punishment of a world with adults. Under the power and regulations of their former
society, Jack's inner evil was suppressed. But when the rules no longer existed, he was
free to do what malice he desired. Ralph had grown so used to the regularity of a
civilized world, that the changes they underwent were difficult for him to comprehend. He
became confused and less capable of thinking clearly and independently. Although he too
had experienced the urge for violence that had driven Jack and the hunters to momentary
peaks of madness, his more sensitive personality and his sense of obligation saved him
from complete savagery. These two traits also helped to keep Piggy from becoming
primitive in behaviour. He was made an outcast by his undesirable physique and his
superior intelligence. This isolation and wisdom also helped Piggy to retain his
civilized behaviour. As well, he was made painfully more aware of the great amount of
injustice in the world. From these three characters, it could be seen that under the same
circumstances, different individuals can develop in different ways depending on the
factors within themselves and how they interacted with each other. Their personalities
and what they knew can determine how they would interpret and adapt to a new environment
such as the tropical island. Not everyone has so much malevolence hidden inside
themselves as to become complete savages when released from the boundaries of our
society. Some people will, because of the ways they were conditioned, remember and abide
by the rules they had depended on for social organization and security.