Archetypes In Lord Of The Flies

Lord of the Flies - Text Response
Janine Heitmann

The archetypal theory can be applied to the Lord of the Flies; making use of archetypal features. The novel displays three main characteristics that give it archetypal meaning. The most apparent of these characteristics are the classic hero figures that are evident and their variations. Secondly, opposing the heroes are the villains; those who seek ultimate power and will do anything to get it. Lastly the representation of Christ through Simon.

Lord of the flies clearly contains characters that portray the role of the hero archetype and his fight against evil. Ralph plays this role as a leader whose primary aim is to get rescued and create a civil society where contribution is shared and

Fulfilling this role is Jack, whose villainous role was not filled until the novel progressed. At the start of the novel, Jack and Ralph seem to get along quite well; agreeing on the first orders given such as building shelters and collecting water. It is not until Ralph is voted as the preferred leader when jealousy begins to drive Jack into insanity; desiring complete dominance over the group. In the first chapter Golding describes Jack and his choir; “Their bodies, from throat to neck, were hidden by black cloaks”. Black; a colour that most villains wear a majority of the time. The black cloak is also worn by the witch in Snow White and the Grim Reaper; the fitting image of death. Jack and his choir are much like a cult which often have a ritual they often perform; in this case the reenactment of the hunting of the pig along with the continuous chanting. As the novel progresses Jack’s morals appear to vanish; his vision clouded by hunting and bloodthirst. After starting his own tribe of hunters, we can see how cruel he has become; killing a mother pig while nursing her young without a second thought. As hunting pigs becomes a more regular task, and the unacknowledged death of piggy occurs Jack then orders the killing of Ralph with no remorse. He becomes tired of negotiations with Ralph; wanting to eliminate the potential

Throughout the novel, we quickly notice how different Simon is compared to the the rest of the boys found on the island. He becomes quickly dedicated to ralph; being one of the only ones to help him build the shelters and becoming a trusted friend. He’s very calm, humble and hopeful; never acting out of rage or ever seems the slightest bit annoyed. Simon is wise; often saying things that are not quite understood by the boys. Along with his maturity simon makes some prophetic comment one of these being "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you”. This statement is proved correct as it’s found that Jack and his tribe are the beasts themselves; breaking up the group and killing off some of Ralph’s allies with no sense of guilt. Another example of his prophetic statements is when he says to Ralph “You’ll get back all right” ; as if he knew he wasn’t going to be going home with them. Simon has never killed anything on the island; nor eaten anything that was wrongly killed. He sees the beauty of nature on the island, only feasting on fruit and frequently spending his time alone in the forest; showing no fear. He shows empathy towards those that aren’t treated fairly, for example, when he takes the littluns into the forest and providing them with fruit when they were hungry and when he gave his share of meat to