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Examples Of Allusions In Lord Of The Flies

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Sacrifice. Betrayal. Murder. Each took place on the dangerous island of young plane crash survivors who quickly turned into ruthless barbarians. The boys, however, were not this way in the beginning; but as they drifted from their faith, their morals were gradually forgotten. Abandoning one’s Christianity leads to a loss of morals, as seen in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies through the allusions to Jesus, imagery of regression, and personification of the sea.

Golding uses the characterization of Simon to allude to the life of Jesus Christ by contrasting his disposition with that of the other boys, highlighting their distance from their faith and its destructive effect. One example of such disparity is when "Simon knelt on all fours and …show more content…

For example, when Roger was tempted to throw a rock at one of the younger boys he held back because his arm was “conditioned by a civilization” (Golding 62). This quote shows how earlier in the novel, the Christian-based morals of society held Roger back from throwing a rock at another boy. But Roger goes on to murder a different character, proving the nearness to his faith was the anchor keeping him from brutality. Jack’s character is an ideal example of this idea, because in the beginning of the book, although arrogant, he was friendly with Ralph and still ‘normal.’ However, throughout the book, we start to see a different side of him, shown through his unusually vigorous desire to hunt, his need for power, his idolatry, and his violent nature. Both his idolatry and violent nature are portrayed when Golding states, “Jack held up the head and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth...’This head is for the Beast...”’ (137). The disturbing imagery of this citation expresses how the boys’ murderous nature roots back to their sacrifice to the beast. It shows how they were worshipping this idol that started to consume their lives. The devil worship is what took them off track from their morals, turning them to violence. Golding utilizes imagery to exhibit the boys’ abandonment

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Throughout the book Lord of the Flies, William Golding makes many references to the Bible and the role of good and evil. During the children’s first meeting, a small boy questions Ralph on what he will “do about the snake-thing” (Golding 35). The boy then goes on to explain that the snake-thing, i.e. the beastie, wanted to eat him. Golding makes an allusion to the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, where Satan disguises himself as a serpent and tricks Adam and Eve. The beastie is also portrayed as a snake and represents evil like Satan.

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His personality traits show that he is devoted spiritually, non-violent, in harmony with the world, and empathetic. Simon is characterized as an outsider because he has seizures, but the boys think he is pretending because it occurs very often. Later on, Simon has a conversation with The Lord of the Flies, which is a dead pig’s head. Their conversation resembles Christ’s conversation with the devil during his forty days in the wilderness. The Lord of the Flies was trying to convince Simon that evil was inside the boys and that Simon was good but everyone was going to have fun except for Simon.

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608 Words | 3 Pages

Camren Smith Ms. Secker May 1, 2023 Style Analysis Essay Revision In the passage from chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies, Golding uses detail and figurative language to illustrate the growth of savage behavior demonstrated by the boys, just moments before Simon’s death. First, Golding uses detail in order to portray the boy’s growing savagery before the shocking and brutal moments of Simon’s death. In this passage, Golding had set an eerie mood by the addition of an intimidating storm and the reactions of the boys: “A wave of restlessness set the boys swaying and moving aim-lessly”.

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661 Words | 3 Pages

Can biblical allusion be connected through a fictional novel? Well of course it can, just by using details from the Bible the author can easily connect the bible to the character's, setting and etc. Using the events that are being told in the bible and changing it in some type of form to go right with the novel or any other book is a form of biblical allusion. This shows a connection between the author's way of writing and the characters actions as well. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses biblical allusion to contribute to the theme of human nature, savagery, and power.

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Golding’s most remarkable boy, Simon brings light to an unusual stereotype and a very important archetype. The young boy surprisingly demonstrates a stereotypical spiritual figure. In Golding’s novel, The Lord of The Flies, the religious focus is particularly on Christianity. When I think of a Christ figure, the first thing that comes to mind is selflessness.

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272 Words | 2 Pages

The boys' failure to recognize this evil within themselves brings them quickly into a state of savagery and violence. They also continue to believe in this "snake-thing" as the "Beast" and also "Lord of the Flies" and " are referred to Satan. Their perception of it becomes more and more unclear, as they end up developing alternative ideas about the Beast. In the book of Genesis Satan also has been read as the evil within human nature, people usually think Satan is an external force. Without actual Satan in the novel, Golding stresses the ways that this Eden a perfect place is already full of evil.

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Because of this urge for authority, Jack perverts the minds of the kids around them and gets them to attempt to kill and murder. This is proved by Jack getting all the boys to chant “kill the beast! cut his throat! spill his blood!” (Golding, 186).

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A savage, violent, and harmful imagery is created with the use of the words “viciously” and“hurled.” The text is also able to express that Ralph’s injuries were given intentionally by using the phrase “He hurled his spear into Ralph.” This expresses that Jack had full intentions of doing this evil action, out of viciousness and anger. and allows us to see the evil coming out of Jack when put in a situation that he is not comfortable in. The idea of Jack being so young

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Golding characterises Jack as the primary representation of the instinct of violence through the use of a beast metaphor. In extract one from chapter one, Jack is not given a name, instead Golding describes him as a “creature steed from mirage on to clear sand”(line3,page15,chp.1). Jack’s first appearance and impression to the readers is

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682 Words | 3 Pages

Bible and Mythology Study Guides to Allusions Michael Stavolone Section A (The Bible) “The Fall” - Although not named in the Bible, “The Fall” or “The Fall of Man” comes from an interpretation of Genesis. In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived with God in the Garden of Eden, then the serpent tempted them into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Within the story The First Bite of Temptation is when eve first sees the fruit and takes it knowing she was not supposed to yet she enjoys it. In literature this allusion is often present when one transitions from good to evil, or from control to chaos, after taking or using something that was otherwise forbidden.

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1494 Words | 6 Pages

In today 's CIVILIZATION, Golding would see how individuals react differently to violence in comparison to when he wrote the novel. However, Golding suggested that individuals become savage when their survival is on the line. The instinct is still a part of us today because it 's in human nature to turn violent. Golding represents the savagery with the symbol of the beast; the beast is shown through the boy’s fear. Thesis: Golding would be surprised to see that there is still savagery in humans today, and that his theory, on HUMANITY was true about humans and their nature.

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697 Words | 3 Pages

The overlying conflict between the boys’ instincts comes full circle when the naval officer rescues them. All the times they chose to act like savages by killing, and living by no rules got them into some trouble according to the naval officer. The naval officer judged them for the sheer savagery that was put before him. Golding uses symbols throughout to represent different ideas and for the theme of savagery vs. civilization he uses Ralph, who represents order and social fairness and Jack, who represents barbaric behavior as well as the undying need to gain power. This theme is portrayed throughout the novel but the most notable moment where everything comes into clear vision is demonstrated in the last passage.

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1346 Words | 6 Pages

(Golding 144). Similar to the encounter in the book, while Jesus is on is forty days of solitude, Satan showed himself to Jesus and tried to lure Jesus into going off of the righteous way and becoming a sinner. The Lord of the Flies is attempting to do the exact same thing with Simon. At first, he’s trying to coax him into it, but then resorts to threats. The interaction between Simon and Lord of the Flies is important to Golding’s theme because although the Lord of the Flies isn’t able to coax Simon into sinning, Simon is dragged into the treacherous ways of the evil that lies within everyone when he was slaughtered by the boys.

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1768 Words | 8 Pages

In William Golding’s classic novel, The Lord of the Flies, Golding demonstrates the dark reality sleeping underneath humanity’s supposedly civil nature. To accomplish this, he follows the struggles of a group of stranded boys, whose paranoid isolation on the island leads to their degradation as a civilization. As one of the castaways, Simon stands as an integral part of the tribe throughout the novel. While his peers turn to savagery, he finds himself changed in a different way--an outcast among his wild peers due to his role as a symbolic Christ-figure. In this way, Golding develops Simon’s character into a religious symbol to highlight the group’s fall from grace, as they turn against the only inherently good and moral character on the island.

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1127 Words | 5 Pages

(Golding, 77). Although the boys laugh at Simon’s idea, his belief conforms Golding’s idea that inner evil exists. The boys develop into the beast when they kill Simon. Simon was desperate to explain the unidentified creature on the mountain but the boys weren’t in the mood for listening to him. With his brutal murder by the other boys, chaos takes over civilized order on the island.

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