Literary Analysis: Lord Of The Flies

Literary Analysis for LOTF

How to survive on an island; 1. Stay calm 2. Establish necessities 3. Work together 4. Never give up. This is easier said than done, especially for a group of savage little boys stranded on an island with no adults. William Gerald Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, was one of Britain's most popular authors. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. Lord of the Flies, his first book, is about a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on a deserted island. The boys have to deal with democracy, dictatorship, and social order. They eventually lose their sense of civility and most of them become barbaric and ferocious children of the island. William Golding expresses the theme of civilization versus

“Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character” (“symbolism”). In the beginning of the story Ralph feels it’s a good idea to get a signal fire going to help the boys on the island get rescued. The objective of this is to build smoke so that boats will be able to see them on the island. After building and starting the fire, the boys realize that they have made more of a bonfire than a signal fire. Piggy then says, “You got your small fire all right"(Golding 44). Before, there was hope that the boys would be seen on the island due to the smoke that the fire would make. The fire that they created isn’t making much smoke, but is destroying the land around them. The fire is now more a symbol of destruction rather than hope. Another example of symbolism is when the boys are having one of their meetings, the topic of beasties comes up. The boys are starting to become whether they believe in the beasties or not. Simon then says, “Maybe there is a beast.” He then proceeds to say “...maybe it’s us”(Golding 89). What Simon means is that the beasties might be within themselves, that the beast is the evil and darkness inside of them. A third example of symbolism takes place at the boys’ second meeting; they discuss how they need a way of talking about important matters without madness. Ralph solves this matter, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking" (Golding 33). In this scenario the conch symbolises communication and the authority one has just by carrying this shell. The boys come up with a way to make their meeting a little more civil and orderly. Symbolism is an important factor in the Lord of the Flies; it creates a deeper meaning and understanding to the