Lord Of The Flies Political Allegories

Political Allegories within the Lord of the Flies In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses political allegories such as the conch, Jack, and Ralph to demonstrate how the lack of parental authority leads to destruction. At the time Golding was writing this novel, World War II had just came to a close. This makes it easy to see the comparisons of a war ridden society through his ideas in this novel. The island became almost a mini state of war corruption, just as the rest of the world previously had. The conch that the boys found on the island becomes a representation of political order and power. It’s understood that “The conch becomes a symbol of authority; whoever has the conch has the right to speak” (“Lord of the Flies”). When the boys created this rule, it showed that they were trying to achieve some kind of procedure necessary for survival. At this point in the book, they were still grasping for similar pieces of the society they

“Jack, however, played fear to the boys, and says,”Bollocks to the rules! We're strong-we hunt! If there's a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We close in and beat and beat and beat-!” (“Lord of the Flies”). Through this dialogue, Jack demonstrates that he no longer has regard for the rules. He bases his thinking off of violence and the ability to fight, which ultimately encourages the boys through their savage human desires. When the conch was destroyed, Jack received the shift of power, and the boys fall under his command. Jack yells to the tribe, “Tie them up!” (161). The efficiency and speed in which the tribe obeyed, shocked Sam and Eric, who had not joined the others. Golding explains that “The twins lay, astonished, and the tribe stood round them.” (161). Jack now has dictator-like power which enables corruption to fully spread through the island. Because of this, Ralph now becomes the only one left to oppose this