Piggy's Allegory

Over the course of history, mankind has been able to derive meaning from almost all objects, both tangible and intangible. The novel, “Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding, uses numerous symbols to create an allegory. Through the allegorical meaning of the novel, the reader is able to understand the hidden meaning about fear and human nature. The author, William Golding is saying that fear is the most destructive emotion and what motivates humans to act differently through its different manifestations, and that humans are essentially good unless they are tempted by evil, but all humans are inherently evil. The following is an analysis on how the symbols presented by William Golding in his novel, “Lord of the Flies,” create an allegory and

The allegory in “Lord of the Flies,” is created through the use of symbols, such as the conch, the island, Piggy’s glasses, and the body paint. Each of these items symbolize a particular thing. The conch symbolizes law and order, the island symbolizes the whole world, Piggy’s glasses symbolize rational thinking, and the body paint that Jack’s tribe uses symbolizes savagery. At the beginning of the novel, Jack says, “We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages.” (Golding 42) This ideology that Jack had at the beginning of the novel drastically changed over the course of it. However, when looking at all of these symbols together in the context of the story, the conch-led government led by Ralph represents a democratic government, while Jack’s led government represents autocracy. Additionally, Piggy’s glasses, which are used for the purposes of creating a signal fire, represent science and

At the beginning of the novel, all of the boys wanted to have law, structure, and order. However, throughout the novel, as they are slowly tempted, they become savages. The argument that Golding creates through his characterization is supported as he writes, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in..." (Golding 75) This shows how when the boys were hungry and in desperate need of food, they were tempted by evil and turned away from good, as their inner savagery was shown. Additionally, toward the end of the novel, Golding writes, “He could see a striped savage moving hastily out of the green tangle, and coming toward the mat where he hid, a savage who carried a spear..." (Golding 198) This quote highlights when Ralph, the last hope of civilization and order, was hunted down by Jack’s savages. It was at this point when the final conversion from good to evil was