Symbolism In William Golding's Lord The Flies

Symbols have been often used to have various meanings. However, some symbols take on multiple meanings because it depends on the point of view of others. The novel, Lord the Flies, written by William Golding, is best known for its symbolism. Its one of the most popular and classic novels in the 20th century. The symbols in the novel were interpreted in a unique way. The story begins with a plane crash, where a group of British schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island. Each boy represents something throughout the novel. Ralph is elected leader. Piggy is his trusted advisor and Jack, along with the choirboys, are the hunters. The conch is used to call an assembly. But civilization began to fall, as Jack and his hunters turned into savages.

Fear is to expect harm or be afraid of. In Men of a Smaller Growth, analyzed by Claire Rosenfield, talks about the children becoming darkness of the night. The genre of Document A is literary criticism, which interprets literary works. This document proves the role of a mother is more impactful than people thought. “Now there are no comforting mothers to dispel the terrors of the unknown. They externalize these fears into the figure of a ‘beast.’” (Doc A) So, without mothers, the boys were forced to handle their fears without any comforting. According to Rosenfield, the boys had to externalize their fear. Externalize is a psychologic term that means to transfer an inside feeling onto something of oneself. A boy with a mulberry birthmark claimed he’d seen the beast. “He says he saw the beastie, the snake-thing, and will it come back tonight?” (Doc B) “He says in the morning it turned into them things like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches. He says will it come back tonight?” (Doc B) So, in the first half of the novel, the beast represents

Around the time where World War II started, the book was published in 1954. Lord of the Flies took place soon. “Lord of the Flies, far from being a mere fiction or fable, is also an authentic history of World War II and its psychological aftermath. War is not the mere occasion of the novel, but rather the off-stage protagonist in this drama of evil, determining the behavior of the boys on the marooned island. War and William Golding, in fact, are the two inextricable subjects. After working for a short time in the theater as a writer and actor, Golding trained to be a teacher, a profession he left during World War II to join the Royal Navy. After the war Golding returned to writing with the publication of his first novel, Lord of the Flies (1954). And World War II left an impact on Golding the artist. On an occasion Golding himself admitted, ‘The war produced one notable effect on me. It scared me stiff…. It was the turning point for me. I began to see what people were capable of doing. Where did the Second World War come from? Was it made by something inhuman and alien or was it made by chaps with eyes and legs and hearts?’” (Doc C) What Golding was trying to say is that people are capable of do something inhumane. He also used some words to describe a monster. That its either something alien-like and inhuman or people with eyes, legs and hearts. In Lord of the Flies, the war led to the boys evacuating from England and to the crash landing of the plane. In