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Symbols In William Golding's The Lord Of The Flies

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The Lord of the Flies
Discuss the Extensive Use of Symbolism in the Novel

William Golding’s timeless classic, The Lord of the Flies, uses symbolism all throughout the novel. The most prominent symbols are actually hidden within his characters. The novel displays human nature at its worst, and shows us how easily the human mind can be altered. The Lord of the Flies has many themes and hidden and not so hidden symbols within its pages. Golding’s three main characters display the themes and symbols so that we may understand them better.

Piggy is a fat, far-sighted school boy with asthma. A real name for Piggy is not mentioned, the boys on the island simply call him by his nickname. As for symbolism, Piggy symbolizes maturity, intellect, and …show more content…

Jack is a symbol of evil, cruelty, and savagery. He terrorized Piggy, fought with Ralph, and fought with any who opposed him. He usurped Ralph’s role of leadership, and split the group. In chapter eight, on page one hundred thirty-five and one hundred thirty-six, Jack and his hunters were, well, hunting. “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted all over his hands”. This is proof that Jack is cruel, and has become a savage. He then proceeded to put the sow’s head on a pike as a gift to the beast. These boys probably range from six to thirteen years old, and they are acting like total savages. We have Jack to thank for that. They evil really shines through when he intentionally told others that there indeed was a beast. Just so that he could make himself seem brave and heroic. He scared the boys on purpose to make himself look good. Jack proved himself a symbol of evil and savagery again in chapter twelve on page one hundred ninety-two. Samneric tell Ralph that Jack and his hunters “sharpened a stick at both ends”. Jack doesn’t say this himself, but it’s the idea. The idea, or the fact that Jack intentionally wants to behead Ralph and put his head on a pike shows that Jack has sunk to the bottom of a deep hole. A deep hole of evil, and savagery that he cannot escape from. Therefore, Jack is a symbol of evil, cruelty, and savagery.

William Golding’s timeless classic, The Lord of the Flies, uses symbolism all throughout the novel. With the most prominent symbols being hidden within his characters. These symbols and themes and the way they grow throughout the novel really let us see how horrid the human race can be when left to their own devices. But after all, isn’t there a little bit of evil and cruelty, intellect, order, etc. inside all of our funny little

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Symbols are everywhere. Readers see symbols in all kinds of literary works. Symbols are used to represent ideas and concepts in literary works. Authors use symbols to help the readers understand themes. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the theme present is that societies need some kind of social order to live in peace.

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Jack makes the boys believe that the beast will not hurt them as long as they do what he says, this gives Jack more control over the boys. When Jack and his hunters go hunting, they find a sow and kill it. When they

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Jack is a great character to show how the theme developed through him. Jack split from the group and went a little crazy and would attack Ralph's group and the killing of Simon (chapter 9). In chapter 9 Jack attacks what he thought was the beast even with the fear of it being bigger and stronger than him. They didn't know what the beast was capable of; they knew nothing about it. Jack had the opportunity to kill the beast and did.

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In most books, authors use motifs to symbolize a larger theme. In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses a variety of motifs as significant symbols. This is especially evident with the boy’s physical characteristics. Golding uses the main characters’ hair to show that natural desires must be pushed aside in order to have a successful relationship.

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Everyone will face evil at some point in their lives, but the way the evil is embraced or deflected will differ among every man. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, symbolism is used to communicate the theme of Understanding the Inhumanity/Inherent Evil of Man as represented through the double ended spear, the fire, and the Lord of the Flies. The spear represents the evil inside of humankind and the perception that killing and hurting each other out of anger is acceptable. Fire symbolizes the evil act of stealing to achieve a human wants. Lastly, the Lord of the Flies symbolizes the Inherent Evil of Man through demonstrating that a boy understood that the evil is within them instead of around them, and is not something that could be killed

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In this instance Jack tells the boys that he somehow has control over the beast. This shows how Jack uses the beast to draw the children towards him as the leader of the group. He always desires to rule over the boys and the beast is his scapegoat to do

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Following the desperate chase after the sow, “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push...the spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (Golding 135). Unlike before, this scene conveys that Jack and the boys in his tribe are capable of killing and committing brutal acts. While Jack hesitates to kill a pig at the beginning of the book because of his fears of blood and death, he eventually becomes obsessed with hunting and violence, killing a sow by vigorously “stabbing downward with his knife” and slitting the sow’s throat.

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When Ralph declares Jack the head of hunters, Jack takes this power to another level of jealousy and greed and becomes savage. After he kills his first pig he puts blood on his face and creates a mask. Jack's hunters immediately follow his footsteps creating what appears to be an army with Jack as the general. Having an army eventually leads to having a war which happens towards the end of the book. This represents a futuristic nuclear war which is happening while the boys are stranded on the island.

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In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, he created this book about a group of proper british boys to show that even the most civilize of all can turn inhuman and go savage. Also being in the war helped Golding to see what people were capable of even if they were good at heart. The themes in Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, were influenced by his childhood, his experiences in the war, and his view of human nature. Golding’s early life influenced the theme in Lord of the Flies.

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Without the use of symbols the interpretation of the story could be altered and be taken in

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From the beginning of the novel when he first became a hunter, Jack is thrust into this position of darkness and villainy, as his “mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge of the had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig,” (70). Although beginning with a simple animal, this characterizes Jack with an ability to kill and an innate sense of evil with desires he cannot remove from his head that he must fulfill at all costs. Moreover, Golding further implies the characterization of prey and predator, as he takes pleasure from the sinful ideal of a struggling prey’s life being taken. Jack’s need for power is displayed even further through this characterization as well, as his mind beging interchanging a pig and Ralph, his Ego. This characterizes the beginning of Jack’s exponential growth as his time prolongs on the island, as he becomes powerful on his journey, becoming more and more brutal, and losing sight of human nature, only focusing on the mere act of shoving a spear “right up her ass!”

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When the boys gather around for the first time, Jack shows dictator like characteristics by treating the choir boys like his own military. He even tried to declare himself the leader by saying “I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp”. Their conflict becomes even more obvious as the story progresses. The reason why Jack is always on about killing the pig is for power.

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Lastly, Jack is known as the rebel of the story who disagrees with the leaders, and is pure evil from middle to end. Although Jack is evil, his bad character trait ensures his survival and alliance with the boys. The first example of when Jack’s evilness is shown in the story is when Jack hunts the pig and puts its head on a stick, the line says “ Jack held the head up and jammed the soft throat down on the pointed end of the stick which pierced through into the mouth. He stood back and the head hung there, a little blood dribbling down the stick” ( Golding, 150). This shows Jack’s evilness because instead of fearing the beast he is offering him the head of the pig that he just brutally murdered.

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Near the end of their time on the island, Piggy, Sam, and Eric are the only ones left with Ralph, and Jack, who appears as “a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear” (Golding 168). Jack starts to get violent, and what was fun when they first got to the island become attempts to kill. At this point, Jack has fully taken over, and the only thing left for him to do is kill Ralph. Lord of the Flies exemplifies how when one person has all of the power, there is always somebody else that wants it more than that person. Ralph is not against Jack, nor does he want to fight with him for the chief position, but ambition and violence overtakes Jack, and he turns into a dangerous savage.

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Golding portrays mans evil through the boys' need to undermine others. In the beginning of the book Jack becomes obsessed with hunting the wild pigs that live on the island. “Jack was bent double. He was down like a sprinter, his nose only a few inches from the humid earth … Then dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours yet unheeding his discomfort,

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