Imagery In Lord Of The Flies

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In life, humans constantly change, and one of the most common change is civilization. This change happens for multiple reasons. As time progress and people get older, they have different opinions about certain people, rules, and systems. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses subtle images and symbols to illustrate the boys highly structured and civilized origins; however, as the boys begin to lose their sense of self and their civil leanings, symbols begin to reflect their slow descent into savagery. The change is made evident by symbols that Golding uses in the novel, such as the conch, the fire and the beast to represent the contradictory forces acting on the boys throughout the novel. First, Golding uses the …show more content…

The beast is one of the best symbols that shows how the boys progress from civilization and let out their inner savagery. Simon expressing his belief says, “Maybe there is a beast… maybe it 's only us.” (Golding 82). A littlun complains about there being a beast that roams around at night, they all gather around to come up with strategies on how to fix the situations. Simon suggests the beast is the boys themselves, and at this point, the savagery is taking over them and they are becoming more and more uncivilized. Beasts are mainly described as wild animals. The boys have been acting like beasts for the duration of the novel, they behave and act very similarly to what one would expect a beast to act and behave like. While Simon is having a verbal battle with the lord of the flies, they say, “You knew, didn 't you? I 'm part of you? Close, close, close! I 'm the reason why it 's no go? Why things are what they are… You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there- so don’t try to escape”(Golding 133). The lord of the flies from the head of the pig begin to talk to Simon, it explains that it is the beast and it is within the boys. When Simon goes to warn the boys about the beast, he is killed by them all. The true savagery and civilization are in the boys, all of them. The beast says that it is within the boys, and it warns Simon if he went to the other boys it will be there. It was not lying as it was there, and it killed him. The savage and civilized boys are the beats themselves they have all been scared, they did what a beast would do, which is attack and