Lord Of The Flies Religion Analysis

Religion in Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies. During the war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the ocean. The boys, range from six to twelve years old, survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an island. Golding shows the theme of religion with the use of Biblical stories. The Biblical stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Christs death can be revealed by the characters Simon, Ralph, Jack, and the island itself. “The largest and most physically powerful boy on the island’s name is Ralph” (LitChart editors). Ralph is the protagonist in the novel and is the first boy the reader meets on the island and he quickly establishes power by blowing into a conch shell. It does not take long for

Just as the boys form a society on the island, just as human nature has come from the Garden of Eden. When the boys burn down half the island they leave a scar, just as Adam and Eve left a scar on the island. The removal of Ralphs clothes along with the other boys to bathe can represent the nakedness of Adam and Eve, along with baptism. Simon is the only boy with a passive outlook on all the negative behavior of the island. This leads us to believe he is the parallel to Adam, who also was passive in the bible. The title of the book Lord of the Flies can translate to Beelzebub, which in Greek means devil. “the beast is seen as something external. Even in the next chapter the dead airman is seen as the beast - a beast from a dying world. But gradually the beast is internalized. It takes quite some time to realize that the beast lies within us. Simon is the first person to realize this”

In the biblical story, In the Biblical story Cain kills his brother Abel out of jealousy. Jack 's jealousy for Ralph increases as the novel progresses. It is first sparked when Ralph achieves chief instead of Jack, due to popular vote. Jack eventually gets enough hatred towards Ralph that he tries to kill him. “He ran forward, stooping. ‘I’m Chief.’ Viciously, with full intention, he [Jack] hurled his spear at Ralph" (Golding 180). The attempt to kill Ralph is not complete, even when he becomes chief. This shows that Jack is trying to kill Ralph for interpersonal reasons, rather than an external goal. Just as Cain, Jack does not think clearly, or have valid reasons for their arguments. Even though Ralph was not successfully murdered, other characters in the novel were under Ralphs power. These were completed in full intention just like in the bible. At the end of the book, reality comes to the boys when they are hit with the truth. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of a man 's heart”(202). Cain cried after murdering his brother. The littluns learn about the darkness within their hearts. The beast inside them corrupt them to sin and lead them to murder their own