ipl-logo

What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

1150 Words5 Pages

In the novel Lord of The Flies, a group of boys are in a plane crash and become stranded on an island. The novel takes place during World War II. The boys gather at the shore of the island and find a conch shell. The boys vote on Jack as the leader and split the group into two parts; the group and the choir. The group, including the lil uns, make shelter on the shore while the choir goes to hunt the pigs living on the island. As the novel continues, the boys become violent and fight over who the leader of the group should be. The choir becomes separated from the rest of the group so they can be lead by who they wish. There is a beast on the island that the boys believe is coming to get them. Before the groups separate, a group of boys goes …show more content…

The first is the beast the boys believe is on the island. Before the first character Simon dies, he kneels in front of one of a head of a pig in a stake. The pig head was a gift to the beast from the choir. He begins to hallucinate that the pig is speaking to him. “A gift for the beast. Might not the beast come for it? The head, he thought, appeared to agree with him. Run away, said the head silently, go back to the others”(137). The beast is then introduced to Simon as the lord of the flies. The lord of the flies isn’t a real beast, but rather the violence the boys have for one another and their fear of the island. “They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned”(138). The Lord of the Flies is symbolic of the need for the boys to be in control and leading. This makes the beast because the fear and violence they feel makes the beast scarier to the boys. Simon then gets ill and is eventually murdered by the choir and Jack and Piggy during one of their fire rituals. The second item with symbolic meanings is the conch. The conch is what the boys first find when they wake up on the island. The rule is that whoever holds the conch is the leader and has the right to speak. This is symbolic for the way the boys want to be rulers and be in control. It’s a sign of leadership that all the boys think is important, which causes conflict later on. Ralph holds the conch and is therefore the leader but Jack wants to be the leader so he can hold the conch and have the final say in what

Show More
Related
883 Words | 4 Pages

Ralph states about the conch, “‘I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking’” (Golding 33). In the beginning of the book, the conch symbolizes government and power. Ralph states that the conch will give the right of a person to talk which shows how the conch is keeping order around for the boys like a government.

Read More
859 Words | 4 Pages

The conch symbolizes the role of leadership showing they have some source of civilization, once the conch is broken a descent into savagery leads to a dangerous turn for the boys. The one thing that the boys all had that could bring them together was the conch. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” Ralph says and later on says “We’ll have rules!”

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

“He says the beastie came in the dark… stumbling among all those creepers…” In the story of the Lord of the Flies, a small group of boys are stranded on an island, and are being hunted by a strange “beast.” What, however, does this beast symbolize? As time progresses, numerous interpretations of the beast have arised.

Read More
487 Words | 2 Pages

At the instant the conch shatters all authority is lost. The conch not only symbolized rules and authority but it separates the boys by if they want to follow the rules either under Ralph's authority or

Read More
976 Words | 4 Pages

In the boy’s heads, the beast is a source of the evil and darkness on the island on the island. Although, in reality,the beast is just a representation of the bad side of every person, which is causing the safety of the life on the island to quickly deteriorate. Simon begins to understand this concept even before his run in with the Lord of the Flies, and whilst a fight over how real the beast was, he trys to help the other boys come to terms with this idea. Anxiously, Simon explains to them, "Maybe, maybe there is a beast... What I mean is maybe it's only us" (p. 89). As a result to Simon's declaration, the other boys, who had finally come to a conclusion creating a moment of peace, immediately reignited their argument, more fiercely this time than the last.

Read More
398 Words | 2 Pages

The Beasts Within A number of boys are stuck on an island with no means of communication or escaping. They band together in a big group to try to make a society and help each other survive. The younger kids of the group think that there is a beast on the island that emerges from the water, but all of the older kids reluctantly tell them there is no such thing. Later, about half of the boys split up to join Simon to create a better society, and when they catch a pig, the boys invite the other troop to have a feast with them, in an effort to get them to join their crowd. The head of the pig is then speared and placed in the glade for an offering to the illusive beast.

Read More
762 Words | 4 Pages

The significance of the conch shell is first mentioned in the story as a symbol of law and order. In Chapter 2, Ralph blows the conch to summon the other boys back to the assembly and reports the findings of the excursion. Jack interrupts almost quickly to emphasize the need for an army for pig hunting. Ralph institutes, “‘ Another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once.

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

The lord of the flies commanding Simon to “get back” to the children who later murder him, the Christlike figure, demonstrates the Devil’s strong control over all people(143). Being comparable to the Devil, the lord of the flies is very deceiving and convinces Simon to march to his death, like Jesus did to his crucifixion. Corruption is among the boys as even the Christlike figure falls to temptation and is murdered amidst the violence of the island. The boys fearfully leaving the pig head for “the beast” as they try to appease a creature of the Devil’s works, reveals just how much power people give to monsters(137). Because the boys are trying to appease the beast, they are worshiping an evil entity like humans are naturally drawn to.

Read More
200 Words | 1 Pages

According to the text, the Lord of the Flies states. The beast is close by, but as it is themselves, the boys are unable to destroy it. In this situation, conflict occurs when Simon watches the head of a pig being placed on a stick and gets caught up by the image. Simon imagines the head speaking to

Read More
200 Words | 1 Pages

Inside all of the boys, there is a beast that has been dormant throughout their lives, but now that they are without adult supervision for an extended period of time, each beast has broken out of their internal shell. After the boys first land on the

Read More
1284 Words | 6 Pages

Simon is the Christ-like figure of the island who believes in goodness, purity, truth, and innocence. Throughout the novel, Simon is often one of the voices of reason and insight among the group, typically showing his understanding in the true nature of humanity. As the boys are discussing the existence of the beast on the island, Simon is hesitant to reveal his opinion about the beast. Although Ralph and Piggy believe in the beast in a supernatural way, Simon believes in the beast in a spiritual way. Simon explains, “Maybe there is a beast…

Read More
407 Words | 2 Pages

In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, there are many symbolic concepts within the novel such as the beast, and the pigs head. Golding uses these concepts to portray to the reader his idea that when humans are left without rules or organisation they will break from a civilised manner and become savages allowing evil to over take them. One of the most important symbols used to help the reader understand Golding's idea is the beast. Many of the boys believe their is a beast on the island and become fearful.

Read More
1333 Words | 6 Pages

The boys on the island often feared there may have been a vicious “beast” on the island. The island shaped them into their own beast. For them not realizing that their fears were drastically changing the way they acted towards one another, and turning them into ferocious, brutal barbarians. Their terrors were taking advantage of their minds in ways that are unimaginable

Read More
364 Words | 2 Pages

The flies swarming around it can be seen as a metaphor for the boys letting societies bounds go, and accepting the bas over good. When Simon initially hallucinates The Beast speaking, it is

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

(Golding, 77). Although the boys laugh at Simon’s idea, his belief conforms Golding’s idea that inner evil exists. The boys develop into the beast when they kill Simon. Simon was desperate to explain the unidentified creature on the mountain but the boys weren’t in the mood for listening to him. With his brutal murder by the other boys, chaos takes over civilized order on the island.

Read More

More about What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Related Topics

Open Document