ipl-logo

What Does The Pig's Head Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

976 Words4 Pages

In the novel by William Golding Lord of the Flies, the young english men that are left alone on the island make contact with many important symbols that help to display ideas and concepts. Through symbols like the beast, the Lord of the Flies, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when freed from civilization’s rules and restrictions, allow their primal necessity for evil to control their life. A symbol that is arguably the most important object in the book,the book’s namesake, the pig's head. Golding's description of the murdered animal's head on a spear is very dark and more so scary. The boar's head is depicted as "dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood getting darker between the teeth," the "obscene thing" is covered …show more content…

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. The group yells out a "wild,wild whoop" when Jack puts Ralph down, exclaiming "Bollocks to the darn rules! We're strong we will hunt! If there's a beast, we will hunt it down! We'll close in and, beat and beat and beat!" (p. 91). Obviously, the boys' fear of the ‘beast’ and their ironic need to destroy it shows that the tight grip which society's rules once had on them has been loosened in the duration of the time they have spent on the

Show More
Related
604 Words | 3 Pages

LOTF Symbolism The book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is about how a group of young schoolboys in the midst of a World War, end up on a deserted island after a plane crash. The changing nature of Piggy, who is a symbol of the voice of reason, evolves from being necessary to being killed and having the reason of the island go along with him. In the beginning of the novel, Piggy is described as plump "The fat boy lowered himself over the terrace and sat down carefully, using the edge as a seat"(10), nearsighted "He wiped his glasses and adjusted them on his button nose"(11), and asthmatic "I can't swim.

Read More
675 Words | 3 Pages

The Lord of the Flies speaks these lines to Simon in Chapter 8, during Simon’s vision in the his hiding place with the forest. These words confirm Simon’s speculation in Chapter 5 that perhaps the beast is only the boys themselves. This idea of the evil on the island being within the boys is central to the novel’s exploration of inner human savagery. The Lord of the Flies identifies itself as the beast and acknowledges to Simon that it exists within all human beings: “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?”

Read More
162 Words | 1 Pages

‘Lord of the Flies’, written by William Golding is a novel that illustrates the story of a group of boys who are stranded on an island and their fight for survival. Golding’s use of symbolism with the conch, Piggy’s glasses and the pig shows us that as time progresses the boys descend further into savagery. Through the way the boys use and misuse these symbols we see their slow descent into savagery. One example of a symbol that represents the boys’ descent into savagery is Piggy’s glasses. Piggy’s glasses are an essential part of his identity, when his spectacles are first mentioned – “Been wearing specs since I was three...", we see that Piggy's been wearing his spectacles since he was very young, they are a part of him.

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

Society isn’t perfect and it’s about to either hit you in the head or go over. “Lord of the Flies”, shows symbolism, a topic some people don’t understand. William Golding uses symbolism to create a universal message in his novel. Symbolism is the symbolic meaning attached to natural objects or facts. In this novel, William Golding uses symbolism to trace the defects of society back to the human nature by two major symbols, Piggy and the Conch.

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

Simon, being one of the wiset boys, said, “Maybe there is a beast... maybe it’s only us…” (Chapter 5, page 80). Some boys believe that there is a wild beast roaming about and others think that it is nonsense. The boys are beginning to split up and divide themselves over the thought of a silly creature when in reality, they should be packing together.

Read More
275 Words | 2 Pages

The pig’s head signifies the Lord of the Flies by the way the boys hunted and brutally killed the pig. They slaughtered the pig by sticking a spear into its butt. Jack and his hunters believe that the pig’s head is an offering, so they can be safe from the beast; however, they are never safe from the beast. In the beginning, the island was a peaceful and comfortable place for the

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine a group of helpless boys stranded on an isolated island fighting for their lives with no reassurance of survival. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, uses three symbols to……: Piggy’s specs, the beast, and the conch. While they try to achieve civilization, the specs and the conch are overtaken by the fear of a “Beast”. In the novel, Piggy’s specs represent rationality, intelligence, and order; the beast represents fear and violence, and the conch represents power, unity and democracy. Throughout the rest of Golding’s novel, these three important symbols unfold and change the characters completely.

Read More
1264 Words | 6 Pages

This belief in the beast and the subsequent actions to appease it highlight the boys inner darkness and capacity for evil. Simons encounter with the Lord of the Flies, a pig’s head on a stick’ further symbolizes this inherent evil. During his hallucinatory conversation with the Lord of the Files, Simon realizes that the true beast is within the boys themselves:” The beast was harmless and horrible”(Simon page 181). This revelation highlights the theme that the darkness lies within every human being, and the island’s isolation and lack of societal rules unleash this inner savagery.

Read More
541 Words | 3 Pages

The Lord of Flies by William Golding has many symbols of evil, one of which is the sow’s head. William Golding uses the image of the sow’s head as a figure to lead the reader to understand the parallel of human evil and the evil that Satan represents in the bible. The sow’s head, represents savagery, innate evil in human beings, and a Satan figure. The image of it is a major symbol to move the reader along in the battle between civilization and savagery.

Read More
969 Words | 4 Pages

Literary Analyses of the Lord of the Flies The Lord of the Flies demonstrates a wide variety of symbolism; from Christ to Satan the children are portrayed in an abstract manner to represent these religious beings, as well as a symbol of great strife for power. Two of the main symbolic devices are used in the form of a mystical Conch and a cumbersome Sow’s head perched atop a stake; however these symbols represent very different ideas. Next the Lord of the Flies demonstrates the burden and struggle of power in multiple ways. William Golding included within this novel the power of symbolism, using inanimate objects, characters, or even landmasses to represent ideals derived from basic human morals and Christian religion that has a major influence

Read More
953 Words | 4 Pages

The imaginary beast that frightens all the boys stands for the savagery that exists with all people. The boys are afraid of the beast. However only Simon realizes that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. As civilization exists the island life and savagery replaces it, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the book, the boys are leaving it sacrifices such as the pig head.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

Being on the island everyone is contsantly faced with the fear of the unknown the younger boys need someone to protect them from the fears on the island. Although nothing manages to scare the boys as much as the beastie does. When a little boy with a mullberry birthmark informs everyone that he has seen a beastie. The older boys emitiatly belive its his imagination but even later in the novel the boys start to question the exsitance of the beast. After the killing of simion, jack is belives ut was simon disguised as the beast, and that the beast is not dead.

Read More
1533 Words | 7 Pages

(Golding 82). Simon, who represents genuine goodness of man, suggests that “‘maybe [the beast is] only us’” (Golding 89). His insightful suggestion is mocked and he is considered crazy because it is easier for the boys to comprehend a tangible monster lingering over them that could be killed rather than to accept “mankind’s essential illness” (Golding 89) which cannot be changed nor destroyed. Simon is isolated from the others because of his atypical insight and he simply “cannot be understood, for he speaks the language of truth to the blind” (Talon).

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

After a littlun, Percival, tells everyone “the beast comes out of the seas,” (94). the boys argue about what the beast is and where it comes from. When Simon has the bravery to speak up about what he thinks, he says, “what I mean is… maybe it’s only us.” (96). This is the first time someone has identified the possibility that the horrid 'beast' is the boys themselves, and that they should be scared of themselves and each other.

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

During Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies, Golding reveals the central issue concerning human nature. Simon reaches the realization that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that the beast is inside each boy and cannot be killed. The boys go from behaving like civilized young men to brutal savages. “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.”

Read More

More about What Does The Pig's Head Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

Open Document