What Is The Significance Of Violence In Lord Of The Flies

Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, once explained violence as “symbolic, thematic, transcendent.” (page 95). Foster concludes Chapter 11 by explaining that violence is never straightforward —an act of aggression is never just an act of aggression; rather, it is something full of endless possibilities and meanings that refines the inner purpose of a novel. Violence is what creates that three-dimensional narrative that becomes essential in a novel; it drives plot advancement, forms thematic development, and serves as potent symbols or metaphor. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies fiction novel portrays the importance of violence within a story. Alone on a stranded island, a group of schoolboys are forced to

Initially, the group of schoolboys unites under Ralph’s leadership, symbolized by the conch, in hopes of establishing rule and order. However, their primal instincts gradually lead them down a path of savagery. Golding is attempting to emphasize that behind every civilized society, exist humans and their dark, unrestrained primal impulses. As violence becomes the product of these impulses, it becomes essential to illustrate its meaning. The novel begins with minor disagreements among the boys, which then grows into more intense acts of violence. Additionally, Golding aims to showcase that primal instincts intensify over time, reinforced by behavior such as Jack's, who provides the boys with food and a sense of power. One could parallel this to the real world when thinking about war and how higher-ups reinforce violence behavior on those lower than them. The purpose of violence goes beyond explaining the theme of savagery prevailing in a world without strict rules and order, but to caution us about the potential inherent darkness inside all of

Golding wrote Lord of the Flies three years shortly after WW2: one of the most violent wars in history. Out of inspiration, the novel was made as a parody of war and dives into the underlying ideas of human nature and its dependencies of violence. Once united a group divides into two and creates conflict instead of cooperation for survival. Casualties, specifically to those with logical minds, grow as the need for victory consumes them. The entire concept of violence in Lord of the Flies is a symbol of war. Additionally, it creates irony by having the boys come out and then purposely make an environment they sought to escape –the evil world of adults. For example, the painted faces on the boys resemble those at war (chapter 4), and the spears originally made for hunting were transformed into weapons made for each other (177). The conch, a symbol of civilization, destroyed by the consequences of violence just as society when at war (181) Ensembled, all these various symbols create a unique metaphor to the foundations of