Golding successfully traces the defects of society back to defects of human nature in “Lord of the Flies”, through highlighting the savage-like behaviour of a group of boys stranded on a deserted island. He illustrates their deterioration into savagery through various symbols and the behaviour of the boys in the novel. The symbolism in “Lord of the Flies” relates directly to the creation of the theme intended by Golding. The spear made and used by the boys symbolizes death and evil. They represent primitive behaviour as well as inherent tribal nature in humans and death, because the spear is sharpened on both ends and has the head of a pig on one of these ends. Ralph said, “What did it mean? A stick sharpened at both ends. What was there in that?” Jack suggests that the boys use the head of a littlun on the end of the spear instead, which highlights the complete savage-like, cruel behaviour starting to surface on the island and in the personalities of the young boys and this is a defect of human nature. …show more content…
This symbolizes tribal behaviour and it also creates the idea of a mask which the boys feel as if they can hide behind. Their painted faces mask their evil actions and give the boys the opportunity to behave as savages without feeling remorse or facing any consequences for their wrong-doings. This represents the societal defect of members of society hiding behind a metaphorical mask in order to act wrongly or cruelly without being caught or having to take responsibility for these actions. “He capered toward Bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame…” This quote shows us that the face paint was used as a mask for the boys to hide behind so that they would not feel shame for their actions. This relates the defects of our human, tribal nature to the defects of a society despite the age of the boys on the island, as this is their human