Lord Of the Flies Sybolism
In William Golding's Novel, Lord of the Flies, there are many examples of symbolism. Golding uses a vast range of symbolism to show how the boys are adapting to the island as well as how they are slowly descending the ladder of civilized behavior. He uses the conch shell as a symbol of highhanded authority. The beast, as the evil that resides within man and irrational fear, and further expanding on that, the pig's head or, "Lord of the Flies," was a symbol of the beast's danger and power. All the symbols are important in one way or another to the plot of the novel. However, the fire and Piggy are the most important symbols found within Lord of the Flies. After the first meeting with Ralph on the beach, the boys decided that a fire had to be kept going continuously in order to be rescued from the island, "There was something good about a fire. Something overwhelmingly good"(Golding 163). The fire took on a symbol of hope. Ralph and the boys decided that the fire should be on the mountain side, so distant ships could see it's smoke. They used Piggy's glasses to ignite the flame. When the boys first started a signal fire, it blazed and spread on the mountain side, burning everything in it's path. The fire then became a symbol o
Jack wanted something quite different. He wanted to be a savage. He didn't want to be rescued at all. He wanted the power the boys voted to Ralph, to be chief, to hunt and kill, and destroy like the fire had on the mountain side. Ralph had a much different view on this as he shows when he says, "But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one"(Golding 81). Later on, after several incidents of hate and killing, Jack used the fire as a weapon. He wanted to kill Ralph. By doing away with Ralph, Jack would do away with reason, logic, and a civilized nature and chance to be rescued. Jack ignited a thicket where Ralph was hiding, to "smoke" him out, and then hunt him down in hope to mount his head on a stick like a pig's head. Jack, and members of the tribe he had formed, stole the signal fire and Piggy's glasses from Ralph's shelters in the night. Piggy and Ralph went to see Jack at his fort, Castle Rock, and Piggy demanded that they give his glasses back. Ralph sided with Piggy and explained that if they wanted fire he would have given it to them. But Piggy, holding a conch shell with its symbol of order and hope, demanded his specs back. Roger, one of Jack's best savage tribe members, pushed a boulder from his look out towards Piggy. Aiming to kill, the massive rock sideswipes Piggy and he is knocked into a watery grave below. From Piggy's death, Jack gains power and Ralph looses hope of ever being rescued. Piggy becomes a symbol on the island. He is Ralph's right-hand-man. When Ralph can't think straight, Piggy is there is keep him focused on the signal fire and on being rescued. Piggy is the only boy who has complete common sense. He is smart and thinks logically. Piggy wants to be rescued more tha
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1183
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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