In his classic novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes .

             many elements of symbolism to help accomplish his motif, which is "man .

             is basically evil." Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or .

             thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to .

             represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. As one reads this .

             novel, he or she will begin to recognize the way basic civilization is .

             slowly stripped away from the boys. Let us know look closer at the .

             ways Golding uses this form of symbolism.

             From the very beginning of the story the boys inwardly strip .

             themselves of the remnants of the basic civilized world. This is.

             shown when the boys shed their clothes; their school sweaters, then .

             the rest of their clothes are torn off. Their hair becomes .

             increasingly disheveled, long, and entangled with small twigs. Since .

             the boys are left without any adult supervision they have to turn to .

             their collective unconscious. The collective unconscious was .

             discovered by the renown psychologist Carl Jung. Let us now look .

             further into each individual character in the novel, and discover how .

             they each contribute to portray the ending of the story. .

             Ralph is one of the older boys on the island and remains the .

             leader throughout most of the novel. He is described as a pure, .

             English lad. Such details as his fair hair and the fact that he is .

             wearing his school sweater symbolizes many things. First of all the.

             fact that he has fair hair represents that he will be the positive .

             force throughout the novel, as opposed to Jack who is described as .

             having red hair. The fact that he keeps his school sweater symbolizes .

             his desire to keep the island somewhat civilized. He does everything .

             he can to keep the boys under some kind of society. He makes laws .

             including the freedom of speech. Ralph becomes very popular in the .

             beginning, however as the novel proceeds and the society deteriorates, .