Biblical Allusions: Golding´s Lord of the Flies

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, there is an allusion that predominates in the work. Simon portrays this allusion to the Bible in the novel and sustains this

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel in which every person, place, thing, and event creates a parallel to another theme or idea. Golding uses these symbols to represent a much more complex idea. Overall, symbolism played an important role to develop the plot, as well as the overall theme. The main theme portrayed throughout the novel is the idea that savagery is within every person. Golding’s use of various symbols throughout Lord of the Flies, including the conch, the fire, Piggy’s glasses, and Ralph’s hair, show the boys’ gradual loss of civilization as events on the island bring out the savagery within them.

He remains free from all the fear and evil eating away at the other boys. Simon is a reference to Jesus, who tried to save people from the evil of the world. Simon is pure and kind by nature, shown by his treatment of the littluns, whom no one else seems to care about. Simon sees them picking fruit, and “found for them the fruit they could not reach... [and] pulled off the choicest” (56). This mimics the actions of Jesus, who was a protector and comforter of little children, and was always willing to go out of his way to help the weak or unfortunate. Simon is willing to go through discomforts as long as it is for the wellbeing of another. On the island, he has the purest soul, and when evil and savagery prevails in the other boys, he remains innocent. Due to his goodness, Simon also makes efforts to bring the others back to the light. While wandering about the island, he sees the body of the dead pilot up on the mountain. He realizes that “the beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible” (147). This is like Jesus in that he tried to free the others from the burden of sin and evil. However, like Jesus, Simon is not accepted by the people he tries to save, and is murdered brutally for all his troubles. Simon is the savior in a dark and fear-filled world, but he is shunned due to the evil in the other

In the novel Lord of the Flies, English school boys crashed on a deserted island varying ages of six and twelve years old. The relationships between the boys with each other and nature on the island allow for theories of mythical and biblical relevance to shine through. Simon, one of the twelve year old boys, is related to biblical figures as analysed through William Golding’s style of writing and relations of several characters. Simon is the incarnation of goodness and saintliness. If you were to examine the actions of both Simon and Jesus, you would find that the number of situations and how they were handled are written alongside one another.

A lack of religion will lead to a lack of morality. Christlike figures often appear selfless, enlightened, and are taunted by sin. Simon from Lord of the Flies exhibits kindness to the young children by getting them fruit, while most of the older children disregard the children, and leave them to their own activities. He challenges the older boys ways of thinking, as he often prefers to meditate alone in the jungle. He even outright opposes the group mentality, as he says, “I don’t believe in the beast” (105). When Simon is confronted by the lord of the flies (a thinly-veiled reference to satan), it taunts him. The pig’s head symbolizes of the worst aspect of the group, and it tries to tempt and threaten Simon so that he becomes like the rest of the boys: unorganized, unfocused, and on their way to becoming savages. Eventually the other boys ritualistically murder Simon because they mistake him for the beast. Simon was the only one who knew that the beast was not real. He was enlightened and it isolated him from the rest of the boys. The parallels between Simon and Christ make Simon’s death more impactful, to emphasize the inevitability of downfall in groups who

It may have taken millions of years for humans to evolve enough to create the sprawling civilizations known today, but it only takes a few months for a group of civil, educated boys to regress back into savagery. In his novel Lord of the Flies, author William Golding depicts a group of young British boys getting stranded on a deserted island sans adults. The boys must look out for themselves, forming a basic governing system and trying to survive. But the challenge soon proves too much to handle, and order deteriorates. William Golding conveys the universal theme of civilization vs. savagery in his novel Lord of the Flies using the literary elements of plot, setting, and characterization.

The role of the prophet changes with the society in which he lives. In modern society, a prophet is a visionary, telling people what they can become; in Biblical times, a prophet was the voice of God, telling his people what they had to become to fulfill their covenant with God.  In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the prophet is a peaceful lad, Simon.  He alone saw that the jungle, which represented freedom and the lack of civilization, was not to be feared but to be understood; he alone knew that the mythical Beast of the island, feared by all the boys, was, in fact, their own inherent savagery. Through these truths Simon represents a Christ figure paralleling Christ's

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Did your parents ever tell you about the first time that you disobeyed them? Mine have. I was next to a hot wood stove at my grandparent’s house, and my parents told me not to touch it because it was hot. But, of course, I just had to touch it now that I was told not to. I wasn’t egged on by my sister or my cousins; I touched that stove of my own accord. And of course, it all went down from there. My inward desire to be stubborn and selfish was expressed though disobeying my parents- In the end, I got burned. Similarly, in Sir William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, biblical allusions are used to give additional meaning and depth to the book and to show the ways in which humans transfer their inner evil into outward behavior. Evil doesn’t

Although Golding doesn’t make any direct biblical parallels, he certainly uses them as penetrating motifs throughout the novel. Lord of the Flies opens in the Garden of Eden. On an island filled with ripe fruits, fresh, flowing water, has a luscious climate, and the boys are free to live as they want. They’re free from sexual longing and deprivation. Like Adam and Eve, the boys are innocent. Golding describes Simon as the “Jesus” figure in the story. Simon happens to be on of Jesus’ twelve disciples. Jesus later renamed Simon to Peter, which means “rock.” Simon and Jesus share the same experience of mourning and mental suffering the night before their death. Simon, with his experience talking with the pig head and Jesus in his time in the Garden of Gethsemane. Unlike Jesus, Simon’s death did not bring salvation to the island. It brought the boys deeper into savagery and guilt. After the boys were building the signal fire, it started to burn everything. That is the beginning of hell. The small boy with

In the story, Lord of the Flies, there are many biblical allusions; Simon represents Jesus, the pig’s head represents Satan or rather their satanic sides, Jack represents Judas, and the island represents the Garden of Eden. Through out this novel these allusions play large parts in the story and ideals place in the story.

The Lord of the Flies says “Fancy thinking the beast is something that you could kill,” and he calls Simon a “silly boy” (Golding 143). The beast was trying to tell him that the boys were the actual beast and it was inside of them, as sin is in all of us from the fall of man. Matthew 12:24 says “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” The world Beelzebub is another name used to address the devil, and literally translates to “Lord of the Flies”, which is the name that Golding uses to refer to the pigs head in the book. The Pig also tempts Simon in the forest as Satan did Jesus in the New Testament ( Matthew 4:1-11). The pigs meat represents the fruit of knowledge from the book of Genesis. The meat is all the boys could think about, until they ate it and it opened the door to savagery and sin. As Eve ate the forbidden fruit of knowledge and cursed the world with sin. Pork in the Old Testament was considered filthy and forbidden, and if you consumed it, you were considered unclean and sinful (Leviticus 11:7-8). Jack and his hunters ate the meat, and soon after became complete savages. Jack and his tribe worship the beast/pig, offering it fruit and sacrifices(Golding 137), as Revelations 13:4 says “People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and

The character of Simon in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies has often been viewed as the Christ figure of the novel. If you were to examine the actions of both Simon and Jesus, you would find a number of incidents that parallel each other.

“They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned. At last Simon gave up and looked back; saw the white teeth and dim eyes, the blood—and his gaze was held by that ancient, inescapable recognition” (Golding 138). Once an offering to the “beast”, the pig’s head swarming with flies that had been severed by Jack and placed on a stick, manifests into the Lord of the Flies, representing pure evil. Simon, embodying the goodness of man and peace stumbles upon the head. The interaction between Simon and the Lord of the Flies is almost an interpretation between good and evil. The strong symbolism in this book gives a deeper meaning and a definite truth

In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, symbolism and allegories were used to show how the children who are stranded on an island have a huge struggle with civilization and savagery. Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon are the ones in the novel that struggle with this the most.