Foreshadowing In Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

Tobias MacIvey – Sol’s grandfather/ Zechariah MacIvey and Toby Cypress’s father. He is a thirty year old man, living in Florida scrub. He had moved

“S’right. It’s a shell! I seen one like that before. On someone’s back wall. A conch he called it.

“When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed”(Rand). This was stated by Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand; the extract relates to the novel William Golding wrote called Lord of the Flies. Golding wrote about a group of schoolboys trapped on an island from a plane crash. The boys had to figure out how to survive without grownups. Trying to survive was difficult because they had to have common sense and order. They lose those traits throughout the book which resulted in selfishness and corrupt behaviors.

177).” Getting what he wants, Jack gets the revote, but Ralph still wins. Most of the boys could see through the lies and exaggerations of Jack. They realized that everything he does is for the betterment of himself, not everyone else. He wants the power so he can be in control and do what is right for himself, not the others. Realizing that, they know he is not and will never fit to be the leader or chief of anything.

Symbol: The long hair represents how long they have been on the island. The “painted faces and long hair” symbolize savagery. Jack paints his face and it makes him feel as if he is one with nature to symbolize his savagery.

The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is a story about a group of British school boys that get stuck on an island after they crash on a plane. They are forced to use the resources around them and have to trust each other, and it works out for a while, but while you read on, you begin to recognize a strain between the two main characters, Jack and Ralph, which really spins out of control at the end. William Golding uses British school boys for this novel because those kind of boys are well mannered and don’t seem like the kind of people to turn into uncultured savages. They are expected to have manners and common etiquette. He uses an example of social commentary by using the little ‘uns in the book as not being able to take care of themselves, and that is supposed to represent the society that we live in, that we can’t take care of ourselves without help. Foreshadowing is subtle, uses unimportant details to lead up to the climaxes of the novel, and is the basis of good vs. evil during the novel.

Just like in any society, there are the leaders and there are the common people. In the novel, Lord of the flies, by William Golding, the littluns play the role of the common people on the island. Meanwhile, Ralph and Jack are the leaders. While stranded on the island, the littluns bring fear amongst everyone, they give rise to a leader and they represent innocence.

(Law and Order) "We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things." (Golding 42)

“We want to have fun, and we want to be rescued” (page 37) A good chief or leader is someone that cares about all the individuals in the group, does not break people down, and blunt and honest with a group. In this case, Ralph would be the best choice for chief for many reasons. As shown by that quote he really cares about what was best for the group, but yet was also about having fun on the island while they were deserted. Ralph throughout the novel shows civilization through his action and so many more characteristics that make up a good leader. Ralph is the best leader in the novel. This is evident because he makes good decisions to benefit the group, his priority is to be rescued over everything else, and he is the most civilized of all

In social experiment titled the “Milgram experiment” a group of scientists gathered people to gather other “participants”, those participants were actually an audio recording playing. The people electrocuting the others believed that the participants we strapped in and could not move. The more questions the people on the other side would get wring the higher and more painful the electrocutions would get.Even when the “people” on the other side would yell out to stop and were begging for mercy they would continue to shock them because the scientist said it was okay. This relates to how in the “Lord of the Flies” by William Goldings when all the littluns began to beat and hurt simon just because jack was saying it was okay and didn't stop them. This proves that humans are born good but are taught to be evil.

Ralph “lost himself in a maze of thoughts that were rendered vague by his lack of words to express them.” Ralph is shown to be an inexperienced leader as his thoughts are compared to being lost in a maze. The author implies that Ralph’s young age and education left him inexperienced and struggles during tense situations.

Ralph represents common sense and what is best for the group by valuing fire the most, because fire represents salvation. Ralph’s value of fire can be seen when he says, “‘The fire’s the most important thing. Without the fire we can’t be rescued,’” (142). Jack represents impulsiveness and personal desire when he leaves the group so he can have fun and do what he wants. If the conch represents unity, Jack saying they don’t need the conch may be Golding portraying his value of only self interest and disregard for what is best for unity. Allegorically, Piggy represents logic. His logic can be seen when Ralph goes to him for advice. Simon represents looking inwards and self reflection. His self reflection can be seen when he goes on walks alone to think. Simon’s poor communication skills may be Golding conveying how inward thoughts are hard to display outwardly. The on and off tensions between Ralph and Jack may thematically represent how your common sense does not always line up with your personal desires in

Now that Jack is the new leader, he became increasingly greedy and mean and exiled Ralph and Piggy from the rest of the group and left them with nothing, except the symbolic origin of fire, Piggy’s glasses. But instead of using fire to divide the group they really needed everyone to come together to create a controlled fire so they can get off the island. While Ralph and Piggy were away Jack tried to create a signal fire, but instead he created a bonfire that ended up burning a quarter of the island down. Piggy walks up to Jack and told him (because he was mad): “‘You got your small fire all right.’ ...the boys were falling still and silent, feeling the beginnings of awe at the power set free below them” (55). Jack knew they needed a fire, but in reality Jack did not understand how destructive a fire can be, and ended up killing one of the members of the group with the fire he started. With the group divided and life in danger, the symbolic meaning of fire is displayed in this quote because it demonstrates the order and or chaos that is on the island and how nearly all of the social structure on the island could be lost as quickly as the time it takes to snap Piggy’s glasses in half.

This is shown when the boys try and outline order on ‘their’ island. Jacks reaction to this is aggressive and intolerant- “bollocks to the rules! We’re strong- we hunt!”. Here we see that he seems manipulative towards the other characters trying to control them into following him as the leader. When the group of boys head up the mountain our perception as to Jack’s cruelty is further developed. This is shown when Jack is seen to “snatch the glasses from Piggy’s face”; “His specs- use them as burning glasses”. Golding uses this cruel streak in Jack so the reader feels sympathetic to lesser characters such as Piggy. The deterioration of civilization on the island first begins with the breaking of the conch, in the novel the conch symbolises rules, like a school bell when the noise sounds it enforces a sense of regulation and order. Secondly the fire symbolises a feeling of hope, it is the one thing that could save them and mean rescue. Contrastingly it represents destruction and corruption, it destroys the idyllic feel of the island first presented to us by Golding.

“There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the Beast--Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! Said the head. You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s a no go? Why things are the way they are?” (page 206)