How Does Golding Use Psychological Allegory In Lord Of The Flies

In William Golding’s novel, “The Lord of the Flies”, he displays human nature in an animalistic viewpoint that is not seen in “normal” people. He describes the unknown savagery of human beings, without missing the good nature found within us, which allows us to work as a well-organized group. World War Two is also used effectively as a backdrop, since it shows that the violence is found in everyone.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us,.” said William Golding, Lord of the Flies. When a symbol is examined, many conclusions can be drawn by relating the symbol to society and real life. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, even though the beast does represent something one can hurt or kill, as a symbol it represents a larger concept or idea because it brings out the beast-like personalities of the boys on the island, illustrates Jack’s dominant personality, and portrays the personalities inside all of us which humans can never defeat.

Although not mentioned much at the start of the novel, by the end, Roger becomes Jack’s right-hand man. The following quote best captures Roger’s merciless savagery, Golding writes, “‘High overhead, Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever… The rock struck Piggy a gleaning blow from chin to knee… the body of Piggy was gone.”’(Golding 181). Roger, in this scene, murders Piggy in cold blood. Roger clearly knows it is wrong to kill; but, with “abandonment” pushed the rock. Roger, who was first seen throwing stones at Henry, throws the rocks in the area around Henry. This demonstrates that he still has traces of civilization left and that the thought of rules exist. Roger; although, slowly afterwards loses most of his civilization. Once again seen with Jack after they kill the mother pig, Roger, tortures the pig with no remorse. During this sick scene, Roger stabs the pig in whatever place he can find. After all of this, the first thing Roger asks is how are we going to cook it. Finally, when Roger kills Piggy he reaches his final transformation into savagery; therefore, without parental supervision, Roger’s extremely corrupt human nature emerges. Along with Roger’s exhibition of corruptness, Ralph also displays the true human

Lord of the Flies is often claimed to be an allegory of modern society. While this is true, Golding’s intentions in writing this novel are much deeper. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies provides an enlightening insight into the true nature of human beings; along with why people refrain from acting upon the evil that resides within them. He presents these ideas through symbolism within the novel and it proves effective in many ways. Through symbolism, Golding can unfold the excellent plot of his novel, while subsequently sharing his ideas on the relationship of mankind and society. Golding uses the beast, the conch shell, and Piggy’s glasses to symbolize the human impulse towards ‘savagery’ and the social constructs put in place to prevent it.

Throughout the novel, the face paint that Jack and his crew used simultaneously masks their faces as well as their civility. The first mention of the facepaint is made when Jack is strategizing a way to sneak up on a pig and he decides to camouflage himself. Jack says that his “half-concealed face” is “for hunting. Like in the war” (63). The incomplete coverage of the paint indicates that Jack is not fully immersed into his savagery. However, his interest in aggressive acts, hunting and war, insinuates that he does have a tendency towards aggressiveness as well. Perhaps the most blatant reference to the fact that face paint induces savagery within the boys, specifically the hunters, is when Golding states that “the mask compelled them” (64)

There is a quote by Edmund Burke, “man is the cruelest animal”, that perfectly describes the truth about human nature; that humanity, at its core, is an evil species. William Golding acknowledges this fact in his 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, Golding highlights the cruelty of children, the carelessness of their actions, and the evilness present in the very fabric of society.

Notwithstanding power and its means to cultivate one’s evil ways, the loss of innocence, a phase that many individuals in Lord of the Flies go through, has proven to create and support an evil demeanor. Take Roger for instance, a cold hearted boy, yet still conditioned and civilized near the beginning of the novel. “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss.”(64).The fact that he “threw to miss” can be interpreted as “not crossing the line”, the line symbolizing a limit to rudeness or bad behavior. Although Roger isn’t the kindest of characters to begin with, his innocence that comes with the rules and boundaries placed by his parents/guardians is not tainted…yet. This psychological line, along with his values and morals is overthrown when Roger murders Piggy in cold blood. “High overhead, Rodger with a sense of delirious abandonment leaned all his weight on the lever.”(200). Roger intentionally triggered the boulder to roll down the cliff, killing Piggy instantly. Thus the innocence that would’ve stopped him from doing this terrible

Progressively through the novel, the boys’ clothes are used as an example to represent the declining importance of order. For example, when Jack and the boys first land on the beach, they “marched approximately in step in two parallel lines and [were] dressed in strangely eccentric clothing” (Golding 19). This illustrates a direct correlation between the uniforms and societal order. When the boys are fully clothed, they behave orderly and civilized. Over time, the boys shed their uniforms and begin acting more primitive and hectic. Jack, now painted and predatorial, begins to lead chants after his hunts, yelling, “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (152). These chants portray the chaotic mindset instilled into Jack as the days and weeks have rolled by on the island. He is nearly naked at the time, wearing mainly clay paint and brandishing a knife when needed. In this way, he parallels early humans who wore only what they needed to survive and had weapons on hand to hunt. Eventually, the boys sport paint as

In Lord Of The Flies, William Golding uses a fictional being in the young boys minds to introduce the idea of savagery within human beings. For example in chapter 5 Simon states his opinion on the beast that everyone on the island fears, Simon says, “ maybe there is a beast...maybe it’s only us.” Through this statement Golding displays the idea that evil resonates within them all. Thus showing the reader that the fear that was among the boys all along was soli created by their evil acts and intentions. This fear can be seen, when the idea of a “beast” was first introduced to the novel in chapter 5, Ralph “remembering the beast, the snake…the talk of fear.” brings up the beast but the idea is quickly counter attacked by Jack saying, “...as

He “led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones,” only to remain, “watching the littluns.” Maurice, however, “still felt the unease of wrongdoing.” Jack’s only fault was yearning for power, which corrupts those who wield it. Roger is corrupted and malevolent without ever thirsting for this power, and is therefore more evil than Jack. Roger keeps to himself, much like Simon, and remains consistently evil throughout the novel. Near the beginning, he “picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry-threw it to miss,” held back by “the taboo of the old life.” Later, he did not miss and “with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever,” releasing a huge boulder and killing Piggy. Under the weight of the boulder, “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” The main symbol for the democracy, equality and justice was indirectly destroyed by Roger. To him, “Ralph was a shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat,” thus dehumanizing and objectifying them. When Sam and Eric were cornered by Jack’s group of savages, Roger demonstrates his enjoyment for hurting others by “[advancing] upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” It was not for the sake of supremacy or control, but for unbridled sadistic pleasure. When Ralph finds Sam and Eric, they say that Roger is “a terror”. He also points out that Jack is a terror, but the twins respond with “only

Later, however, and mere days before the boy’s rescue, Roger is seen “[leaning] all his weight on the lever” sending the boulder down to meet Piggy (Golding 51 & 163). The morals of society that was Roger’s “old life” were forgotten and Roger even proceeds to roll a large rock to hit and kill Piggy. The boy’s morals from his past life were flipped completely to the point where he was doing exactly what his past society would reproach him for on a much larger scale. It is also important to note that Roger, in the beginning, realized his actions were wrong while in the end, the action seemed second nature to him and the new society that he and the savages belonged to. However, in the end when the boys get rescued by the British Naval officer, Ralph noted that “the island was scorched up like dead wood- Simon was dead- and Jack had…

This act is not needed to kill the pig and Roger continues to unnecessarily it as he pushes his spear “forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream”(135). At this moment for Roger there is still a separation between animals a human's but while he has control over the boulder he looks down at Piggy and Ralph and only sees “shaggy heads” dehumanizing them (175). Roger throws a stone at Samneric aiming to miss again still held back by social taboo. With this action sam almost falls causing “some source of power [to begin] to pulse” within Roger (175). Roger soon after pulls the lever, unleashing the boulder that kills Piggy, with a sense of “delirious abandonment” (180).

Roger has diverged from his moral compass after being isolated from society and killing no longer has any effects on him, even if it is one of the boys. The killing of Simon was a group effort but the line, “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever. ”(P.180) shows the intentional murder of Piggy, one of his own. Roger killing Piggy brought a surreal wave of astonishment over the boys because the killing of Piggy asserted his dominance and sent a message to the boys telling them not to mess with him. The boys picked up on the message which is overtly stated on page 182 when the line, “Roger advanced upon them as one wielding nameless power.” is read.

Throughout time humans have used the rules of society that they have created to conceal their inner savages. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding places a group of schoolboys on an island to display his idea on humans without society. He uses various amounts of symbols to develop the theme that humans are naturally evil without the rules of society to keep the from going completely savage. The Painted faces symbolize the savage within the boys and how they use this paint to conceal their shame and emotions. The pig's head is symbolic of the fear and ignorance inside the boys, the pig's head acts as a satan like image that feeds off of the decay and destruction within the boys.The beast is an important symbol throughout the novel

Roger’s barrier that set him from the falling into the dark descents of savagery was the ‘taboo of the old life’. This is represented as the retained innocence that Roger has from his previous lifestyle that conditioned his means of civilization, thus, preventing him from throwing stones directly at Henry. However, as Jack enforces his authority upon the boys, Roger unleashes his innate sadistic nature. In chapter 11, Roger unveils his dark nature through murdering Piggy. “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever”