Lord of the Flies Essay

These literary devices are used oftentimes all at once to further emphasize points of Golding’s theme, constantly dichotomising symbols throughout the book. Golding’s most important symbol is the Lord of the Flies: the character representing the evil within all mankind, the evil that lead to the murders of Piggy and Simon, the evil that led Jack to hatred and cruelty, the evil that almost killed Ralph. Golding’s point resonates throughout all society, not as the musing of a shell-shocked former soldier, but as a truth of human nature: Mankind is truly, unadulteratedly, and by nature, evil and savage; the only force holding Man in civility is their own selfishness, motivating cooperation for an individual’s own

Humans have a monster inside of them that is subdued by society, and if society is taken away, then that “monster” will consume them. This is true for most people, but not all humans are like that. One of the most notable humans to over come the “monster” is Simon, a character from the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. The story is set on an island in the Pacific Ocean. A plane full of British schoolboys crash lands on an island and they’re stranded there with no adults, no society, and no rules. Simon is one of the few characters that stay sensible and good throughout the story. He has a sixth sense about things happening around him, he is kindhearted, and he faints a lot which give the appearance of him being weak.

“We saw—” “—the beast—” Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is set in “...the near future.”

What do you picture in your mind when someone mentions a beast? Fangs? Claws? That is what the castaways believe the beast to look like on the island in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The story follows several school boys who have crashed onto an exotic island. They elect a leader, Ralph, and they break up into groups: the hunters, the “littluns”, and the hut builders. Soon the “littluns" become frightened of a beast that no one has seen, and it becomes an obsession of the islanders. They interpret the beast in many ways, saying it comes from the water, the sky, and one of the boys even suggested that the beast was themselves. So, what is the beast? The beast could be a representation of war, fear, or human savagery.

Ralph represents order and discipline, while Jack represents an unhealthy drive for power and savagery. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph is voted the leader of the group and attempts to make life on the island disciplined and civilized, like their life in England. However, throughout the novel Jack rivals Ralph’s leadership role, attempting to overthrow him. As the boys’ savage impulses increase, more of them begin to side with Jack instead of going with Ralph. As Ralph loses his hold over the boys, almost all of them begin to act violently and barbaric. An example of this is when the children of the island murder Simon for no justifiable reason. Even Piggy and Ralph partake in the murder, showing that the violent human impulse is in

In the story “Lord of the flies” by William Golding a group of prepubescent boys are brought to by a plane crash. These boys explore their new setting and begin to rebel as they find out that there are no parents on the island. One of the most significant characters is a boy named Jack. Golding emphasizes the change in Jack's character to show how conformed citizens who know right and wrong can control their savage nature; however, once these societal rules are completely lost to Jack, this demonstrates that man’s nature is evil.

The relationship between the beast and the school boys is played out through the conversation between Simon and the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies or pig head tries to intimidate and forewarn Simon calling him,”just an ignorant, silly little boy”(184) and scoffs at Simon for thinking the beast is “something you could hunt or kill!” (184) Golding uses this symbolic beast, the Lord of the Flies, to reveal the truth to Simon which is that “they”(184) the boys on the island are the real beast. Before Simon faints the Lord of the Flies warms Simon that

If people become isolated from civilization, then the beast inside of us can break the bonds from society and unleash the evil within using the power of fear. In the book, “The Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, a group of boys becomes stuck on an island and it portrays the breakdown of society and structure and the transformation of them into savages. On the island, the boys first follow a conch which was the order and the link to society on the island but after a while, it loses most of it’s influence due to the disintegration of social order and rules. A character that used the tool of fear to gain control of the boys was Jack, who represents a

In the story “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, he shows how the boys lost all innocence and civilization. The boys went from having innocent child minds to taking lives of other people, acting savage, and losing all civilization due to problems on the island. The boys had forgotten where they came from and became savage in order to survive; it was the need of survival that caused the loss of innocence among the boys.

Thesis Statement: The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding portrays the theme that regardless of each person’s different background and characteristics, every individual has the ability to commit brutal acts. While this book depicts Ralph and Piggy as the most civilized characters, and Jack and his hunters as young English choir boys, their actions reveal that they all have the capability to act violently.

William Golding, the author of the novel Lord of the Flies, reflects his view of “Man”, Golding does this by the style of storytelling. It is easily perceived that Golding’s perspective of man is not a positive one. The way the author writes and what he writes reflects the behaviour of the author. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart" (Golding 223). This quotes shows the opinion of William Golding towards the human race. In the Lord of the Flies many of these perspectives of Golding are left in the context for readers to find. The first and foremost clue left by the author is, the killing of the sow by jack, another is the battle to gain power over everyone, and lastly the intrinsic evil

Golding’s novel describes this evil through the struggle of young boys who have crashed on an uninhabited island and in result, try to survive. The young boys’ efforts go in vain due to their loss of order, civil conduct, and the governing of their inner self. William Golding uses and develops symbols in his novel, Lord of The Flies, to illustrate how man innately has evil within him through the novel’s characters gradually transforming into savages

Without moral obligation or rules to be governed by, the absolute rudimentary nature of man would be on display for all to see. What would we perceive? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, that is the thought that is pondered. This illustrious novel wrestles with ideas of survival, the struggle for power, and how our human nature affects that. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, man’s immoral, vile, and savage nature is put on display for all to see.

     When a group of children become stranded on a deserted island, the rules of society no longer apply to them. Without the supervision of their parents or of the law, the primitive nature of the boys surfaces. Consequently, the boys live without luxury that could have been obtained had they maintained a society on the island. Instead, these young boys take advantage of their freedom, and life as they knew it deteriorates. Lord of the Flies is influenced by the author's life and experiences. Golding's outlook on life changes, due to his heavy involvement in W.W.II, to his current philosophy that "The shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual, and not on any political system

Finally, I am finished with middle school. Anxiously thinking about the first day of high school, I knew that it would be hectic and wild, but I was ecstatic. Of course, the night before I could not sleep. I lay awake dreaming about how my first day at John Paul II will go. How will it be meeting new people and seeing old friends from last year? Will high school be hard? Will I get lost? I kept thinking about the unknown and worst possible outcomes. My first day of high school was unexpected.