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When William Golding wrote The Lord of the Flies, we have no idea what he intended to write about. However, either through his ability to interweave many themes and concepts into one story, or because too many people have tried to analyze it, there are three that seem to be echoed throughout the book and supported at every turn. These are: a demonstration of Frederick Nietzsche's ideas and philosophies, an allegory of the Christian stories and figures, and an allegory of the Cold War. The first one is a demonstration of Frederick Nietzsche's philosophies and ideals.
Nietzsche believed that humans did not have morals, that these morals are actually the instincts of the society that the human lives in. According to him, a person is what they are because of the society that they live in. Nietzsche believed that a person is born with instincts, and it is upon those instincts that society embeds its own morals. The second theme is an allegory of the Christian ideals and stories. There are several parts to this allegory.
One is the symbol of Jesus Christ. In the book, Christ is represented by Simon. He is shown to have the littles (the commoners) following him and having him do things for them. Here the littles who had run after him caught up with him Simon found them the fruit they could not reach, pulling off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, stretching hands (59). Just like here, the commoners flock to Christ because he cares more about them than does the rulers, or the biguns. The biguns, like the rulers, dislike Simon/Christ, for the simple reason that the littles / commoners like him more than they.
They [Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Roger] think youre batty (163). Another part of the allegory is relating the island to the Garden of Eden and the inhabitants going from innocent to full of knowledge. When the children arrive on the island, they are innocent, not having been influenced by society yet. As they progress, they form their own society, and thus are influenced by one.
They gain knowledge about what is right and wrong, as do Adam and Eve. Yet another aspect of the allegory is the correlation between the Fallen Angels and the Watchers, and Jack and his choir. The Fallen Angels were supposedly a group of angels that did not want to bow down to humans as their servants, as God had commanded. There was a war, and the Fallen Angels were cast out of heaven. In the book, Jack decides that he does not want to let Ralph rule anymore. So, he leaves, taking his choir and others along with him.
The third major theme of the book is an allegory of the Cold War. During the Cold War, the two primary goals of the United States were to prevent the spread of communism and to survive. These goals correlate to the actions and events of the book. The beast that their community is worried about is actually just the fear that they have in themselves. They came up with this fear as a way to justify their actions when they are doing something they should not.
The leaders can also use it to their advantage, as Jack does. He offers the boys protection from the beast, thereby enticing them to join his tribe. The United States employed this same rationale, both providing the people with protection from the communist and for justifying their actions. Jack also uses this as a reason for him to be absolute ruler.
The littles want someone to look to for guidance, and Jack fulfills that requirement. The United States used the urgency of the situation to get its people and leaders to approve laws and regulations that they would not have otherwise agreed to or did not want. Although this correlation might be harder to pick out from the text than the others, it is a major one. These three themes are the major one in the book. Every one has its strengths and weaknesses.
However, I believe that the one that William Golding wrote the book around the most is the allegory of the Christian stories. Almost everything fits into its own correlation, and there are very few inaccuracies and parts that are incomplete.
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