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Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, contains many symbols, which are objects, people, or ideas that represent or stand for something else. Six of these symbols will be discussed in the following paragraphs. One of the most symbolic objects in Lord of the Flies was the conch. It symbolized control through reason, and also order and unity through consent. It also has a symbolic beauty, the beauty of order and justice, which is broken by savagery. The pig s head, which symbolized the primitive religious ugliness of savagery, was also a symbol of sophisticated mockery and cynicism.
It has also been compared to Beelzebub, and the Devil himself. In the end, it also gleams white like the conch, and is broken, thus both human attempts to deal with the situation are destroyed, each by the other. Piggy s glasses were a symbol of the technical knowledge needed for fire, and hence for rescue. They have also been called a Promethean symbol of fire from heaven. They are fragile like reasoning power, and are easily shattered. They are like Piggy s kind of understanding, which is based only on acquired knowledge, with little insight into emotion.
The fire symbolizes good, as well as evil, almost like man. It will make smoke for the rescue, unites the boys, and cooks the meat that they catch. Whereas the evil qualities of the fire will burn a child to death, destroy part of the island, and is the center of the tribal dance and the killing of Simon. The ashes of the fire could represent the dead flesh of the kids, animals, and vegetation The smoke, of the fire, is a symbol in itself.
It represents the hope of rescue, when it is burning there is a chance of getting spotted. The smoke is also a communication to something out there, which could be anything such as a ship, a plane, or a helicopter. I believe that the main, and the most important, symbol in Lord of the Flies is the beast. The beast is one of the main reasons for the corruption of the island society. If the beast did not exist, I think that the unity of the boys would have been stronger. The snakes (creepers) were real thing that the boys distorted into fears.
The beast from the sea, which was a squid, is the boys fear projected. The beast in the night, which was Simon, represents the supernatural. The beast on the mountain, the parachute, was a sign from the real world that the boys could not understand. I also believe that the beast was anything and everything that the boys feared, and that it could take on any form, such as the pig s head, the Lord of the Flies, or Simon. In conclusion, I have found there to be numerous symbols in Lord of the Flies. I also think that these symbols were the basis of the storyline and that William Golding has done an excellent job of using these representations.
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Research essay sample on Lord Of The Flies William Golding
