Lord Of The Flies Island Symbolism

In William Golding novel “Lord of the Flies” Golding juxtaposes Jack’s island and Simon’s to illustrate that when man is faced with a certain environment, he will chose to either make the best of what he has by staying positively calm or look at it in a negative aspect. Golding’s novel transpires when a bunch of kids plane was shot down. The boys all survive and land on an uninhabited island. The boys do not have an adult figure as their authority. The boys are split into two separate camps.

In an area that was once dancing with butterflies now lies the hanging shadow of death and with death comes flies. After Jack and his boys killed the sow, they cut of her head and placed it on a stick in a clearing that was one of the most beautiful places on the island. With this pig head on the stick, comes hundreds of flies, spilt guts, and the indignity whole situation. The flies were “black and iridescent green and without number” (138), and took over a place that was full of hope and beauty. To add onto that, the first thing the boys contribute to the island was leave a scar where a plane crash showing that where there are humans, there is destruction.

All of the boys life have fallen apart, and lives have been taken. The school boys, are not school boys anymore. The schoolboys have lost their innocence on the island. Many lives have been taken, the mama pig, Piggy, Simon, and almost Ralph.

This island has no adults, no civilization, and no rules, making it seemingly perfect for a group of young boys. The boys’ adventures are full of insanity, fun, and fear. The plot of this

However, the boy's eagerness to adventure soon erupts into chaos. With no adult supervision the boys take it upon themselves to elect a leader. The island's harsh conditions eventually trigger the boys

The boys no longer had adults in their lives, and because of this void, they had to become responsible. They attempted to create rules, shelters, and a way off the island. They attempted to provide for one another, and eventually began to act a little like adults. “…The ground was hardened by an accustomed tread and as Jack rose to his full height he heard something moving on it.

Golding says “The boys broke into shrill, exciting cheering” (41) in the beginning of the novel, then at the end of the novel says, “A great clamor rose among the savages” (164). William Golding who wrote The Lord of the Flies changes his word choice from “boys” to “savages” to emphasize the fact that the boys change into savage creatures. Three symbols represent civilization and change into chaos over the course of the novel. The three symbols representing change are Piggy’s glasses, The fire, and the conch. These figures demonstrate the important theme that the calm civilization will soon break out into disorder.

The boys are thrown from their normal childhood and have to start over in an entirely new environment. The island is isolated and scary because the boys have never been on their own before. This can be observed in the text “On two sides was the beach; behind, the lagoon; in front, the darkness of the island.” (Golding 85) This quote is just describing how the boys feel about the island.

In the Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, a group of boys find themselves on an uninhabited island with everything essential for survival. Prior to the boys, the island was perfect and had no blemishes or flaws. Then, when the boys crashed into the island, the island had an unsightly gash, otherwise known as the "scar". Different locations and items such as the fire, the conch, the scar, and the island all represent significant ideas. In the Lord of The Flies, the island represents a perfect paradise that later is plagued with an unpleasant fault known as the "scar".

No adults meant they had no choice but to mature in a matter of time and figure out how to survive while stranded on an island. The boys needed to mature very quickly and start trying to survive by finding food and building shelters. After some time on the island, the boys start to act differently and a bit unnatural. At first, the boys were okay with being stuck on an island and are acting normal, but soon they start to act insane, especially Jack. He gets a lot of pressure on them because he’s expected to bring food for everyone.

They want to be rescued, as they delegate tasks at first, however, the story unfolds in a way that shows the savage and iniquitous side of humans as the boys become less civilized. They become less logical, and the little ones start to think there is a beast on the island, which causes them to kill their friend, Simon, thinking he was the beast. They are constantly stressed out and their behaviors change as the story progresses.

The island is used as a sort of playing ground to reveal the true underlying qualities of each character, and as mentioned above, the qualities of humanity. When the boys first gather on the island, they are quick to order themselves in a society, more of a tribe in their case, that reflects the social structure they were exposed to at home. This process involves electing a leader, holding meetings or assemblies to vote on matters, and working together for the greater good of everyone on the island. The assemblies become a part of keeping order within their society. To illustrate, when Ralph finds out that Jack neglected the fire he calls an assembly to prioritize.

For my Lord of the Flies project I choose to make a model of the island described in the book. My class was given the choice of creating a scene from the novel or the entire island. I made the entire island because it helps show the reader what they are looking at and where the characters are at all times. When creating my model, I tried to make the most important symbols in the book stand out including, the mountain, the pig’s head, and the bonfire. While it may seem the hardest, creating the mountain was actually one of the easiest parts of this project, although it was the most time consuming.

If you were stranded on an island, do you think it would change you? Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about what happens to a group of boys aged 4-12 when they are stranded on an island. Throughout the novel, the island changes them into people they never thought they would become. Throughout his novel, Golding gives a bigger sense of importance to the island rather than the characters. He does this by having long prose and descriptive imagery when referring to the island, and insignificant wording when referring to the characters.

“Jolly good show. Like The Coral Island. ”(Golding 248) The naval officer who rescues the boys in the novel Lord of the Flies compares their story to the one the boys in The Coral Island go through. Ignorant of the conflict and savagery present during their stay, he imagines they had fun and lived crazy new adventures just like in the novel, The Coral Island.