Lord Of The Flies Symbolism

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Every person has a hidden potential of evil and through the juvenile boys, who are stranded on the island in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, it is shown how they become associated with aspects that symbolise these certain ideas. Lord of the Flies signifies the change that the boys endure from being civilized to savage. William Golding demonstrates through the use of symbols, such as the conch, the Lord of the Flies, the fire, and Jack, himself, that when humans are taken away from society, they slowly unleash the inherent evil within. The first symbol introduced was the conch shell, representing political legitimacy and democratic power. The shell effectively governs the boys’ meetings, by which holding the shell provided the right to…show more content…
Simon, symbolic of the natural human goodness, Jesus Christ, was the only one to accept the fact that the beast is really inside the boys’. Simon is rhetorically questioned, "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?" (p. 143). Although Simon is hallucinating as he listens to the pig’s head, the boys are afraid of the beast, but only Simon reaches the realisation that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them. The boys’ belief in the beast grows stronger as the boys become more savage. Thus meaning the more savagely the boys act and show their true evil, the more the beast becomes…show more content…
The fire symbolised the boys wanting to be rescued and returning to society. As a result, the signal fire becomes an indicator of the boys’ connection to civilisation. When the fire becomes uncontrolled, they lose sight of their desire to be rescued and accept their savage lives on the island. The fire shows both hope and evil, "On one side the air was cool, but on the other the fire thrust out a savage arm of heat." (p. 54). Ironically, the fire finally is noticed by a ship, however it was not the signal fire but the fire of savagery, which was started in order to hunt and kill Ralph. The fire indicates that one being posses the power to be good but evil and to be civilised but
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