William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

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First Paragraph Mostly everything in life has a second meaning, or subcontext. In the allegorical novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a story of a group unsupervised boys takes a twisted turn with a deeper meaning. Taking place on a deserted island, a plane filled with boys around ages six to thirteen crashes onto an island with no adults. From then on, the boys have to learn to survive and live on their own, and not depend on their elders. The boys create a government, which as time goes on, slowly starts to disintegrate, ending up with even more problems on the island. The main causes of these problems are in fact the characters themselves. The three main characters are each put into a category to represent each one; the id, the…show more content…
In this novel, Piggy is the superego. For example, when Piggy is left at the Scar when all the boys go running up the mountain, he has, “the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar” (38). Most of the boys do not listen to Piggy because he is whiny and annoying, even though he is very smart. This metaphor compares Piggy to have a “martyr-like” expression, as well as acting like the parent of the group. Like a martyr, Piggy has his own beliefs and ideas about the island, as well as ways to survive. Until his death, Piggy has the answers to most of the questions that are being asked on the island, but no one listens. Again, like a martyr, Piggy dies still believing in his own judgment and beliefs; not changing himself even though the others around him would not pay attention to him. Later, after Jack and his hunters take Piggy’s glasses, Ralph and Piggy go to Castle Rock to get them back; Piggy says to Ralph, “Ralph – remember what we came for. The fire. My specs” (159). When Piggy says this, it shows how Piggy is like a parent. In this example, Ralph could be a child, and Piggy could be the parent. Lots of children get distracted, but their parents correct them, and make them focus again. Just…show more content…
The ego of this novel is Ralph. For example, in the beginning of the book when the boys are first on the island, Ralph says, "There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire." (35). This shows how Ralph is trying to be a leader, and also how he tries to please the rest of the boys. To Ralph, making a fire and getting noticed are his main goals; to Jack, finding food and hunting are his priorities. Even though Ralph is the leader, and fires are the main priority to him, Jack tries to manipulate and convince Ralph and the other boys that hunting should come before making shelters and fire. As the ego, Ralph tries to accommodate the needs of the id and the superego. The problem to this is that if Ralph agrees with Piggy, Jack becomes more frustrated with Ralph, but if Ralph agrees with Jack, Piggy ends up disagreeing with whatever Jack is saying. Towards the end of the novel, because of different viewpoints on how to survive, Ralph and Piggy agree with each other, causing Jack to get upset and to turn against them. For example, when Piggy is talking to Ralph, Piggy says, “I just take the conch to say this. I can’t see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things has been done on this island. I voted for you for chief. He’s the only one who ever got anything done. So

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