Lord of the Flies Summary, Symbolism By William Golding

Table of Contents

Introduction

“Lord of the Flies” is a 1954 debt novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author ‘William Golding’. Golding was a British novelist, playwright and poet. Golding’s original title for this novel was ‘Strangers from Within’. After it was accepted by Faber and Faber (an independent publishing house in London), the book was named “Lord of The Files”. The Present book focuses on a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves.

Characters from Lord of the Flies

Ralph – The first boy, who lands on the island is Ralph. He is the protagonist, and also the leader of the boys. As Ralph is the oldest and tallest, he assumes leadership on Piggy’s suggestion.

Piggy- Despite being overweight, awkward, and asthmatic, Piggy is the most intelligent boy on the island.

Jack- Jack is the novel’s antagonist. He is bony, thin, and tall, with red hair, freckles, and a crumpled face.

Simon– Introverted and sickly, Simon is a boy whose obsession with nature shapes most of his actions.

Roger– As one of Jack’s most loyal followers, Roger guards Castle Rock and participates in hunts. Like Jack, Roger quickly descends into brutality.

Samneric- Samneric is a name that combines “Sam” and “Eric,” the twins who spend most of their time around Ralph and Piggy.

Percival– Percival is one of the smallest boys in the group.

Littluns– “Littluns” is the name given to the young boys, who are each about six years old. Johnny is the smallest littlun and Herry is the largest littlun.

Summary Of “Lord Of The Flies”

The novel opens with a plane crash on an island. A group of English school boys are in the plane. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy find a conch shell. Ralph blows into it like a horn, and all the boys on the island assemble. They elect a leader, an attractive boy named Ralph and a boy named Jack elected as the leader of the group hunters. Soon after, Ralph, Jack and another boy named Simon explore the island and discover wild pigs.

At a second assembly, the boys set up rules to govern themselves. The first rule is that whoever wants to speak at an assembly must hold the conch. At the meeting, one young boy claims, he saw a “Beast”, but Ralph dismisses it as just the product of a nightmare. Ralph then suggests that they build a signal fire at the top of a mountain so any passing ships will see its smoke and rescue them. The boy who saw the beast vanishes during the fire and is never seen again.

Time passes, and Tensions rise. Ralph becomes frustrated when no one helps him build shelters. Lots of boys goof off, while Jack obsesses about hunting and takes every opportunity to mock Piggy, who is smart but weak. Simon meanwhile, often wanders off into the forest to meditate. The rivalry between Ralph and Jack erupts when Jack forces the boys who were supposed to watch the signal fire to come hunting with him. They kill their first pig but a ship passes while the signal fire is out, which causes a tremendous argument between Ralph and Jack.

Ralph calls an assembly hoping to set things right. But that night after a distant airplane battle, a dead Parachutist landed on the mountaintop. Both Ralph and Jack climb the mountain in the dark to prove their courage. They spot the shadowy Parachutist and think he’s the beast. The next morning, Jack challenges Ralph’s authority at an assembly. Ralph’s authority at an assembly. Ralph wins but Jack leaves the group. Jack’s tribe paint their faces, and hunts and kills a pig.

They then leave its head as an offering to the beast. Simon comes upon the head and sees that it’s the ‘Lord of The Flies’ the beast within all men. While Jack invites everyone to a feat, Simon climbs the mountain and sea the Parachutist. When Simon returns to tell everyone the truth about the “Beast” however, the boys at the feast have become a frenzied mob, acting out a ritual killing of a pig. The mob thinks Simon is a beast and kills him.

Jack’s tribe moves to the rock fort. They steal Piggy’s glasses to make fire. Ralph and his lost allies, Piggy and the twins named Samneric go to get the glasses back. Jack’s tribe captures the twins and a boy at the fort who smashes the conch and kills Piggy. The next day the tribe hunts Ralph, setting fire to the forest as they do. The boys corner Ralph on the beach where they first set up their society when they crash-landed on the Island.

The Burning Jungle has attracted a British Naval ship, and an officer is standing on the shore. The boys stop, stunned and stare at the man. He jokingly asks if the boys are playing at war and whether there are any casualties. When Ralph says yes, the officer is shocked and disappointed that English boys would act in such a manner. Ralph starts to cry, and soon the other boys start crying too. The officer, uncomfortable, looks away toward his worship.

Through this novel ‘William Golding’ shows how young boys try to develop a system of organization and fail.

Evil is An Inborn Trait, in ‘Lord of the Flies’

Critics believe that Golding’s main themes suggest no hope for mankind or that evil is an inborn trait, as shown in ‘Lord of the Flies.’

Some critics feel that Golding’s main themes in his book are that there is no hope for mankind and that evil is an inborn trait of mankind.

These themes are reflected in the behaviour and actions of the characters in the book.

For example, in ‘Lord of the Flies,’ a group of young boys try to survive on a deserted island without any adults. As this goes, they are divided into two groups, which are led by Ralph and Jack. Ralph represents order and leadership while Jack symbolizes savagery as well as the desire for power. Eventually, they are rescued but end up killing the two innocent members Piggy and Simon. From this story, we can know that there is no hope for mankind, or that evil is an inborn trait of mankind by referring to the three symbols – Ralph, Jack, and, The Lord of the Flies.

Ralph shows his evil nature in “Lord of the Flies”. He shows his naturally evil manner when he starts to call Piggy Piggy. Piggy tells Ralph his nickname given by his previous friends because Ralph is interested in it. Because of this, Ralph starts mocking him by calling him Piggy. The lines in chapter one have shown this scene,

“I don’t care what they call me,” he said confidentially,
“so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school.”

From here, we can see that the nature of people is evil. Ralph laughed at Piggy’s physical appearance naturally. From the lines, we know that Ralph mocks Piggy as “Piggy” although he tries to stop Ralph.

Besides, Jack also shows his evil side in this story. At the beginning of the story, Jack used to be a very disciplined and kind boy. He does behaviour to kill a pig during his first hunting because of his innocence. However, his nature of evil behaviour is shown after he becomes the leader of the savages. There is one, after their hunting, Jack orders the boys to make a circle and stick in Roger using a spear without any good reason.

For Jack, killing people is just like killing pigs. Hunting is a kind of game to him, no matter what kind of object he symbolizes. It is the nature of Jack to do such cruel things.

Moreover, “The Lord of the Flies” also symbolizes the natural evil of mankind. It is the motivation for the boys’ increasingly cruel and violent behaviour. The head of the pig symbolizes their internal evil side.

In conclusion, we know that evil is an inborn trait of mankind by referring to Ralph, Jack, and The ord of the Flies. Every one of them has shown clearly that actually, evil comes to our hearts. Evil is the fundamental nature of human beings which cannot be neglected.

Symbolism in “Lord of the Flies”

Symbolism plays a significant role in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Lord of the Flies is a novel about how a group of schoolboys, who crashed on a deserted island, eventually transition from civilized humans to savage beings.

Several symbols are displayed throughout the novel, Such as: –

The Conch – Ralph and Piggy find the conch shortly after landing on the island. It soon becomes the symbol of authority and law and order. The conch is used to call assemblies and only the person holding the conch could speak at the meetings. Ralph and especially Piggy respect the symbol of the conch until it is smashed to bits by Roger, one of Jack’s followers. The destruction of the conch symbolizes the destruction of what little civilization the boys possessed.

“Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got.
If you don’t blow, we’ll soon be animals anyway.
He can hold it when he’s speaking.”

Piggy’s Glasses– The glasses symbolize the ability to see and understand things Piggy is the only boy, besides Jack, who sees how things should be done. The cracking of the first lens symbolizes the boys losing sight of what they need to do. The glasses are also important in so much as they are needed to start the fire.

The Signal Fire – The signal fire symbolizes the boy’s connection to civilization. The fire, initially, is important in the novel. As the boys grow more savage, the fire becomes less important to them. Jack and the hunters let the fire go out to hunt. Ralph’s efforts to keep the fire going are consistent but unsuccessful, in the same way, his efforts to restore order are unsuccessful.

Author William Golding uses the signal fire to also symbolize hope, something which Jack destroys as the novel progresses. At times the signal fire rages out of control, symbolic of the boys themselves.

The Beast – The beast represents the inner savagery of the boys and all mankind. The boys personify it by calling it a giant snake and mistaking a dead parachutist for it. Simon is the only boy who understands that they are all beasts inside.

The Dead Parachutist – Piggy looks for a sign from the adult world. He gets it the very same night. Miles above the island, a plane is shot down. A dead man floats onto the island and becomes lodged in rocks and trees. The dead parachutist symbolizes the adult world and its inability to maintain peace.

The Plane Crash – The plane crash symbolizes the breakdown of modern society. The boys leave England to get away from the war and are shot down by the enemy.

The Island – The island symbolizes the Garden of Eden before the arrival of the boys. After the boys arrive it becomes corrupted and destroyed.

The Boys:- Golding also uses symbolism in the various characters of the story. Golding’s four main characters are Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon. Each of these characters plays an important role in the novel. Ralph represents law, order, organized society, and moral integrity. Piggy symbolizes knowledge and morality. Jack represents anarchy and Simon represents goodness.

To sum up, we can say that, William Golding uses so much symbolism in Lord of the Flies that many critics agree that it is an allegory- a writing that has “a double meaning”.These symbols symbolize different aspects of the inevitable Change from civilization.

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