Symbolism – Lord of the Flies
Symbolism – Lord of the Flies
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of children are stranded on an island when their plane crashes. Golding tells the story by using a group of boys stranded on a tropical island to illustrate the malicious nature of mankind. The boys are in a world of freedom of having no parents while living in a society that doesnt enforce rules or laws. Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature is. The groups of boys on the island, are left out to survive for themselves. They start off as innocent schoolboys, but quickly descend into savages. This deterioration is caused from various events. As the novel progresses the kids find use for different items, each symbolizing something of different significance. In this novel William Golding uses different objects to symbolize the difference between civilization and savagery. Lord of the Flies dealt with changes that the boys underwent as they gradually adapted to the isolated freedom from society. These main characters depicted different effects on certain individuals under those circumstances. Lord of the Flies is a symbolizing novel, and many of its characters signify important ideas or themes.
Ralph was introduced as a fair and likeable boy whose self-assured manner