Characters, Symbolism, and Themes in The Lord of The Flies Essay

The Lord of the Flies is a story about a stranded group of boys on a deserted island after their plane crashes. It is about an adventure at the start of a new World War. The boys try to create a society by selecting a leader and doing everything they can to survive. It is all a game without adult supervision until the island becomes a nightmare and their imaginations come to life. Everything becomes more realistic when the twins, Sam and Eric, find the body of the dead parachutist hanging from a tree on the island. Then the boys declare that there is some type of beast on the island and they must kill it to stay alive. Soon the boys turn on each other and kill Simon because he is mistaken for the beast. Jack then, takes over the group of boys and hunts down Piggy and Ralph. Then Roger pushes a boulder off the cliff and kills Piggy. The boys follow Ralph, which is the main character and the boys began to set the jungle on fire in attempt to smoke Ralph out. Ralph then discovers that h e is back on the beach after collapsing from exhaustion. After looking up, he then finds a Naval officer standing over him. The officer saw the raging fire in the jungle from his ship at sea. Overwhelmingly Ralph explains what happened to the officer. He and the boys begin to cry because they realize that they are finally being rescued and are going home. Symbolism is shown throughout the story, by the little things like the conch shell and Piggy’s glasses. The pig’s head is a huge symbol, showing that the boys believe in a power of evil. In this book the main theme is civilization vs. savagery. The boys lose their civilized being and innocence ways as they become savages and kill Simon and Piggy. In The Lord of The Flies, Golding analyzes characters, ... ...Cathy Falk. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. Slayton, Paul. "Teaching Rationale for William Golding's Lord of the Flies." Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints. Ed. Nicholas J. Karolides, Lee Burress, and John M. Kean. The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 1993. 351-357. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. SparkNotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012. 98. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. Townsend, R. C. "Lord of the Flies': Fool's Gold." The Journal of General Education. Vol. 16. University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1964. 153-160. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz and Cathy Falk. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.