lord of the flies essay on symbolism

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Lord of the Flies

William golding.

The tropical island, with its bountiful food and untouched beauty, symbolizes paradise. It is like a Garden of Eden in which the boys can try to create the perfect society from scratch. read analysis of The Island

The Lord of the Flies (the Beast)

The "Lord of the Flies," or the beast, inhabits the severed pig head that Jack 's hunters stake into the ground and leave as an offering. Simon recognizes that the Lord of the Flies is… read analysis of The Lord of the Flies (the Beast)

The Conch Shell

The conch shell symbolizes the rule of law and civilization. It's used to call assemblies and as a kind of microphone that grants the right to speak to whomever holds it during assembly. read analysis of The Conch Shell

Piggy's Glasses

By allowing the boys to create fire , the first necessity of civilization, Piggy 's glasses represent science and technology, mankind's power to transform and remake their environment to best suit its needs. read analysis of Piggy's Glasses

Fire is a complicated symbol in Lord of the Flies . Like the glasses that create it, fire represents technology. Yet like the atomic bombs destroying the world around the boys' island, fire is a… read analysis of Fire

Adults symbolize civilization and social order to the boys. But to the reader, the world war raging outside the island makes it clear that the adult "civilization" is as savage as the boys' "civilization" on… read analysis of Adults

A rip in the forest caused by the crash landing of the boys' plane on the island . The scar symbolizes that man, and his savage nature, destroys paradise merely by entering it. read analysis of The Scar

The ocean symbolizes the unconscious, the thoughts and desires buried deep within all humans. read analysis of The Ocean

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'Lord of the Flies' Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices

• B.A., English, Rutgers University

Lord of the Flies , William Golding's tale of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island, is nightmarish and brutal. Through its exploration of themes including good versus evil, illusion versus reality, and chaos versus order, Lord of the Flies raises powerful questions about the nature of humankind.

Good vs. Evil

The central theme of Lord of the Flies is human nature: are we naturally good, naturally evil, or something else entirely? This question runs through the entire novel from beginning to end.

When the boys gather on the beach for the first time, summoned by the sound of the conch, they have not yet internalized the fact that they are now outside the normal bounds of civilization. Notably, one boy, Roger, remembers throwing stones at younger boys but deliberately missing his targets for fear of retribution by adults. The boys decide to set up a democratic society in order to maintain order. They elect Ralph as their leader and create a crude mechanism for discussion and debate, designating that anyone who holds the conch has the right to be heard. They build shelters and show concern for the youngest among them. They also play make believe and other games, exulting in their freedom from chores and rules.

Golding seems to suggest that the democratic society they create is simply another game. The rules are only as effective as their enthusiasm for the game itself. It is notable that at the beginning of the novel, all the boys assume rescue is imminent, and thus that the rules they're accustomed to following will soon be reimposed. As they come to believe that they will not be returned to civilization anytime soon, the boys abandon their game of democratic society, and their behavior becomes increasingly fearful, savage, superstitious, and violent.

Golding’s question is perhaps not whether humans are inherently good or evil, but rather whether these concepts have any true meaning. While it is tempting to see Ralph and Piggy as ‛good’ and Jack and his hunters as ‛evil,’ the truth is more complex. Without Jack’s hunters, the boys would have suffered hunger and deprivation. Ralph, the believer in rules, lacks authority and the ability to enforce his rules, leading to disaster. Jack’s rage and violence leads to the destruction of the world. Piggy’s knowledge and book learning are proven as to be meaningless as his technology, represented by the fire-starting glasses, when they fall into the hands of boys who do not understand them.

All of these issues are mirrored subtly by the war that frames the story. Although only vaguely described, it is clear that the adults outside the island are engaged in a conflict, inviting comparisons and forcing us to consider whether the difference is merely a matter of scale.

Illusion vs. Reality

The nature of reality is explored in several ways in the novel. On the one hand, appearances seem to doom the boys to certain roles—most notably Piggy. Piggy initially expresses the dim hope that he can escape the abuse and bullying of his past through his alliance with Ralph and his usefulness as a well-read child. However, he quickly falls back into the role of the bullied ‛nerd’ and becomes reliant on Ralph’s protection.

On the other hand, many aspects of the island are not clearly perceived by the boys. Their belief in The Beast stems from their own imaginations and fears, but it quickly takes on what seems to the boys to be a physical form. In this way, The Beast becomes very real to the boys. As the belief in The Beast grows, Jack and his hunters descend into savagery. They paint their faces, changing their appearance in order to project a fearsome and frightening visage that belies their true childish nature.

More subtly, what seemed real in the beginning of the book—Ralph’s authority, the power of the conch, the assumption of rescue—slowly erodes over the course of the story, revealed to be nothing more than the rules of an imaginary game. In the end, Ralph is alone, there is no tribe, the conch is destroyed (and Piggy murdered) in the ultimate refutation of its power, and the boys abandon the signal fires, making no effort to prepare for or attract rescue.

At the terrifying climax, Ralph is hunted through the island as everything burns—and then, in a final twist of reality, this descent into horror is revealed to be unreal. Upon discovering they have in fact been rescued, the surviving boys immediately collapse and burst into tears.

Order vs. Chaos

The civilized and reasonable behavior of the boys at the beginning of the novel is predicated on the expected return of an ultimate authority: adult rescuers. When the boys lose faith in the possibility of rescue, their orderly society collapses. In a similar way, the morality of the adult world is governed by a criminal justice system, armed forces, and spiritual codes. If these controlling factors were to be removed, the novel implies, society would quickly collapse into chaos.

Everything in the story is reduced to its power or lack thereof. Piggy’s glasses can start fires, and thus are coveted and fought over. The conch, which symbolizes order and rules, can challenge raw physical power, and so it is destroyed. Jack’s hunters can feed hungry mouths, and thus they have an outsize influence over the other boys, who quickly do as they are told despite their misgivings. Only the return of adults at the end of the novel changes this equation, bringing a more powerful force to the island and instantly reimposing the old rules.

On a superficial level, the novel tells a story of survival in a realistic style. The process of building shelters, gathering food, and seeking rescue are recorded with a high level of detail. However, Golding develops several symbols throughout the story that slowly take on increasing weight and power in the story.

The Conch comes to represent reason and order. In the beginning of the novel, it has the power to quiet the boys and force them to listen to wisdom. As more boys defect to Jack’s chaotic, fascist tribe, the Conch's color fades. In the end, Piggy—the only boy who still has faith in the Conch—is killed trying to protect it.

The Pig’s Head

The Lord of the Flies, as described by a hallucinating Simon, is a pig’s head on a spike being consumed by flies. The Lord of the Flies is a symbol of the increasing savagery of the boys, on display for all to see.

Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon

Each of the boys represent fundamental natures. Ralph represents order. Piggy represents knowledge. Jack represents violence. Simon represents good, and is in fact the only truly selfless boy on the island, which makes his death at the hands of Ralph and the other supposedly civilized boys shocking.

Piggy’s Glasses

Piggy’s glasses are designed to provide clear vision, but they are transformed into a tool to make fire. The glasses serve as a symbol of control more powerful than the Conch. The Conch is purely symbolic, representing rules and order, while the glasses convey true physical power.

The beast represents the unconscious, ignorant terror of the boys. As Simon thinks, "The beast is the boys." It did not exist on the island before their arrival.

Literary Device: Allegory

Lord of the Flies is written in a straightforward style. Golding eschews complex literary devices and simply tells the story in chronological order. However, the entire novel serves as a complex allegory, in which every major character represents some larger aspect of society and the world. Thus, their behavior is in many ways predetermined. Ralph represents society and order, and so he consistently attempts to organize and hold the boys to standards of behavior. Jack represents savagery and primitive fear, and so he consistently devolves to a primitive state.

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Symbolism in “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding Research Paper

Introduction, works cited.

When the story first begins, a group of children is stranded on a deserted, tropical island. The island symbolized freedom as there were no adults there. It seemed like the ideal world to them. William Golding wanted to show that paradise is far from reality.

The beginning setting resembled The Coral Island, a perfect setting – food, sun, friendship, simple democratic organization adventures, and happiness. A simple society was set up to introduce rules on the island to try and resemble their original society. This was accomplished by the symbolic nature of the conch shell. The conch shell represents power and authority and the only rules the children have. The conch shows how people use objects to give power.

At first, the conch was a success. Everyone followed the rules and was happy. It was the perfect Utopia. Later in the story, we also learn that objects don’t always give power when people don’t choose to obey them. This was the case when Jack started to rebel and disobey Ralph’s rules and commands. This was where their perfect Utopia fell apart.

William Golding also wanted to show his readers the true meaning of the real world. He wanted to show that reality is not always perfect. Instead of comradeship, co-operation, and teamwork, like described in the ideal world – William Golding has created a murderous, bloodthirsty and evil society that has accurately represented the world that society exists in today. In an ideal world, hard work plays out and goodness comes to those ends.

In The Lord of the Flies, the fire in the story is lit as a symbol of hope and rescue. In the ideal world – this would have resulted in their rescue, however, rebellion from and murderous acts from Jack resulted in their final rescue and not the original fire. So in reality, we succeed more often from luck instead of hard work.

Lord of the Flies can also be interpreted as an allegory or parable. Ralph, Jack, and the rest were given a choice and the knowledge of good and evil. The island in The Lord Of The Flies resembled the perfect type of Utopia at first, and all they had to do was follow the ‘good laws’ of the adult society. They fell prey to temptations – pride, cruelty, bloodthirstiness, greed, and the desire to hurt and kill. Jack, who was the head of the choir group and who was the also first to follow rules – could not resist these temptations deep within him. And that was why he was taken over to the dark side. (Reilly 49)

Many of the characters in the story are symbolic of really important people. They show how the real world is made up of people. Ralph symbolized a good leader who was the first to try and establish a civilized society and bring rules to the island. Ralph, however, could not control evil people like Jack. Ralph represented Franklin Roosevelt before World War 2, who could not prevent the war from breaking out. Piggy symbolized the educated people who gave good advice which nobody listened to. Piggy represented Albert Einstein when he argued the bad ideas of using the atomic bomb.

Simon symbolized Christ, a holy and angelic figure in the story. It was Simon who discovered that the true evil was the evil coming from one’s own heart. Jack, on the other hand, was a crazy leader who killed and slaughtered because he wanted power.

He broke rules and had a disregard the commands of Ralph. Jack represented Adolf Hitler, who was also evil, arrogant, and dictatorial. William Golding has shown his readers the true reality of our world. Instead of a perfect, happy, and ideal world, he has shown us a world where human life is ruled by the law of the jungle – the survival of the fittest. The Lord of the Flies acts as a miniature summary of the unpleasant lessons of world history. This novel is fulfilled with symbolism, but the ones that stand out the most are Piggy’s glasses and the fire, and the conch.

“His spectacles are used by them as burning glasses”! This quote connects to two symbols which are the fire and Piggy’s glasses. The fire is a symbol of rescue and hope. Without Piggy’s spectacles, they wouldn’t have been able to start a fire. While the novel went on they started another fire but they got sidetracked and the fire went out. Furthermore on in the story, the boys were working very hard to start a fire because they wanted to get rescued, but when it had gone out some boys like Jack didn’t care anymore about being rescued and had decided to give up because he knew he wasn’t going to be. At the end of the novel, Jack started the fire and wanted to ablaze that island to kill Ralph, but instead, it rescued them.

Throughout Lord of the Flies, the most important symbol is the conch. The importance of the conch is that it symbolizes everyone that is speaking, in other words, whoever is holding the conch has the power and right to talk and everyone surrounded by him must be listening. Ralph uses it to call meetings and for the boys to come. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking”. The conch shows much power and a step towards the organization.

The plot is fairly simple but some very complex themes and symbolism are woven into it. The story starts with a group of young boys being marooned on an island previously uninhabited by mankind. They discover they are alone; there are no adults and they struggle to survive and to form a civilized society. This eventually leads to chaos, the breakdown of order and reason, and a return to man’s most primitive instincts. It is quite a disturbing book, which makes the reader look at the dark side of man’s soul.

The first symbol the reader encounters is the island itself. It represents the whole world. The island seems like paradise, it reminds us of the biblical Garden of Eden, a place where everything is perfect until humankind arrives. Golding deliberately makes the island remote from the rest of civilization to allow him to reveal the true nature of the characters and the world they create for themselves. The boys symbolize the whole of mankind. (Baker 401) They create their little world on the island. Their isolation from the rest of the world allows the author to experiment with them. The characters all remind the reader of people they know and so seem very real.

When Ralph finds the conch he makes it the first rule that whoever has the conch is allowed to speak and everyone else has to listen to them because he realizes that they need something to represent authority and rules. This shows that they have discovered the importance of communication in society. Language is unique to humans and is one of the things that make us different from animals. Towards the end of the story, the conch gets broken, this is a major turning point in the plot and symbolizes the breakdown of communication, the disintegration of society, and the point where the boys allow their primitive instincts to take over, making them almost animals.

Early in the book, Piggy, one of the boys, is made fun of about his appearance, including the fact that he wears glasses. In the boys’ first few hours Jack points out that Piggy’s glasses could be used to reflect sunlight onto dry wood to make a signal fire to increase the chance of rescue. They realize that Piggy’s glasses may be the most important thing they have. Piggy’s glasses symbolize the hope of rescue, clear thinking, and being able to see the truth.

When one of the lenses gets broken, things seem to break down and events start to become unclear, no one knows what is going on. When the ‘savages’ steal Piggy’s glass, everything becomes unclear. The glasses are the power of fire and when the savages steal them, Piggy’s group is left helpless with no hope of rescue. So the glasses are a symbol for seeing clearly, and for the power of fire which may lead to the rescue.

The signal fire on the mountain takes on huge importance because it symbolizes hope. It is their only possible way of attracting rescuers. It makes the boys feel secure because it is a link to the outside world and reminds them that there is hope and they are not doomed to a life on the island. (Johnson 132) It is an increasing source of comfort as the story progresses and they become more frightened of the ‘beast’.

When the fire goes out, the boys seem insecure and unsure of what might happen and are frantic to get it lit again. In a way, the signal fire is like a parent watching over them and giving them a kind of protection. When the power of fire is taken away from Piggy and Ralph, they almost abandon hope and eventually go and confront the savages and ask for the power of fire back.

Each of the main characters comes to symbolize an aspect of humanity. Ralph represents order, leadership, and civilization. Ralph also represents the normal, average boy; there is nothing special about him. He and his actions symbolize that of the majority of young boys. The other characters’ special abilities are measured against Ralph and he is used to showing for example the cleverness of Piggy and the evil in Jack. Throughout the story, Ralph symbolizes growing up or coming to “the end of innocence”. (Babb 120)

Piggy symbolizes the cleverness and sensibleness in the group. He is the first person to point out that no one knows that they are there. “Who knows we’re here? Eh?” He is like the voice of a grown-up, the brains behind Ralph’s actions, and when he is killed, towards the end of the novel, Ralph seems to almost fall apart with no Piggy to tell him what to do and how to do it. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy.” Jack picks on piggy because he is different; there is no real reason. This bullying is caused by a lack of understanding, the boys’ have never met problems like the ones Piggy has. This can be seen in their lack of understanding of his asthma, or “ass-mar”.

Jack symbolizes evil and savagery. His evil actions are seen from the very start of the novel when he makes fun of Piggy for almost no reason other than his appearance. (Baker 452) “Shut up Fatty.” Jack symbolizes the savagery and lust for power, this is also portrayed from the start when the first thing he thinks is that the group must have hunters and he must be the leader of the hunters. As the story progresses, this lust for power becomes clearer when he starts to express anger and jealousy towards Ralph and eventually starts his tribe, just to be the leader.

Carrying on the Biblical theme Simon also symbolizes Jesus. Jesus is considered by Christians as a miracle being. (Gindin 198) Simon spoke to the devil in the form of the Lord of the Flies just as Jesus spoke to the devil on his forty-night journey across the desert and Simon, like Jesus, predicted his death when talking to the Lord of the Flies.

Roger symbolizes exactly how cruel and brutal one human can be. He is by far the most savage of all the boys; he fully supports Jack in his evilness. Right at the start, he takes a liking to throw rocks and boulders and spears at his fellow boys and he has no regret or sympathy after he commits his violent acts. (Baker 119) He likes to torture, he tortured the little ones, the pig and Piggy. He is the one who eventually murders Piggy by rolling a boulder onto him. His badness goes further than anyone else’s.

The Lord of the Flies is perhaps the most important symbol in the novel. When Simon wanders off by himself he finds a pig’s head on a spear, surrounded by flies, which had been offered to the ‘beast’. Simon begins to hallucinate and imagines that the pig’s head is talking to him. It tells him that the beast is a figure of their imagination. (Friedman 78) This symbolizes that the boys have become insane.

They believe in this ‘beast’ which only exists within them and Simon is the first to realize this. The Lord of the Flies speaks in a voice that could be Jack’ “I’m warning you, I’m going to get waxy. D’you see? You’re not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else we shall do you. See?” Simon rushes back to tell the others that the beast doesn’t exist but before he can tell them, he is killed.

The ‘beast’ that all the boys fear is an important symbol. It shows that the boys have in one respect gone mad. They allow their childish fears to take over their adult reasoning. They all believe in this creature from the start, first of all, it takes the form of a ‘beastie’ that the little ‘uns see – ” a snake-thing. Ever so big.” Next, it takes the form of “the thing that bowed” which was the dead parachutist. Last, of all, it takes the form of the Lord of the Flies. It is the fear of the unknown, fear itself.

There is the symbolism of light and dark. By daylight, all seems fine but the nights on the island symbolize a time when something awful might happen. In the beginning, just the little ‘uns are scared of the dark but later they are all uneasy when darkness falls and there is a general feeling that with the darkness comes uncertainty about what might happen before daylight “Evening came, not with calm beauty but with the threat of violence” – Ralph. Light and dark is a common symbol for good and evil. In the end, Ralph weeps for “the darkness of man’s heart” and this is the whole essence of the book, a child’s realization of how evil one person can become. (Whitley 110)

Towards the end of the novel, after Simon and Piggy are killed, all the boys come to symbolize the instinctive, primitive behavior of early humans. They become one tribe and act with a common instinct. This is shown in Ralph when he is running away from Jack’s tribe “He obeyed an instinct he did not know he possessed.”

In conclusion, the symbolism is what makes the book great. It is what makes the reader think more deeply about what is happening and what reveals the true nature of the characters. Without it, “Lord of the Flies” would be just another children’s adventure story with a very simple plot and not the great work that it is. Lord of the flies is full of symbolism. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbols that show us a deeper meaning and when you see the symbols you can truly find out what the story is all about symbolism because it is such an important aspect, which runs through the whole book and is crucial to the reader’s understanding of the plot and the development of the characters.

Babb S. Howard: The Novels of William Golding; Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1970.

Baker James R. Critical Essays on William Golding; Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1988.

Baker, James R. “The Decline of Lord of the Flies .” In South Atlantic Quarterly , Vol. 69, 1970, pp. 446-60

Baker, James R., ed. “Why It’s No Go: A Study of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Arizona Quarterly 19 (1963): 393-405.

Friedman, Lawrence S. William Golding. New York: Continuum, 1993.

Gindin, James. William Golding. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies . New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1954.

Johnson, Arnold (1980). Of Earth and Darkness. The Novels of William Golding. Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 132.

Reilly Patrick. Lord of the Flies. Fathers and Sons. New York: Twayne, 1992.

Whitley John S. Golding. Lord of the Flies. London: Edward Arnold, 1970.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Lord of The Flies — Fire Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

Fire Symbolism in Lord of The Flies

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Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

This essay will analyze the symbolism in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” It will explore how objects, characters, and settings in the novel, such as the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, and the island itself, symbolize larger concepts related to human nature, civilization, and societal breakdown. The piece will discuss how Golding uses these symbols to convey themes of power, savagery, and the inherent darkness in humanity. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Lord Of The Flies.

How it works

In literature, a common symbol typically arises to convey an important message. The symbol often follows the characters and changes along with them. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a story following a group of boys as they are stranded on an uninhabited island in the midst of World War II. A conch shell that one of the boys finds plays an important role throughout the story, symbolizing the only sense of peace and authority. Along with this, it also demonstrates how quickly and effortlessly those senses can be lost.

Over the course of the novel, the conch shell progresses from symbolizing peace and authority to loss of order and civility when the conch is shattered, demonstrating that without rules, people revert back to their primal ways.

• 1 What Does the Shattering of the Conch Symbolize
• 2 What Does the Island Symbolize in Lord of the Flies

What Does the Shattering of the Conch Symbolize

The conch shell begins as symbolizing peace and authority among the boys. The shell conveys a sense of power as well as keeping the boys together. Piggy and Ralph, the first two boys who find each other on the island, discover the conch. Piggy advises Ralph to blow into the shell to call for other boys. After a while, the shell becomes known as a fragile symbol of power: “The being that had blown that had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees was set apart” (Golding 22). The boy who has the conch is evidently set apart from the rest of them and gives him the defining power of a leader of the conversation. To them, speaking represents authority and power.

Once more boys arrive, they universally decide that whoever holds the conch is the one who is allowed to speak at the time. Conversations begin and end with the conch: “Ceremonially, Ralph laid the conch on the trunk beside him as a sign that the speech was over” (82). The ending of a conversation following the conch being put aside represents the peace it brings among the boys. The conch’s validity is recognized among the boys and is important to them because it is the only rule that they really have. The conch is primarily important to Piggy. He was seen as an outcast because of his mannerisms. Throughout the story, even as the other boys slowly diminish the conch’s validity, Piggy keeps it close to him and enforces the original rules set around the shell: “Piggy sought in his mind words to convey his passionate willingness to carry the conch against all odds” (Golding 172). Piggy’s connection to the conch was so deeply rooted within him. His respect for the conch was much larger than that of the rest of the boys. He loved it so much because he had always been pushing the rules surrounding the conch onto the others because he stood for order and civility. Overall, the conch signifies power and peace among the chaos.

By the end of the novel, not only is the conch shell is shattered, but so are the boy’s senses of peace and authority. The shell has a newfound purpose- a symbol of the lack of order and civility. As the novel progresses, the shell slowly begins to lose its validity, especially with Jack, who didn’t enjoy following the rules, to begin with: “‘Conch! Conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore’” (Golding 101). It is slowly losing it power and the boys are starting to disregard it. When Piggy holds up the conch to remind the boys how powerful the shell is to the boys once again, they ignore it: “Piggy held up the conch and booing sagged a little, then came up to strength again” (Golding, 179). He attempts to silence their booing, and while they slow down for a moment and question the conch, they soon begin the negative commentary again, booing and showing how they have truly lost their sense of peace and authority.

What Does the Island Symbolize in Lord of the Flies

Lastly, the shell breaks in due course with Piggy’s death. Piggy is known as the softer boy among the group of them. He desires an organized civilization between them. The conch shell, which represented the order that Piggy admires, shatters when Piggy is killed: “The breaking of the conch and the deaths of Piggy and Simon lay over the island like a vapor. These painted savages would go further and further” (Golding 204). The shattering of the shell and Piggy’s demise sparks an outbreak of savagery over the island and among the boys. The change of symbolism associated with the conch shell is prominent throughout the last chapters of the novel

Without rules, the boys in the novel revert back to their primal ways. The existence of the conch shell as well as the shattering of it demonstrates this. Piggy and Ralph initially decide to create a set of rules surrounding the conch shell they find. The rules, which include one person being able to talk at a time as well as blowing through the shell to call all the boys, has given the boys a structure to follow rather than allowing them to revert to their ways in a time without rules. When the conch shell shatters into tiny fragments, it marks the end of their civilization. Soon after, Piggy is the first to experience the worst of what happens when mankind reverts to its primal instincts when he is killed by one of their own. Only a few of the boys were able to keep their morals intact. Those who didn’t have perfectly represented what the world would be like without rules to abide by in the novel by showing that they naturally succumbed to their instincts. Rules kept the band of boys civilized and controlled.

Societies need order and civility to be able to flourish. Order is established by setting rules in place and civility is retained by the possession of morals. When these concepts are replaced with their contrary, mankind loses control of its senses and reverts back to its primal ways of living. The band of boys in Lord of the Flies soon diminish their sense of order and civility and become beasts. They are quick to engage in acts of savagery and barbarity, with some boys the victims of others. The order and civility the boys initially desire rests upon the conch. The shell is a perfect representation of these concepts, and when it shatters, so do the most crucial elements in keeping up a society.

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Symbolism in Lord of the Flies. (2019, Oct 04). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/

"Symbolism in Lord of the Flies." PapersOwl.com , 4 Oct 2019, https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/

PapersOwl.com. (2019). Symbolism in Lord of the Flies . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/ [Accessed: 10 Oct. 2024]

"Symbolism in Lord of the Flies." PapersOwl.com, Oct 04, 2019. Accessed October 10, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/

"Symbolism in Lord of the Flies," PapersOwl.com , 04-Oct-2019. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/. [Accessed: 10-Oct-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2019). Symbolism in Lord of the Flies . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies/ [Accessed: 10-Oct-2024]

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