Lord of the Flies - Characters, Themes and Symbols

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  • Created by: theglobe
  • Created on: 21-04-17 09:15
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  • Characters
    • Lord of the Flies
      • Symbols
        • The Beast
          • - as societal influence lessens, belief in the beast grows = savagery: leaves sacrifices and treated like a totemic god
          • - not a physical being = inside the boys, as they all have the inherent capacity for evil
        • The Conch
          • - represents democracy (Piggy's idea) as everyone gets a chance to speak if they hold the Conch
          • - represents law, order, democracy and civilisation
          • - gives a voice to the weaker boys, which is a contrast to Jack's tribe
        • The Lord of the Flies
          • - severed sow's head on a stake in the ground
          • - tells Simon that evil lies within every human heart = but this evil kills him before he can enlighten the others
          • - biblical parallel = Beelzebub represents the devil (against purity/Jesus, Simon)
        • Piggy's Glasses
          • - essential for rescue (light the fire) = represent Piggy's ideas
          • - Piggy cannot see without the glasses but he is the most clear-sighted of the boys
          • - can aid (light the fire) but potentially be dangerous (boy dies in the fire)
      • Themes
        • Loss of Innocence
          • - the loss of innocence coincides with the descent into savagery
          • - Golding doesn't portray this as something done to the boys, but as something that has always been there and only now has the chance to come out
        • Civilisation (vs. Savagery)
          • - an important theme for Ralph and Piggy but seen as an obstacle for Jack in his attempted reign
          • - this is represented by Ralph, Piggy, the naval officer and the Conch, in different ways
          • - the Conch smashing represents the final abolition of civilisation, as Ralph is the only boy left who believes in society and democracy
          • - Ralph favours civilisation (shown by effort to keep fire going, as he wants to go home) but Jack prefers savagery, as it allows him to lead and give into his dark, primal impulses
      • Context
        • - Golding believed that all inherent evil is inside everyone - society just restricts it
        • - allegorical novel = explores nature of good and evil, and the original sin (Simon and Beelzebub)
        • - Golding wanted to illustrate the fundamental human struggle between civilisation and savagery
        • - Golding taught at a boys school
    • Piggy
      • - most physically vulnerable, despite his greater intelligence
      • - death + breaking of the Conch = breakdown of democracy and civilisation (Piggy was the last bit of sense on the island + last tie with democracy)
      • - not as educated as the other boys = reflects social class (context)
      • - his poor eyesight is ironic as it can be said to be contradictory to him having the clearest sight of all the boys
      • - represents democracy (need for the Conch) and civilisation (accent + general attitude)
    • Simon
      • - only boy to realise that the Beast was inside themselves
      • - symbolises peace, innocence, knowledge - saviour + prophetic = Jesus (allegorical)
      • - victim of brutality, like the Jews in WW2 (context) = catalyst for descent into savagery
      • - dramatic irony = died before he could tell the other boy his realisation (sacrifice = Jesus)
    • Ralph
      • - represents civilisation, leadership and democracy = childish at the start, matures throughout the novel
      • - realises that reason, intellect, empathy and sensitivity are the tools for keeping evil at bay
      • - is the voice of Piggy's ideas
    • Jack
      • - favours tribalism in order to control = uses the Beast to exploit the boys' fear and insecurities
      • - represents worst of inherent evil in all young people = shows dark side of humanity, due to no restrictions of civilisation
      • - natural leader, but through fear, oppression and intimidation (dictator)
      • - hates Ralph as he's more popular + widely followed, wants to get rid of him (context = Hitler defeated opposition to the Nazi Party)
      • - allegorical representation of Hitler (context)
  • The Lord of the Flies
    • - severed sow's head on a stake in the ground
    • - tells Simon that evil lies within every human heart = but this evil kills him before he can enlighten the others
    • - biblical parallel = Beelzebub represents the devil (against purity/Jesus, Simon)

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