Symbols are small details in the book that help to understand what is happening
Symbols are small details in the book that help to understand what is happening. In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, numerous symbols are present. These symbols effectively reach out to readers, adding meaning to the complex concepts being presented. The strong symbolism throughout Lord of the Flies allows a greater sense of understanding to be achieved for the reader.
The conch is one of the most important symbols throughout Lord of the Flies. Introduced at the very beginning of the novel, it strongly symbolizes authority and civilization. ” I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” ( Golding 31) The boys are only allowed to talk if they are holding the conch. They are using similar rules to when they were in school, where you need to raise your hand to speak. This shows that the boys are still attached to civilization and the authority. After a while, the colour of the conch starts to fade. It is a visual representation of Ralph’s authority, which is also fading. When the conch breaks, he loses all of his power as a chief and the authority that was left is gone. The moment the conch no longer exists, the boys give into savagery and become a tribe, using Castle Rock as their territory.
Castle rock is a place by the ocean where Jack and his hunters forms a tribe. This place represents the boys turning away from civilisation and giving into savagery and violence. “He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up.” (Golding 176) Jack is now using violence to get what he wants. He beats up Wilfred because he did something to upset him. At Castle rock, all the boys want to do is hunt, and they forgot about being rescued. The boys give into savagery and their fear of the beast.
The Beast is not a real creature. In fact, it does not really exist. It is simply what the boys name their fear and what they do not understand. They are so scared of it, they give the pigs head as a gift. The Beast essentially represents man’s evil and dark nature. “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! ” (Golding 158) The lord of the flies is telling Simon that the only Beast on the island is in their mind, that they can not hunt it because it will always be part of them. It is man’s true nature, before the authority civilization. Without the adults and civilization, the boys will give into savagery and the dark side of human nature.
The many symbols in this novel helps the reader understand what is going on. In the Lord of the Flies, the most important symbols are the conch, the Beast, and Castle rock. You can find symbols in other movies and books. You can also find some in real life, like objects people are attached to. These are like symbols, because they represent something important to the person, just like the symbols in the book.
