William Golding uses much symbolism in his novel, The Lord of the Flies,
to help readers gain a greater understanding of his message. He uses symbolism
in three important areas: objects that have symbolic value as references to
ideas, characters that symbolize important historical and religious people, and
the setting which frames the conflicts on the island in comparison to the whole
world. Objects are the first part of the story that are symbolic. Many objects
in The Lord of the Flies have important symbolic value. The conch shell
represents power and authority, and Ralph uses it to call for the boys to come
to meetings. Whoever has the shell has the power to talk. The conch shows how
people use objects to give power, like a crown, sceptre, or other thins that
show who has power. We also learn that objects don’t really give power when
people choose not to obey it, like Ralph’s conch. The pig’s head, or Lord of
the Flies, is an important object. To Jack it is a sacrifice for the beast. This
object shows that people will make religions and rituals to control their world,
even when what they think is not true. The Lord of the Flies is also a symbol of
Satan, or the Devil. When Simon talked with the Lord of the Flies, he learned
what the real evil was, which is the evil in people’s hearts. The Lord of the
Flies is a symbol of the things we make up to be the cause for evil, when those
things aren’t the real reason. The fire is a symbol of hope and rescue. When
the fire was burning bright, it was because the boys were working hard to get
rescued. When the fire burnt out, it was because many boys, like Jack, didn’t
care anymore about being rescued. In the end, the fire that got them rescued was
not meant for rescue. It was there because Jack was burning down the island to
kill Ralph. This shows us that we get things from luck instead of hard work. The
objects in the story are used by characters that also have symbolism. The many
different characters on the island are symbols of important people. They show
how the real world is made up of people. Ralph is a good leader who cannot
control bad people like Jack. Ralph is like Franklin Roosevelt before World War
II who could not stop the war from breaking out. He also represents democracy,
and is responsible. The boys wanted to do what they wanted, but Ralph couldn’t
stop them. Piggy represents educated people who give advice but nobody listens
to them. Piggy was like Albert Einstein because people didn’t care that he
thought the atomic bomb was bad weapon. Simon was a symbol of Jesus Christ
because he knew the truth about the beast, but the boys killed him when he came
to tell them the truth. Jack was a symbol of Adolf Hitler. He was a crazy leader
who killed many people because he wanted power. Like Hitler Jack was dictatorial
and ignorant. Jack started his own tribe when they should stay with Ralph, and
Jack killed Simon and didn’t care. Roger is even worse than Jack, even though
he isn’t like that at the start. He is like Dr. Mengele who was Hitler’s
worker and did very bad operations on people, worse than Hitler. Roger is like
this because he makes stick sharpened at both ends. All these people live in an
island that is like the rest of the world. The setting of The Lord of the Flies
is backdrop that makes it easy to see the boys’ wickedness compared to the
wickedness of the world and people in general. World War II is going on while
the story happens. The parachuter, that the boys think is the beast, shows that
they cannot get away from war, and they have war themselves later. Parts of the
island are also important. The beach is important because it is where Simon
dies, and also where the boys live. Castle Rock is important because this is
where the tribe goes to live. It is very small, with no food or soft ground, but
the boys still go there because they can defend it. They think they must fight
the beast and other boys, but they really have nothing to be afraid of from the
other boys or beast. It shows that the boys don’t understand what the real
problems are, just like people in the world who build castles and armies and
defenses. The Lord of the Flies is filled with symbolism that make an important
comment about Humankind. The objects, characters, and setting of this story all
have parallels in the real world. They show us that what happened in the story
is not just a story. They help prove the author’s belief that Humankind is
savage and evil under its facade of civilization.