Lord Of The Flies Literary Analysis Essay

Words: 1843
Pages: 8

Literary Analysis of Lord Of The Flies

On an island covered with young school boys, is it possible to control and maintain any assembly of order? William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies is a political and moral fable about a group of schoolboys stranded, alone, on a tropical island. They are trying to maintain order, while awaiting their rescue. In this novel, Ralph, the leader of the boys, is elected chief of the island. He chooses to appoint Jack as the lead hunter. Though, they assign titles and jobs, it does not take long for their new civilization to begin to unravel. The boys brains are quickly overcome by a savage mindset. Jack, the leader of the group, factions off to form another tribe. The boys become restless, unruly, and out of control, this eventually leads to the killing of Simon and Piggy, two significant members of the clan. In the end, Jack sets fire to the island to kill Ralph, and in doing so, it works as a signal fire and they are rescued. Woven throughout the chaos and dysfunction are a
…show more content…
It gives two meanings throughout the book. The shell that was found in the beginning of the book is the conch and is held while speaking. The conch is a representation of the civilization within the boys. The broken conch is symbolic of the civilization falling apart. Another commonly expressed symbol, is the signal fire, made to draw in a ship or plane; it is used to symbolize the hope of rescue. When the fire is left unattended and goes out, the hope disappears. Their chance of being rescued dwindles. The author also uses dreams as tool of symbolization. The dream that one of the boys has about a beast, is intended to represent the fear that they are actually enduring. They do believe there is a beast roaming the island, and they are all scared of it. These symbols convey the idea that civilization is fragile and evil can be found within