Lord Of The Flies Themes

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There are different themes and topics throughout the book and the author explains each one of them in different ways as the story progresses. For example, one of the main themes in the book deals with civilization and how rules and being civilised keep people from becoming savage. Throughout the story the characters become more and more savage, partly because they live on a deserted island with very little rules or adults to enforce the rules. As well, any rules that are present are difficult to enforce because the boys do not respect their chosen leader, Ralph. The conch shell is the main symbol of leadership and power but even that starts to lose its effect and the boys start to ignore its power. When the shell is first found, Piggy explains that it is “A Conch he called it. He used to blow it and then his mum would come. It's ever so valuable.” (16). …show more content…
“By the time Ralph finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded.” (35). Ralph shows leadership in the group, both because he looks and acts like a leader, but also because he has claimed the conch and has used it to gather the boys together. Throughout the course of the story, these symbols have less effect on the group of boys as they are less influenced by civilization and rules and are more influenced by the beast or savageness within themselves, which is led in part by Jack. “Mutinously the boys fell silent or muttering. Jack led the way down the rock and across the bridge.”

Lord Of The Flies Themes

All fictional books need a theme to help build onto the plot of the book. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies has many themes that help grow the plot and make the book more interesting. From themes such as loss of innocence to civilization versus savagery, Lord of the Flies contains a numerous amounts of themes that are shown throughout the book by the various symbolic characters and objects. One of the major themes of Lord of the Flies is civilization versus savagery. Jack represents savagery…

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Theme Of Isolation In Lord Of The Flies

Imagine an isolated island overrun by fear of a strange beast. All who are on the island act on their fear instead of thinking logically, and chaos breaks loose. This is a horrifying scene presented in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Similar scenarios also appear in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The main characters, Ralph and Liesel, are in places where fear is the ruler and no one dares stand up to it. In BT Liesel is separated from her birth family in Nazi Germany and is taken in by a family…

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Theme Of Survival In Lord Of The Flies

In the novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, it portrays the survival of Ralph, Jack, Piggy and the group of boys who were landed in an island by accident, leaving a scar in the once pure wilderness. These boys undergo and encounter with hardships and agony throughout their survival. In the novel, it indicates that people can lose innocence in terms of survival. Along the novel, the trace of the innocence of the boys started to disappear. In the beginning of the novel, Ralph, Jack…

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Theme Of Simon In Lord Of The Flies

The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, possesses a character, Simon, that represents Jesus Christ. Simon shares a profusion of qualities with Jesus Christ. For example, Simon, similarly to Jesus Christ, is very sensitive regarding the emotions of others. Ralph was feeling uncertain about their return to civilization but, Simon knew “[He’d] get back to where [he] came from…[He]’ll get back all right.” (Golding 111). Notwithstanding the immeasurable ocean that disconnected the boys…

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Theme Of Adolescence In Lord Of The Flies

In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, adolescence is much more than just a group of boys stranded on an island. Adolescence and its portrayal play a huge role in the development of the novel. There are several factors that Golding uses to depict adolescence as something much different than times of grace and innocence. For a child it is much easier to deal with things when you pretend they never happened. That is especially true when it comes to the boys on the island. The first we seen of this…

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Theme Of Loss Of Innocence In Lord Of The Flies

In Chapter Seven of Lord of the Flies, Golding makes a statement about the loss of innocence revealed through the symbolism of the mob mentality and killing other innocent kids in the “game.” For example, Jack and the other kids jump on Robert and “[a]ll at once Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing the knife” (114). This quote shows the symbolism of the mob mentality because Jack is waving his knife over Robert and he would…

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Theme Of Savagery In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

Mental institutions are for people who are mentally unstable, but what happens when those people become that way while stranded on a desolate island? In William Golding's, Lord of the Flies, that is the scenario that a group of previously civilized boys must face. They start out civilized as most people would, but then the majority of them turn into vile savages. This social commentary is an assumption of how the behavior of young boys can be affected by the given environment and the absence of adult…

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Cruelty In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

but, in Lord of the Flies, this served as a catalyst. Upon meeting Ralph, it was obviously unwise for Piggy to trust him with such a large secret as his unfortunate nickname. However, Piggy’s yearn for Ralph’s trust blinded him and allowed for cruelty against him. No matter how small the act of cruelty, it always served a deeper function in the novel. Embedded in both the characters and themes in Lord of the Flies, cruelty dictated the entire outcome of the novel. Recognizing cruelty in Lord of the…

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Conch Shell In Lord Of The Flies Essay

The novel the Lord of the Flies depicts an important theme that everyone is capable of evil and it is only the power of society’s rule that keeps individuals from illustrating the maliciousness within themselves. A great deal of inanimate objects or people in the novel have a symbolic meaning to justify the main theme the author portrays in the Lord of the Flies. When writing the novel the Lord of the Flies, William Golding incorporates an immense amount of symbolism to reinforce the meaning and…

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Similarities Between Lord Of The Flies And The Hunger Games

Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games both are epitomes of dystopian societies. They both depict the battle between humanity and savagery. In essence, Lord of the Flies is a story about survival; how a group of boys stranded on an island are fighting every day to survive in the wild. On the other hand, The Hunger Games are about a group of kids are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment. While the novels share some major similarities on their central themes such as civilization against…

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