Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

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William Golding’s allegorical novel Lord of the Flies reveals the consequences of savage actions and how they lead to a loss of innocence. When a group of boys is stranded on a barren island after their plane is attacked, they all face a struggle for survival. Conflict among each other and among themselves corrupts their once pure beings and brings out the rugged and primitive selves. Goldberg uses symbols throughout the text such as the conch shell, the signal fire, and the beast, to represent how the boys’ hope, destruction, and fear lead to savagery. The conch shell serves as a symbol of authority on the island because it represents civilization and order. When the boys first arrive on the island, Ralph and Piggy find the conch and Ralph blows into it to gather any others that landed on the island. When other boys begin to show up, this symbolizes Ralph’s natural leadership …show more content…
As the boys continue to attend to the fire, it suggests their hope in going home and getting off the island. Ralph claims to everyone at an assembly, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don't keep a fire going… Can't you see we ought to - ought to die before we let the fire out?” (Golding 80). It also represents their loss of innocence and giving into the savagery of the island when the fire is neglected and goes out. Ironically, Jack is the one who forgets to maintain the fire and causes them to miss the opportunity to be saved by a passing ship, but in the end of the story, Jack setting fire to the island while hunting Ralph is what gets them saved. The island brought out the evil in Jack which is demonstrated by the destruction of the fire. This is important because it shows that in the end, the destruction and fear caused by the fire is what saves
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