Themes
Savegery vs Civilization
conflict between two instincts → live by rules, follow moral commands and value the good of the group against gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will
order vs chaos, reason vs impuls, law vs anarchy
civilization = good & savagery = evil
driving force of the novel
Jack (savagery) vs Ralph (civilization)
savagery → more primal instinct & fundamental to the human mind
left on their own → people naturally revert to cruelty, savagery, and barbarism
Loss of innocence
naturally lose innocence (which they had in the beginning)
chapter 12 → savage who hunted, tortured and killed
chapter 3 → little boys swimming in the lagoon
The loss is not something ‘done’ to the children, but a result of their openness to the evil and savagery which always existed in them.
symbol → forest glade in which Simon sits in Chapter 3 → first it’s a place of natural beauty and peace, but when Simon returns he finds The Lord of the Flies. The bloody offering - a powerful symbol of innate human evil disrupting childhood innocence - disrupted the paradise.
Struggle To Build Civilization
At first everyone agrees with the democratic system, but the slow process of building an orderly society proves too difficult for many of the boys. → they don’t want to help with the shelters, fire or littluns, they choose fun and hunting over this
At the end even Ralph is tempted to join Jack and forgets why the fire and rescue is important.
Man’s Inherent Evil
young boys → evil is inherent, even in children
Jack: first rules and civility, but later obsessed with hunting and empowered by the promise of violence
Ralph and Piggy join the murder of Simon → Piggy tries to ignore this, but Ralph is devastated by his dark side and the fact that he is no better than Roger or Jack.
Simon → men can resist their violent tendencies. He stands up for Piggy and the littluns and helps Ralph. He realises that the beast is not real but the darkness in the boys themselves.
Dangers Of Mob Mentality
coming together as mob (group) → upsetting experience of killing an animal becomes bonding ritual
acting as one group → worse and worse crimes
warpaint → hiding identities as individuals → avoid personal responsability
‘liberation into savagery‘ → Ralp, Piggy and Samneric both fear as envy the hunters → their desire to be part of the group leads to their participation in the killing of Simon.
The mob’s shared irrational fear and proclivity toward violence results in a devastating act of ultimate cruelty.
War And The Future Of Mankind
A view of what society might look like trying to rebuild after a largescale manmade catastrophe.
rebuilding society → disagree on rules → descent savagery
Social order, fairness and thoughtfulness have little value when basic survival is a struggle.
Paratrooper → reminder that there is still war outside the island
Nature vs nurture
Nature takes over as nurture is gone.
Colonisation
colonisers & the colonized
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all we’re not savages. We’re English and English are the best at everything.”
standing on the mountain → “This belongs to us.“
impact and dominance of the colonisers during Colonisation → Jack’s tribe kills Piggy and Simon, they take their fire, territory and troops (Samneric)
Symbols
The Conch
Using it to call meetings → civilization & order
The boys using it like a ‘microphone‘ → vessel of political legitimacy and democratic power
descend into savagery → loses it’s power
Ralph clutches the shell as he talks about his role in murdering Simon
Boys throwing stones at Ralph as he blows it at Jack’s camp.
Boulder crushing Piggy & the conch → demise of civilized instinct among the boys
Piggy’s Glasses
Piggy is the most intelligent & rational → intelligence & power of science in society
Boys using it to light the fire
Piggy loses his intelligence & usefulness as the glasses break and he loses them
The Signal Fire
Attract notice of passing ships → barometer of the boys’ connection to civilization
boys maintaining the fire → they want to be rescued
fire burning low/going out → lost their desire to go home & accepted savagery
irony → the fire which attracts the isn’t the signal fire but the savagery fire
The Beast
the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings
boys afraid, only Simon realizes they fear the beast because it lives in all of them
descend savagery → stronger belief in the beast
leaving it sacrifices & treating it like a god
The Lord of the Flies
the power of evil → a kind of Satan figure who evokes the beast within each human being
Simon hallucinating → it tells him that evil lies within every human heart and promising to have some “fun” with him
offering to the beast → says it is the beast and lives in everyone
Ralph
order, leadership, civilization
Is voted to be the leader
Tries to keep the fire going in order to be rescued → civilization
Piggy
scientific & intellectual aspects of civilization
Comes with most of the ideas, like getting everyones name and making a fire
Jack
unbridled savagery & desire for power
Doesn’t care for the fire (civilization) and just wants to hunt.
Simon
natural human goodness → Jesus
Only one who showed no sign of the evil in everyone
Jesus (him) talking to the devil (the Lord of the Flies)
He gave Piggy some of his meat when Jack refused.
Roger
brutality & bloodlust
person who beats people for wrongdoings in Jack’s tribe
Samneric
loss of individuality
They start off as Sam and Eric, but become Samneric → sheep-behaviour of humans and following the majority.
Littluns
Common people, following rules, not interfearing
Bigguns
Ruling classes & political leaders
Relation between littluns → civilized boys (Ralph, Simon etc.) use their power to protect the littluns; savage boy (Jack, Roger) use their power to gratify their own desires, treating the littluns like objects for their amusem*nt
Island
paradise
Garden of Eden
They destroy it like we are doing
The Scar
Rip in the forest caused by the crash landing of the boys plane
Man and his savage nature, destroys paradise by merely entering it.
Characters
Ralph
dad in navy → thinks he will rescue them
blond → attractive
charismatic & confident
12 years old
Through the story he gets a bit absent and has a hard time finding his words, Piggy helps him with this
Jack
Piggy
Simon
Samneric
Roger
Foreshadowing
Choir group joining the rest → described as a black blur → something bad involving them
First fire out of control and presumably killing a littlun → Jack setting the forest on fire in the end to kill Ralph
Simon & his death
The Lord of the Flies promising to have some ‘fun‘ with Simon → Simon’s death
The weather is bad/dark right before Simons death
Piggy & his death
Roger throwing stones at littluns & others roling rocks down Castle Rock → Piggy’s death
Piggy losing his glasses → helpless & depentent → his death
Piggy telling Ralph he has Asthma → “Sucks to your ass-mar!” → boys’ lack of concern about Piggy’s physical vulnerability
The boys hunting pigs → violent nature of his death
Golding steers the reader in the wrong direction of Piggy’s death, he makes us think Piggy will die because of his conditions and fragility, not an act of violence.
Title explanations
Lord of the flies
It refers to Beelzebub, which is another name for the devil. → stands for the evil in everyone.
Pig head on a stick → sybol of evil & savagery of Jack’s tribe.
Ralph uses the stick as a spear
Lord is a word of power & flies of death and decay → death and decay tied up with power and corruption.
The Sound of the Shell
Refers to the conch being blown, which gathers all the boys.
Symbol of authority → the boys immediately respond to the sound.
Reference to WW2 → the sound can be compared to air raid sirens
Fire on the Mountain
The fire is a distress signal, it shows the boys understanding of how they can help themselves get rescued.
Symbolises the start of their destruction of the island and their civilised selves.
Huts on the Beach
Created a view of a paradise away from reality and society → contrast to what it becomes (hell).
Irony → huts are temporary, but the boys seem to be permenantly on the island and losing hopes of rescue.
Painted Faces and Long Hair
Painted faces → hiding identities → the children are losing their identities by following Jack
Long hair → descent into savagery (no tidiness)
Suggests the creation of a tribe, causing a schism (split up)
Beast from Water
Water → pure → the beast comes from purity and their innocence
Water is the only thing seperating them from society and trapping them → water is their beast
Beast from Air
The beast is from a different location → ambiguity (dubbelzinnigheid) about the beast and where it is from
It has grown → suffocates and traps the boys
The dead pilot falls → they think it’s the beast → foreshadowing them thinking Simon is the beast
Shadows and Tall Trees
Shadows → something negative in Jack spreading like ink, everyone has their shadowside
tall tree → Jack makes himself big → he has a very big shadow
Gift for the Darkness
Comparison between gift (happiness) and darkness
gift → the boys sacrificing a pig → descent into savagery & foreshadowing killing
A View to a Death
Parachutist → first view, then dead
Simon’s death → boys far from civilisation
The Shell and the Glasses
shell & glasses → authority & wisdom → fragile authority
Piggy’s death → foreshadowing loss of wisdom since he was the one remaining symbol
Castle Rock
Home of violent and barbaric activity
Symbolism → security & relief → Simon and Piggy don’t have to suffer anymore
The Cry of the Hunters
The cry of the hunters as they are chasing Ralph
Everyone’s emotional cry when they are rescue
