LORD OF THE FLIES
BY WILLIAM GOLDING
ALLEGORY
Allegory- story that can have a deeper meaning
Allegories in the Lord of the Flies:
- The island represents the whole world.
- Ralph's conch-led Parliament represents democratic government.
- Jack's tribalism represents autocratic government.
- Piggy represents the forces of rationalism, science, and intellect—which get ignored at society's peril.
- Simon represents a kind of natural morality.
- The two tribes represent 2 countries.
- Boys can be an allegory of humanity.
CHAPTERS
THE SOUND OF THE SHELL
- The boys wake-up on a mysterious island.
- Piggy finds a shell.
- Ralph calls all the boys blowing in the shell.
- Ralph, Jack, and Simon go on a search through the woods.
- Boys encounter pig.
- The pig escapes.
FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
- The boys conclude that there are no adults on the island.
- Ralph suggests that they should build a signal fire.
- The boys agree to build it atop a mountain.
- The boys use Piggy's glasses to light the fire.
- Struggle between fun and games and survival.
- The beast is seen.
- fire gets out of control.
HUTS ON THE BEACH
- Jack continues hunting the pig that he found.
- Jack goes back to the beach to find Ralph building huts.
- Ralph complains that the hunters are no help.
- Simon goes into the woods alone.
- Conflict rises.
- Agreements are broken.
PAINTED FACES AND LONG HAIR
- The long hair represents a time skip.
- Life is now a daily routine.
- Jack is now obsessed with the idea of killing the pig.
- Ralph calls another meeting.
- Face painting begins.
- when one of Piggy's lenses breaks (symbolic for decrease of intelligence).
BEAST FROM WATER
- Ralph thinks about his life.
- Ralph rants about how the boys have not done anything.
- A littlun claims to have seen the beast.
- He suggests that it comes from the water.
BEAST FROM AIR
- There is an air battle going on above the island.
- Sam and Eric Find the beast.
- The boys are frightened, because they think the dead parachutist is the beast.
- Ralph and Jack become acquaintances again.
SHADOWS AND SMALL TREES
- Ralph realizes that there may be no escape from the island.
- Jack tries to hunt a wild boar.
- The boys reenact the failed chase.
- The reenactment goes out of hand and almost gets a boy killed.
GIFT FOR THE DARKNESS
- Jack calls an assembly about the beast.
- Jack starts his own tribe.
- Jack invites Ralph to his camp.
- Simon goes off alone.
A VIEW TO A DEATH
- Simon awakes in the middle of the woods.
- He finds the dead parachutists.
- He now knows that the boys are mistaken.
- Ralph goes to the feast.
THE SHELL AND THE GLASSES
- Ralph and Piggy meet, bruised from last night.
- At the castle rock, the boys are punished for no reason.
- Jack thinks Simon was the beast.
- Jack attacks.
CASTLE ROCK
- Ralph tries to light the fire.
- They are unable to do it without Piggy's glasses.
- Ralph and Jack fight again.
- Piggy dies by being crushed by a rock, pushed by Roger.
CRY OF THE HUNTERS
- Ralph takes the spear holding up the LORD OF THE FLIES.
- Ralph tries to attack the camp.
- Jack sets the forest on fire to chase Ralph out.
- Ralph escapes the forest to see a naval officer on the beach.
CHARACTERS
RALPH
- Represents leadership and organized society.
- He is attractive, charismatic, and decently intelligent.
- He is a diplomat and a natural leader.
- He tends to think about their survival, because he wants to get home.
- Also, he is one of the few people who want to be back at home.
Jack
- Represents evil and the dark side of human nature.
- He is a natural militaristic leader who is not afraid to punish those who break the rules, although he breaks the rules himself.
- He denounces order and rules on people's fear.
SIMON
- Represents the true good of nature (Christ-Figure).
- Simon's eyes symbolize vision and truth, a different kind of vision and truth than Piggy's glasses.
- Simon cares for the littluns, and meditates in the forest.
- Simon is one of the first to find that the true beast is human nature.
- Simon dies late in the story.
PIGGY
- Represents knowledge, vision, and truth.
- He is one of the least physical boys.
- Piggy also represents the rational part of the world.
- Piggy acts as an adviser to Ralph and his group.
- Like Ralph, Piggy wants to preserve the civilization on the island from falling into savagery.
- Piggy dies at the end of the story due to getting crushed by a rock.
MAURICE
- Represents neutrality, he is neither good nor bad.
- At first he is a nice person who helps the litluns
- Later, he falls into fear and joins the other tribe.
- He worked with Jack to try to steel the fire.
- The author used Maurice to show what this situation could do to a neutral person.
- Also, Maurice can represent the scientific world.
ROGER
- Similar to Piggy, Roger acts as an adviser to Jack and his group.
- Roger compliments Jack's worst quality, his lust for power.
- Roger is the source of many of Jack's ideas.
- He represents humanity's worst quality, its lust for power.
LITTLUNS
- The littluns represent the youngest of the society.
- They are responsible for a couple of incidents, one included in the chapter Beast From Water.
- I think that the litluns represent the neutral people going on in the war around them.
SAMNERIC
- The two twins are so close that they are often called SAMNERIC.
- They stay close to Ralph, even after the chapter Beast From Air.
- SAMNERIC are captured by Jack, which they later join him.
HENRY
- One of the largest littluns.
- He is the object of Jack's stone game.
- He goes to Jack's camp and is part of the raiding party that steals fire from Ralph and Piggy.
PERCIVAL
- He is mouse colored and not very appeasing to the eyes.
- He gave the idea that the beast could come from the water.
BRITISH OFFICER
- The British officer is the one who finds the boys on the island.
- He represents the boy's freedom.
- He may have spotted the boys because of the forest fire started by Jack.
SYMBOLS
JUNGLE
- Represents the unknown and darkness.
CONCH SHELL
The conch shell symbolizes the rule of law and civilization. It's used to call assemblies and as a kind of microphone that grants the right to speak to whomever holds it during assembly.
CLOTHING
The clothing symbolizes civilization and society. Throughout the story, the boys take off their clothes, showing their decent into savagery.
HAIR AND FACE-PAINT
The long hair symbolizes that a time skip has occurred in the story. The face-paint shows that they have gotten more savage.
THE FIRE
Like the glasses that create it, fire represents technology. Yet like the atomic bombs destroying the world around the boys' island, fire is a technology that threatens destruction if it gets out of control. Fire also symbolizes the boy's connection to human civilization: their signal fire gives them hope of rescue.
PIGGY'S EYEGLASSES
By allowing the boys to create fire, the first necessity of civilization, Piggy's glasses represent science and technology, mankind's power to transform and remake their environment to best suit its needs.
THE LORD OF THE FLIES
The "Lord of the Flies," or the beast, inhabits the severed head of a pig staked into the ground. It symbolizes the evil that lies within every person.
HUTS
- Represent shelter and a sign of building
THE PIG HUNTS
The pig hunts show the boys decrease in civilization. At first Jack is unable to kill the pig because he is too civilized. However, Jack later vows to kill the pig.
CREEPERS
- Irrational fear
THE ISLAND
The island symbolizes the Garden of Eden before the arrival of the boys. After the boys arrive it becomes corrupted and destroyed.
VIDEO
Video SparkNotes: William Golding's Lord of the Flies summary
BIBLICAL MOTIFS
Motif-motif. a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work. a distinctive and recurring form, shape, figure, etc., in a design, as in a painting or on wallpaper.
Biblical Motifs in Lord of the Flies:
- Simon represents a Christ-like figure
- The island represents the garden of Eden
- The Lord of the Flies represents the snake, bringing out the worst qualities of man.
Theme
CIVILIZATION V. SAVAGERY
The major theme of LORD OF THE FLIES is the conflict between the human impulse towards savagery and the rules of civilization which are designed to contain and minimize it. Throughout the novel, the conflict is dramatized by the clash between Ralph and Jack, who represent civilization and savagery. The different ideologies are expressed by each boy's distinct attitudes towards authority. While Ralph uses his authority to establish rules, protect the good of the group, and enforce the moral and ethical codes of the English society the boys were raised in, Jack is interested in gaining power over the other boys to gratify his most primal impulses. When Jack assumes leadership of his own tribe, he demands the complete subservience of the other boys, who not only serve him but worship him as an idol. Jack's hunger for power suggests that savagery does not resemble anarchy so much as a totalitarian system of exploitation and power.
Crying
Why was Ralph crying?
I think that Ralph was crying because he was sad that Piggy was dying. Also, I think he was crying because he nearly died just a few minutes ago.
SPARKNOTES
NOTES
THEMES
THEMES