Lord Of The Flies

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Recommended: Literary analysis of the lord of the flies

Analyzing Lord of the Flies The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who must join together and fight for survival while stranded on a deserted island. Although they attempt to work together, their personalities clash, creating a power struggle and dividing their group. This division causes the boys to battle each other for dominance. Lord of the Flies can be read as a psychoanalytical allegory with themes of fear and power that connect to both historic as well as current events. Lord of the Flies can be viewed as a psychoanalytical allegory through the character Jack Merridew. Freud, an Austrian neurologist, believes that the unconscious mind contains the Id, which “works always to gratify …show more content…

Piggy is aware of Jack’s hatred towards him, because he “stands between Jack and his achievement of pleasure” (Henningfield). The Superego can be compared to Piggy, due to his desire to command the rest of the boys, especially Jack. This causes a power struggle between the Id and the Superego. Jack’s hatred for Piggy takes over in “Painted Faces and Long Hair” when Jack is driven to violence, “and able at last to hit someone, (he) stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach” (Golding 71). This moment becomes a turning point in the tense relationship between Jack and Piggy because Jack’s power over Piggy is implemented physically. Jack’s temper reaches the point where he purposefully harms another boy. The physical conflict that ensued was the effect of Piggy, the Superego, preventing Jack, the Id, from getting what he …show more content…

Although the government of Israel released Palestinian prisoners last October, they “simultaneously announced controversial plans to build 1500 housing units in East Jerusalem on land claimed by Palestinians” (Israeli-Palestinian Talks). While allowing freedom to those they imprisoned, the Israeli government takes advantage of Palestinians by using their land. Tension between these groups is currently growing, as the issue of land ownership is unresolved. This is similar to when the issues between Jack and Ralph increase rapidly after their tribes have been divided. When a fight between Jack’s tribe and Ralph’s takes place in Ralph’s tent, they notice Jack walking away and “from his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (Golding 168). Jack’s tribe feels no guilt for stealing Piggy’s glasses, which can be compared with the way the Israeli government takes Palestinian land with no remorse, depriving the Palestinian citizens of their rights and power. Jack’s tribe unrightfully robs Ralph’s tribe by depriving them of Piggy’s glasses, a necessary source for creating

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    Lord of the Flies has several themes that are the key to understanding of literature. Three of the themes of this novel are the fear, courage and lastly survival. Fear has been surrounded throughout the entire novel. With the amount of fear because of an apparent beast, many of the people on the island have changed. Most of the boys have become more violent throughout the novel and have no sense of direction as what to do next. Jack was one of those people who had changed majorly throughout the novel. Courage is one of the most important things to have mentally and physically when you’re stuck in an unknown island. Ralph’s courage in the book became strong when he had lost two of his close companions in Simon and Piggy. Survival is the best theme in this novel simply because of the lack of tools and the laziness of the people throughout the book. These themes show how great and wonderful this book is, and if you read it thoroughly, you will understand the perils and the adventure of Ralph, Jack and the rest of the boys in Lord of the Flies.

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