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Introduction to symbolic significance in lord of the flies
The characterisation of the novel lord of the flies
Lord of the Flies symbolism
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Beast. Think about that word. What comes to mind? Are you like most people, who think a beast is a gargantuan monster chasing people through the woods? An insane person gone wild, waiting to strike and cause chaos? Well, what if I told you that a beast didn’t have to be large and ravenous. That it didn’t even have to be anything physical at all. That a beast is anyone or anything, tangible or not, that actively tries to harm other people, not necessarily physically, but by scaring them. Would you believe me? Humans are so quick to classify things as ‘beasts’ that we often don’t think about what exactly we are saying something is. When I was younger, I was very particular about playing with my toys and how I let other people use them. One …show more content…
Although this concept is prevalent once again quite often in my daily life, it is not as prominent as saying things are beasts when they are not. However, this theme of stereotyping is extremely widespread in the novel Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. For starters, when the concept of this beast is emerging as an issue within the group of boys, Jack distinctly says, “Beasts! Where from? Of course we’re frightened sometimes but we put up with being frightened” (82). The beasts that Jack is referring to are definitely beasts, because they are succeeding at trying to scare the boys. Of course, we do not know if these are physical beings or not, but that is acceptable, since all beasts are not tangible …show more content…
Golding makes it a point to mention that the boys think the beast to be, “a dark thing, a beast, some sort of animal” (83). This animal they are mentioning gives the connotation that the beast is a dark and big creature that is waiting to pounce on them. Next, the boys go on to assume that the beast can be captured and killed, even going as far to say, “If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat” (91). But, none of these poor labelings are accurate! The beast that terrifies the boys is in fact the instinct of savagery that exists in each and every human being, but the only character in the book to realize this is Simon, to whom the Lord of the Flies directly tells, “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” (143). Although this is only one instance a part of a novel, it illustrates vividly how poorly humans stereotype the characteristics of a beast, and how a real beast certainly does not have to fit any of these
While Jack and Ralph represent the distinct polarization between civilization and savagery. Simon is separated from both of these dimensions. Simon represents built-in goodness. The other boys who hold on to their sense of morality only do so because society has conditioned and trained them to act in a certain way. They do not have an innate sense of morality. Unlike the other boys on the island, Simon does not act morally because an external force has compelled him to do so, instead he finds value in performing good actions.
In the Lord of the Flies fear takes over the boys and cause things to go downfall. The boys in Lord of the Flies might be afraid of the beast, but that fear turns out to be more dangerous than any beast could possibly be. The Lord of the Flies even says to Simon that “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?
This quote expands your comprehension of the beast not being an actual person nor animal but instead as the representation I explained of the beast being the boys themselves. Golding clearly Portrays that through Simon in this quote.
Fear is a present topic in Lord of the Flies and the acrostic, False-Evidence-Appearing-Real, directly relates to chapter 9. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of young boys were stranded on an island. At first they incorporated the civilization that they grew up with into their lives, but as time progressed they began to accept a savage lifestyle that came with consequences. In chapter 9, while the biguns and littluns gathered in a group, chanting and dancing, Simon came down the mountain after finding out the beast was actually a dead man in a parachute. Because it was dark and Simon was unrecognizable, the boys feared him to be the beast and killed him. If the boys had not been so afraid of the beast then they would not have been prompted to kill Simon. In chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies, William Golding employs diction, repetition, and animal imagery to convey the theme that fear can cause savagery to develop in anyone.
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, a monster is a “strange or horrible imaginary creature”. But monsters don’t necessarily need to be fictional; even humans can be monsters. The only thing that distinguishes us from fictional monsters are our appearances, human-monsters are hard to detect. Therefore, it’s easy to treat people based on their appearances since the human mind gets deceived by looks.
The concept of the beast creates fear amongst the children. With their imagination children fear that the beast is out to get them, when in reality the beast is non-existent. This fear of the unknown
All of the boys but Simon are becoming the beast at that moment. In Lord of the Flies, Golding proves that fear draws out man’s inner evil and barbarism. Within the novel, Golding uses characterization of the boys and symbolism of the beast to show the gradual change from their initial civility to savagery and inhumanity. Learned civility, order and humanity become ultimately futile in the face of fear. The author teaches that without logic, fear consumes us endlessly.
The fear of the beast, was an essential one to the story of The Lord of the Flies, as it manifests into different characters.
Throughout history we see monsters taking many different shapes and sizes. Whether it be a ghoul in the midst of a cold nightly stroll or a mass genocide, monsters are lurking everywhere and our perception of what monsters truly are, is enhancing their growth as a force with which to be reckoned. Fear of the unknown is seen throughout time, but as humans progress we are finding that things we once were afraid of we are less frightening than they once were. Monsters can evoke fear in their targeted victims rather than physically harm their victims. For instance, every year a new horror film is released with the next scary beast, but why do we call something a monster even if we know it is not real? Even certain people and creatures are classified as monsters, but are they really monsters, or do their actions speak of monstrous doings? In his article and book chapter Monsters and the Moral Imagination and chapter 5 of On Monsters, Stephen Asma suggests that monstrosity, as we know it, is on the rise as humans progress, and how we perceive monsters can often define monstrosities in itself, providing evidence as to why monster cultures are on the rise, and showing how human progress has evolved our perception of how we think on the topic that is monsters.
Another of the most important symbols used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. In the imaginations of many of the boys, the beast is a tangible source of evil on the island. However, in reality, it represents the evil naturally present within everyone, which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies, and during one argument over the existence of a beast, he attempts to share his insight with the others.
As Simon was trying to tell the boys that the beast did not exist, his death symbolises that mankind can’t face the truth about their inner desires. Part of Golding’s intent was to demonstrate that the evil is not recognised in specific populations or situations. On the island, the beast is manifest in the deadly tribal dances, war paint and manhunt; in the outside world, the same lust for power and control plays out as a nuclear war. Throughout ‘The Lord of the Flies’ Golding has managed to show that evil is present in everyone.
In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Simon and Piggy are among a group of boys who become stranded on a deserted island. Left without any adults, the boys attempt to create an orderly society. However, as the novel progresses, the boys struggle to sustain civility. Slowly, Jack and his hunters begin to lose sight of being rescued and start to act more savagely, especially as fears about a beast on the island spread. As the conflict progresses, Jack and Ralph battle for power. The boys’ struggle with the physical obstacles of the island leads them to face a new unexpected challenge: human nature. One of the boys, Simon, soon discovers that the “beast” appears not to be something physical, but a flaw within all humans
The beast represents the savagery and evilness inside of everyone which creates fear because the boys do not know what the beast is. On page 362, William Golding states, “The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe."Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” During this scene the boys believed that what was crawling out of the forest was the beast when in reality it was only Simon. The boys were so eager to find and kill the beast that they killed Simon in the thought it was the beast. The beast is the savage and evil inside each one of us that represents fear, terror and
The way that the wolf is portrayed in mythology and fairy tales effected people’s impression of the animals. R.D. Lawerence points out how Germanic Norse mythology tells the story an enormous wolf named Fenris, who was the first son of the satanic overlord Loki (122). The legend of Fenris states that, “[he] was so large that when he opened his mouth his jaws stretched from earth to heaven”(Todd 1). As the legend goes, he “devoured several hundred people before the gods were able to chain him.”(Lawerence 122) This 1000-year-old German legend tells us that the wolf eats people mercilessly and is a satanic offspring of the devil. Take also into consideration the widely popular fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” R.D. Lawerence states that, “The story of Little Red Riding Hood perpetuates a number of myths about wolves”(120).
During World War II, the United States killed 90,000 to 166,000 people in Hiroshima with an atomic bomb. The bombing of Hiroshima demonstrated the uncivilized behaviors of humankind: hunger for power, misuse of technology, and subconscious reactions to conflicts. Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel by William Golding, illustrates a horrific tale of boys who are stranded on an island and lose their ability to make civil decisions. Throughout the book, Ralph and Jack fight for power, Piggy’s spectacles are constantly taken to create fire, and several of the boys become “savage” and act upon their subconscious minds. From a sociological perspective, Golding’s novel portrays man’s voracity for power, abuse of technology to the point of destruction, and his venture to inner darkness.