Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, houses an immense collection of symbolism, most of which follows the central theme: civilization vs. savagery. The group of boys, having been stranded on an island, face the difficulties of upholding a civilized society in attempts for mutual survival, or succumbing to savagery and reverting to a more primitive form. In consequence, objects such as the conch shell, Piggy’s spectacles, and “the beast” become powerful symbols in the boys’ battle of nature vs. nurture. ¬The conch found in the beginning of the novel serves as a symbol for civilization and law. When the boys hold an election to determine who will lead them, rather than voting for more obvious candidates, nearly all the votes went to

As the boys’ time on the island increased, their civilized society began to chip away, as nothing was preventing them from acting unlawfully. Over time, a fear developed for a beast, where boys claim ““He says he saw the beastie, the snake-thing.” Ralph, however, refused to believe in it, stating “…there isn’t a beast!” (Golding, 36-37). Like the conch, Ralph embodies civilization and order, so when he doubtlessly dismisses the beast as pure fiction, he creates a division between those of order who don’t believe in it, and those who do—a distinction between civilization and savagery. This is further supported when the boys begin to leave offerings for the beast, declaring “When we kill we’ll leave some of the kill for it. Then it won’t bother us…” (Golding, 133). At this point, the fear for the imaginary beast has grown so real that the boys actively try and please it. In other words, the more the boys believe in the beast, the more they degrade into savages. The symbolism used in Lord of the Flies gives much more meaning and depth to everything in the novel. If everything were taken with face value—the conch, Piggy’s glasses, the beast—then the happenings of the boys would carry much less value, as the objects of symbolism only carry meaning because of what they