What Is An Allegory In Lord Of The Flies

878 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in the novel The Lord of Flies

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, there are two levels to the story. The two levels are very much different. one level consists of a simple story about young boys getting stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, but the other is a symbolic story of struggle for power, knowledge, leadership, and fear. Based on being an allegory, Golding reveals how he feels about human nature through the use of symbols, Specific diction, and character development. An allegory is when a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one, it can also be defined as a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political …show more content…

The beast began as a dream the little ones had night after night, something the big kids didnt think much of, because they were just little kids. Not long after a disappearance, most of the boys begin to believe that the beast is a real being that either comes down from the sky during the night or emerges from the ocean while they sleep. The majority of the boys accept this as truth. But simon denies it, stating, "Maybe […] there is a beast… What I mean is . . . Maybe it's only us . . ." (Golding 89) Simon does not believe there is a physical beast, but that the beast lies within each of our hearts. Which is the point Golding wants to get across. Golding uses the beast as a symbol to reveal his beliefs about mankind's true intentions. Golding reveals that humans are evil, that without rules and civil behavior that has been set in place by society already, we are all truly savages, and that the further we drift from society, the more savagery there is. Although simon was correct in his assumption,he did not confirm this until he comes face to face with the lord of the flies himself, "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's a no go? Why things are what they are?" (143) Although this is true, the other boys laughed in his face, and their belief in the beast continues

Show More
Related

  • Diction In Lord Of The Flies Literary Analysis Essay

    257 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a book about several boys who ended up on a remote island after their plane was shot down. The story explains how they made their own society and tried to survive. Golding employs many literary devices in the novel which support a dark and violent tone. The three most important examples include diction, imagery, and detail.

    Read More

  • Allegory In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever thought about six to thirteen year olds ever acting like savages and turning into a serial killer? After reading Lord of the Flies, this is exactly what happened. Ralph, Piggy, Jack and other kids cash land on a gorgeous island with leaving no trace for the world to find them. Ralph tries to be organized and logical, but in the other hand, Jack is only interested in satisfying his pleasures. Just like in the short story, The Tortoise And The Hare, Lord of the Flies, stands for something. This novel is a psychological allegory, the island, as the mind, Ralph, the leader, as the ego, Jack, the hunter, as the id, and Piggy, an annoying little boy, as the super ego. As we read Lord Of

    Read More

  • William Golding Lord Of The Flies Beast Analysis

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we hear the word “beast,” most of us will immediately think of some enormous hairy creature with razor sharp fangs and massive claws coming to kill and eat us. Although these types of beasts do exist, the boys in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, show that a different, much more sinister beast is present in all of our everyday lives, and, like the boys in the book, most of us don’t even know about it. Throughout the book, the existence and meaning of the beast go through significant changes. In the beginning, the boys believe the beast to be a substantive being. At first no one believes it, but later they begin to believe its existence. Later though, the beast reveals itself as an internal flaw within everyone on the island, and slowly begins to take over the children’s free will. As the belief in the beast goes up, its manifestation as the “typical beast” that we all think of goes down, which is ironic because they are creating the beast in their minds, while also living it out in their actions.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Symbolism In Lord Of The Flies

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fear was the real danger on the island. Although the boys did not see the hidden danger that they believed to be a beast, they let it take control of them and change who they were. The beast was created in the littluns minds because they wanted to make their fear of the dark and being trapped and alone, into something tangible. They created an object that could be stopped, otherwise it would be undefeatable, and they would be trapped and vulnerable. Each new fear fed to the story of the beast, growing it and its power over the boys. Kirstin Olsen stated, “Lord of the flies remains an influential and powerful commentary on human evil… It explores some of the most intense urges and emotions in our repertoire: the desire for power, the fear of the unknown, fear of other people, anger, and jealousy.” These emotions shaped the beast, filling the littluns heads with fear. The beast symbolized both fear and the darkness of humanity, though the darkness is also what the boys feared. When the boy...

    Read More

  • Lord Of The Flies Literary Analysis Essay

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during

    Read More

  • Symbols and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lord of the Flies provides one with a clear understanding of Golding's view of human nature.  Whether this view is right or wrong is a point to be debated.  This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share.   Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature in the minds of his readers.  To construct this idea of the inherent evil, Golding employs the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the hunt and the island.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Jonathan Livingston Seagull And The Myth Of The Cave

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    An allegory is a story that has hidden meaning buried in it, usually a moral, political, or religious meaning. The book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, and the short story “The Myth of the Cave” by Plato, are both considered to be allegories. In fact, they are very similar allegories because their hidden meanings are alike. In “The Myth of the Cave,” the people are sitting in a deep, dark cave with nothing to live for. Similarly, in “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” the flock is wrapped up in the idea that all they have to do in life is find food and eat it. Also, the main characters in both stories had a mentor that showed them that there is indeed, more to life than what they have been doing. In both stories, there was a higher

    Read More

  • Stereotyping In Lord Of The Flies

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Man's Capacity For Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the lives of young British boys whose plane crashed on a deserted island and their struggle for survival. The task of survival was challenging for such young boys, while maintaining the civilized orders and humanity they were so accustomed too. These extremely difficult circumstances and the need for survival turned these innocent boys into the most primitive and savaged mankind could imagine. William Golding illustrates man’s capacity for evil, which is revealed in man’s inherent nature. Golding uses characterization, symbolism and style of writing to show man’s inhumanity and evil towards one another.

    Read More

  • Lord of the Flies: Fear of the Unknown

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    On contrary from all the other boys on the island Simon, a Christ like figure in the novel, did not fear the ‘beastie’ or the unknown. “Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us” Simon explained. (p. 97) The fear of the unknown in the novel contributes to the boys’ terror of the beast, the beast is an imaginary figure which lays in all of the boys’ minds and haunts them. Golding uses the beast as a symbol of the evil that exists in every creature. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are the way they are?" The sow head announced to Simon to be the “lord of the flies”. The “lord of the flies” is a figure of the devil, and brings out all the evil and fear in people. It wants you to fear it, but if you don’t believe in the “lord of the flies” nothing can happen to you. Therefore Simon didn’t fall into the trap, but the beast killed him, meaning the other boys on the island did. Simon discovered that the beast is in fact just a dead parachute man before he died and ran down to tell the boys about his finding. When Sim...

    Read More

  • Inherent Good And Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.

    Read More

  • What Happens When The Prisoner Is Dragged Into The Darkness?

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    An allegory is defined as a complete story, which involves characters, and events that stand for an abstract idea or an event.

    Read More

  • Research Paper: Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows a story of boys who are trapped on an island, and must figure out how to survive. The story represents the fall of mankind, as symbolism is present throughout the entire novel. It is best seen through a historical perspective. Golding uses events from his own lifetime, the Operation Pied Paper, and Hitler’s ruling to compare it to the major events, the beginning of the story, and Jack’s personality.

    Read More

More about What Is An Allegory In Lord Of The Flies

Open Document