Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies and the novel’s symbolism

Lord of the flies is a thought-provoking novel authored by William Golding. This novel uses symbolism throughout its entirety to help portray importance and teach lessons. The book describes in detail the horrific exploits of a band of young children who make a striking transition from civilized to barbaric. Lord of the Flies commands a pessimistic outlook that seems to show that man is inherently tied to society, and without it, we would likely return to savagery. Golding does not come right out and show this however he uses symbolism to allow this idea to show. There are many different examples of symbolism in the Novel included are Piggy’s Glasses, the beast and fire. Perhaps the most symbolic of these is fire.

Throughout the novel fire served many, varied uses. Fire was used for warmth during the cold nights. It also created smoke, which served as a signal to potential rescuers. Perhaps the most basic, yet most important use for fire was for cooking. Without it the boys would not have been able to roast the pigs. The importance for fire was not at first understood by the boys. In Chapter Four the fire is out while a ship is spotted in the distance. If the fire was lit it could have been used to make smoke. In turn the smoke may have been used to signal the ship and save the boys. When questioned by Ralph, Jack and the others spew countless excuses to why the fire was...