Internalized emotions are impossible to express when there is a lack of verbal communication. In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the symbolism of colors to give an insight into the boys’ hidden emotions associated with people, objects, and locations. The feelings are slowly petering on the island as a result of losing touch with reality and a lack of proper interaction. The main characters in the story, Ralph and Piggy, along with a group of many other boys survive a plane crash. They are exhilarated to be alive, but little do they know, their greatest struggle will be conductively battling the beast of emotions immured inside themselves. Overcoming a tragic and life-threatening event causes great trauma, and once the stress subsides, …show more content…
The first line of the book states “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon” (Golding 7). The symbolism of Ralph’s fair hair shows his innocence as perceived by Piggy. Their carefree attitude is reflected externally, and as of the moment, all emotions are clear. The colors at the beginning are all light, reflecting on the joyfulness of the moment. A few pages later, when the boys begin to observe the scenery of the island, the lagoon is described as “attacking them with a blinding effulgence” (Golding 14), almost as if the boys think of the lagoon as angelic and pure. It is a sign of hope that a rescue will come by water and that they will have plenty to drink. The first form break away from lighter …show more content…
The first sign of the boys becoming “red” occurs when they begin to feel hungry. They aren’t satisfied from just eating the fruit on the trees, and know they must hunt to fulfill their emptiness. They have seen many pigs and know that killing one is their only hope. To prepare for battle, Jack, the antagonist, insists that the boys should wear war paint. “Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from the right ear to the left jaw. He looked in the pool for his reflection… no longer at himself, but at an awesome stranger” (Golding 63). The symbolism of applying the white, red, and then black paints shows progression of painful emotions enclosing themselves within Jack, at first innocent, then causing harm, and finally changing him completely from white to black. The colored paints have manipulated him to believe that this new façade makes him a better person, and stronger for the group, but when in reality, they just “mask” his pain. Slowly all of the boys except Piggy, Simon, and Ralph start to turn savage as a result of being led by Jack’s untrue leadership. All of the frustration and pain that has been ignored to give the others hope, is slowly causing them to become emotionally delirious. The “final straw of savagery” occurs
Each group of young boys holds a significant meaning in our everyday life. firstly, Jack and his hunters represented the Nazi’s or a more current group, Donald Trump supporters because they are people who unfortunately fail to think before they proceed with an action. Secondly, the younger children are similar to the powerless citizens since they act like sheep and follow whoever is in command. Finally, the good boys who are Simon, Piggy and Ralph act like the rational people of the world who use their brain, facts and judgement. Sir William Golding produced an allegorical novel because behind every aspect in the novel a deeper meaning been yet to
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies there are many examples of symbolism. The conch shell represents order, the appearance of the boys represents savagery, and the fire on top of the mountain represents rescue. These examples are all symbols in the book.
The color yellow is often aligned with happiness and joy. However, the color yellow can also symbolize wisdom and logic, and being critical and judgmental. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph and the other boys had just survived the plane crash into the island. While Ralph explores the unknown territory, Piggy follows him. As Piggy tries to talk to Ralph, Ralph tried not to look “too obviously uninterested” (page 8). Ralph is only looking on the outside of the boy and automatically makes the connection of him being the annoying ‘fat boy’. Ralph calls him Piggy because back at home, the boy is known as ‘Piggy’ because he is fat. Later in The Lord of the Flies, Ralph realizes that he “can’t think, not like Piggy” (page 78). Ralph starts to realize the importance of Piggy–that he can think.
As Ralph is trying to hide from them overnight, he wonders, “Might it not be possible to walk boldly into the fort… pretend they were still boys, schoolboys who had said, ‘Sir, yes, sir’- and worn caps? Daylight might have answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no” (186). No matter how hard Ralph tries, he cannot discard his new knowledge of Jack and his tribe’s potential for evil and corruption. For a long time Ralph seems to be in denial; like many others, he seems to want to stay true to his belief in the overall goodness of the human heart. Ralph’s expectations for human kindness are finally challenged to the point of irreversibility when Jack attacks him and tries to pursue him on a vicious manhunt. When Ralph collapses on the beach and a naval officer arrives, “With filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, [and] the darkness of man’s heart...” (202). One might think it strange that rather than rejoicing over rescue, Ralph and the rest of the boys cry out in grief. The young schoolboys come to understand the enormity of human greed and evil, and unfortunately it is a lesson that they will not be able to ignore or forget. They witness and play a role in their own loss of innocence, and the time they spend on the island teaches them what
His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (Golding, 290).
Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Fear has the power to control, twist and break the ways of the human mind. The body, and mind are tricked and we find ourselves confused and fighting to piece together a troubling puzzle of straying emotions. Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, projecting that fear knows no bounds and is a great power. Fear and power go hand in hand, without fear there is no power, a teacher has no power over a student if the student is not afraid of the consequences of stepping out of line.
Although there are many interpretations of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, one of the most important is one that involves an examination of Freudian ideas. The main characters personify Sigmund Freud’s theory of the divisions of the human mind; thus, Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon are metaphors for the id, ego, and the super-ego of Freudian psychology, respectively. The inclusion of psychological concepts in this literary work distinguish it as a commentary on human nature, beyond labels of “adventure” or “coming of age” novel. Many readers are left in shock upon reading Golding’s masterpiece because of the children’s loss of innocence, but most fail to consider
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stranded on the island come in contact with many unique elements that symbolize ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the beast, the pig's head, and even Piggy's specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when liberated from society's rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for evil to dominate their existence.
Symbolism is defined as the representation; treatment or interpretation of things as symbolic. In society and in particular, literature, symbolism is a prominent component that helps to illustrate a deeper meaning then perceived by the reader. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place or thing, used to portray something beyond itself. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. In William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies symbolism of the main characters Ralph, Jack and Simon plays a very important role in helping to show how our society functions and the different types of personalities that exist. An examination of Simon as a symbol of good, Ralph as a symbol of the common man, and Jack as a symbol of evil, clearly illustrates that William Golding uses characters as a symbol of what is really happening in the outside world throughout the novel.
In the book The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, there's a World War 2 allegory ,and here are some reasons why I believe that. All the characters in this book resemble a person for the war, for example Jack the antagonist resembles hitler. And the story can relate to the war in many ways here's some examples.
The boys spark the onset of tragedy when the pig hunt evolves as more than just an activity. Jack and his band of hunters love the thrill of the chase. They spend much of their day searching the pig runs enjoying the brutality they cause on other living beings. This amusement is taken too far when Jack introduces face paint into the game. The face paint takes away the identities of the boys and transforms them into nameless savages. They hide behind the paint “liberated from shame and self-consciousness” (Golding 64). Jack’s mask overpowers the rest of the boys and they go off to hunt despite some discontent. Eventually, the painted warriors ready a fortress at one end of the island.
Whenever someone is wearing a mask or has a painted face, evil is at large. The very purpose of a mask is for hiding. The boys use the masks to hide their lust for blood, killing, and death from their consciences. When going to hunt for the first time, "Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding page #) because he knew that his manner of hunting was evil and would only lead to lascivious killing. While describing that hunt to the boys, Jack was "twitching" and "shuddering" as he talked. He knew it was wrong. Eventually all the savages hid behind their masks when their lust for killing climaxes on the manhunt for Ralph. Throughout the story, all hunting, killing, and shedding of blood was done while the boys faces were hidden by masks.
Sigmund Freud’s theory on the components of the human mind has been around for over a century, and although not used much anymore, Psychoanalysis is a useful tool for decoding many pieces of literature. In this case, Freud’s theory is especially useful in finding an allegory for William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. For the most part, the Psychoanalysis theory is used in terms of the three components of the mind; the Id, the Ego and the Superego. However, Lord of the Flies is an allegorical interpretation for Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis theory in regards to the plot events as oppose to the characters. This is proven by specific plot events such as the crash on to the island, the murder of both Piggy and Simon, and the rescue from the island.
With the use of words the author also creates the novel's own private symbols that are key to the tone. The conch comes to symbolize authority, democracy and order. Upon the mentioning Piggy's glasses, images of insight and reason come to mind. With this highly connotative language, Golding creates many contrasts as well to convey his underlying theme. He compares the dazzling beach's "pink granite" [Page 12], green feathered palm trees and endless sand [Page 10] to the "darkness of the forest", full of "broken trunks", "cables of creepers" [page 28], and dense vegetation. He also compares the day's "torrid sun" [Page 176] to the night which makes everything as "dim and strange as the bottom of the sea" [Page 62]. The lagoon's security and the dangerous open sea are also contrasted when Golding qualifies them as "still as a mountain lake" [Page 10], "dark blue" [Page 31] and "deep sea" [page 62]. Golding also uses dark and inherently bad words such as "dark", "Jack", "broken", "torrid", "coarse" and "splintered" to describe sinister things and euphonious words such as "feathers", "glittering fish" and "Ralph" to describe more peaceful things.
Imagine a group of young boys who have just crash-landed on a deserted tropical island with no adults or supervision. William Golding showed in his ground breaking novel Lord of the Flies, what may happen in just those circumstances. In his very complicated and diverse novel Golding brings out many ideas and uses many literary devices. Above all others though comes symbolism of three main important objects being the conch, fire, and "Piggy's" eyeglasses. Through each of these three symbols Golding shows how the boys adapt and change throughout the novel. These symbols also help to show each of the boy's ideals on a variety of elements from human nature to society and its controls. All three of these symbols also change and are one of the most important elements of the story.