Symbols In Lord Of The Flies

"Life […] is scientific, that's what it is. In a year or two when the world is over they'll be traveling to Mars and back. I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that I mean—but I know there isn't no fear either” (Golding 88). In The Lord of the Flies a group of young boys is stranded alone on an island for what feels like forever. They turn to violence during this hardship. The boys are greatly afraid of the unknown and do not want this fear to be exposed. So instead, they assign this feeling of fear a name, “the beast”. This novel was published Sep. 17th 1954 in Salisbury England, and is about a loss of innocence. In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows change in the boys effectively by using the conch as a symbol of

“Piggy’s specs! If the fires all out, we need them […] was it better to fetch Piggy’s glasses or would the ship already have gone” (69)? The glasses symbolize an attachment to civilization that they are missing because we usually associate fire with our homes or normal society. Piggy cannot normally contribute to the group because of his asthma and his weight but the boys using his glasses gives him a chance to help them be rescued.” From his left hand dangled piggy’s broken glasses” (168). When Jack takes Piggy’s glasses this makes him very vulnerable to the boys, he’s practically blind without them. Piggy knows things the other boys don’t because seeing is his greatest attribute and without his glasses he is useless.

Throughout The Lord of the Flies, loss of innocence, defeat, and the fear of the unknown are majorly portrayed in this novel. The three main symbols, the conch, Piggy’s glasses, and the fire play a huge role because without them the boys would not have been rescued or even had law and order in their group. The symbols that are seen in The Lord of the Flies show us unity, destruction and innovation. The boys show us that without rules and civilianization we could all stray away from our