The Use of Symbols in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Use of Symbols in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

In lord of the flies Golding uses a lot of symbolism. The book is a

symbol in its self, it is an allegory, and it works on two levels. It

is written as a boy's adventure story but it also symbolises mankind

and its corrupt civilisation. The social historical context of the

book is based on Golding's personal experiences in the Second World

War. He was appalled by the concentration camps and disillusioned the

atomic bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Because of these Golding said "evil is not just over there it is here

aswell," This is also where he gets the pessimistic view that all

mankind are fundamentally evil

Golding uses the conch to symbolise many different things throughout

the novel. He uses it to symbolise an adult figure and authority,

whoever has the conch has the power to talk and say what they like. "I've

got the conch." This authority keeps the boys inline at the start of

the book, "we'll have rules." The only boys at first who fail to gain

power from the conch are Simon and the boy with the mulberry

birthmark, because they feel embarrassed and pressurised by the group.

It represents democracy, "he can hold the conch and he won't be

interrupted, except by me." With the equality of every boy everyone

can have a say in what is happening and they can decide together and

not just have one boy dictating and making all the decisions by

himself, so everything is fair. As well as representing democracy it

also represents power, whoever has it in their possession has the

power on the island. They can call all the boys whenever they want. It

also is powerful on a personal level, for example it gives Piggy power

that he wouldn't normally have, when jack interrupts him he is willing

to stand up for his democratic rights, "I got the conch!" However this

power applies only whilst they sill respect the conch and authority.