Themes in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

Themes in William Golding's Lord of the Flies

Fear of a "beastie" on the island is first stemmed from a littlun with

a distinctive marking, a "mulberry-coloured birthmark" on his face,

who says the beast comes out at night and looks like a snake (this

reminds us of the devil who appears in Genesis in the form of a snake,

therefore we associate it with evil, even the fact that it was seen in

the dark helps us recognise that the beast is evil). Both Ralph and

Jack, thinking these to be simply childish nightmares, comfort

everyone that there is no beast. Although they try comforting

everyone, they do not have any evidence to confront the small boy and

so an element of doubt is introduced in their minds about the

existence of the beast, a doubt which will not be defeated easily

because no one can fight rational thinking.

We know that the beast doesn` t really exist, however in metaphoric

and symbolic terms, it exists inside all the boys, especially in Jack.

Golding is trying to show us that you can`t separate the evil inside

you from the evil outside, because evil is found everywhere.

* Government:

Ralph continues to establish a democratic political foundation by

using the conch as a symbol of authority, and the description of the

children sitting in organized sections during assembly is reflective

of a government meeting. Jack continues to support him offering his

choir to protect them against any beast; abiding by Ralph's rules, he

addresses the group only when he holds the conch in his hands.

* Intellectual:

After the boys allow a fire to burn uncontrolled across the island,

Piggy reprimands them with his voice of reason and rationality,

pointing out the need for having the area of the fire to be cleared of

debris so that it can be controlled. He recalls that one of them, the

"mulberry birthmark boy" is nowhere to be seen, suggesting that he has

perhaps died in the fire. Also it is a piece of Piggy, his glasses,