What Does The Pink Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of school-age boys' crash land on a deserted island. By themselves. The island appears as paradise upon their first arrival, until the horrors of the island and human nature is unveiled. As the boys' regress to man's state of nature, the island implies the dual-nature of humanity. The island's paradise imagery conceals a darker nature which alludes to the allegorical reflection of humanity's dual-nature of evil which is masked by a good facade. The imagery on the island is contradicted by the symbolism of the butterfly, alluding to a deeper-nature. Golding describes a cavern on the mountain as “filled with a blue flower, a rock plant of some sort, and the overflow hung down the vent and spilled

Golding states, “The most usual feature of the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block; and that again surmounted, and that again, till the pinkness became a stack of balanced rock projecting through the looped fantasy of the forest creepers” (26). The color pink is a symbol for goodness throughout the novel. Pink is used to describe the conch, the symbol for order and democracy. The conch is the connection of the boys to civilization, the device that establishes democracy as order. Order is a quality of maturity and The rocks projecting out of the earth are also described as pink. The color is used to describe the rocks to cover up the evils that hide beneath the surface of the island. Pink is a pretty disguise, meant to give the allusion of goodness. However, later in the novel “The breeze hauled the figure through the blue flowers, over the boulders and red stones, till it lay huddled among the shattered rocks of the mountaintop”(96). As we see the true horror of the island, pink is no longer used. The dead parachutist is a sign from the grown-up world, except he is dead. His death signifies the boys' loss of civility. The island around the boys is reflecting their isolation from civilization, and descent into savagery. Pink is not describing the rocks, instead red is used. Red is an extreme color symbolizing violence, demonstrating the island true colors. The island is no

Golding states,” On the other side of the island, swathed at midday with mirage, defended by the shield of the quiet lagoon, one might dream of rescue; but here, faced by the brute obtuseness of the ocean, the miles of division, one was clamped down, one was hopeless, one was condemned, one was-“(111). The very beginning of the novel focuses on the paradise, and promising beginning to a new life on the island. However, first impressions can be deceiving, and often are duplicitous. On one side of the island, hidden beneath a pink mirage is the truth. On the other side, the duplicity evident, revealing the nature of humanity and the island. Without the mirage, the truth is clear. The duplicity on the island is an allegory of the duplicity within human beings. The island attempts to conceal its secrets with a paradise facade, just as humans use societal norms to create mannered, and respectful people. Etiquette is a social construct to hide the evil-nature of humans. The duplicity on the island reflects the dual-nature of