Lord of The Flies

WARNING SPOILERS for Lord of the Flies

WARNING: Spoilers for Lord of the flies.

We begin our existence in pristine bliss; adventurous and excited to brave the world head on. But as problems arise and panic and fear set in a reversion to savagery is what befalls those without the guiding hand of civilization. This is the fate of the boys on the Island, even though they start out innocent and optimistic about the situation they slowly descend into madness. The events orchestrated to achieve this idea are eloquently written by William Golding. By incorporating common concepts of law, order and democracy we see how the intellectual mind can erode back into a numbing beast if left alone from the hustle and bustle of civilization.

At the beginning of the book Golding has the boys gather on a beach. This represents the childlike innocence of the boys and its calm setting is a drastic change from the dark and dangerous forest. The conch is the guiding light in this blissful ignorance and brings the boys together in the mission to keep their sanity. By shedding his clothes and the snake-clasp of his belt Ralph believes that the shackles of society are broken and the serpent of evil in society is purged from his soul. But just like Eden Ralph is not free from his own humanity nor is any other boy on the island. The jagged rocks that stud the island are a representation of the blemishes that society tries to hide preferring to show the peaceful side of the human heart than the dark forest of evil. Interesting enough no girls exist on the island. Removing the romantic aspect of survival Golding affirms his desires to tell the tale of the decay of rational thought.

As the boys enjoy their freedom they decide to explore the forest. The forest and the monster that lives inside it represent the darkness in people’s hearts and they are fearful of what they find. They come face to face with the monster and at first run in fear of its sight. After some time though they learn to live with this darkness, grow by it , offer it sacrifice and are eventually consumed by it. Ralph and Piggy escape the temptation of this darkness and instead focus their efforts on returning to civilization.

Ralph realizing the situation calls for democracy to be put in place and to focus on returning to being one with society. Piggy tries to assist and demands that order be kept. Piggy represents the intelligent mind of humans and his fat and helpless attitude inhibit him from exercising power over the savagery and totalitarianism of Jack. Possession of the conch continues to be wrenched away from him; his glasses then break which symbolize the erosion of intelligent thinking in the face of true human nature. Piggy’s death and the destruction of the conch utterly symbolize the destruction of order and rational thinking and marks the period where the boys return to their primal roots of hunting for food and animalistic behavior.

This book operates on several different levels other than boys on an island. In terms of psychology Ralph is rational thinking looking forward on what they can do to better themselves and their new society. Jack is primal drive always looking to satisfy the urge to spill blood and purge the land of its beauty and Piggy is an aim at perfection; his cries of wanting to go home and concepts of right and wrong have him clamoring for society to return. In terms of a political view Jack is totalitarianism with his tribal society and him wanting to assert his power. Ralph is the voice of democracy wishing for all to participate in ensuring their survival and speedy return to civilization.

Golding‘s layers and layers of character development throughout the story and insight on the nature of the human mind portray and accurate depiction of human life without the luxuries of authority and social structure. The layers of symbolism help tell not just the story of stranded boys but of the human heart whose forests of evil cannot be destroyed by fire or the influence of society. In the end humans are evil to the core, and our true natures are hidden from even ourselves until they have the chance to be let free.

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