lord of the flies literary analysis essay

Lord of the Flies

Introduction lord of the flies, summary of lord of the flies, major themes in lord of the flies,  major characters in lord of the flies, writing style of lord of the flies ‎, analysis of literary devices in lord of the flies, related posts:, post navigation.

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Lord of the Flies

William golding.

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Golding's Lord of the Flies . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Lord of the Flies: Introduction

Lord of the flies: plot summary, lord of the flies: detailed summary & analysis, lord of the flies: themes, lord of the flies: quotes, lord of the flies: characters, lord of the flies: symbols, lord of the flies: literary devices, lord of the flies: theme wheel, brief biography of william golding.

Historical Context of Lord of the Flies

Other books related to lord of the flies.

• Full Title: Lord of the Flies
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1954
• Literary Period: Post-war fiction
• Genre: Allegorical novel / Adventure novel
• Setting: A deserted tropical island in the middle of a nuclear world war
• Climax: Piggy's death
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Lord of the Flies

Beelzebub. The phrase "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Greek "Beelzebub," a devil mentioned in the New Testament. In the Bible, Beelzebub sometimes seems to be Satan himself, and at other times seems to be Satan's most powerful lieutenant.

Coral Island. William Golding based several of the main ideas in Lord of the Flies on Coral Island (1858), a somewhat obscure novel by Robert Ballantyne, a 19th-century British novelist. In Coral Island , three English boys create an idyllic society after being shipwrecked on a deserted island. They battle wild hogs, typhoons, hostile island visitors, and eventually Pirates on the South Seas.

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A Summary and Analysis of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Lord of the Flies was first published in 1954, although it very nearly wasn’t published at all. Its author, William Golding, was a struggling grammar-school teacher when he wrote it, having been given the germ of the idea by his wife, Ann.

The novel’s title is a reference to Beelzebub, a name for the Devil, which means literally ‘lord of the flies’ (at least in most translations ). Given the fact that power, devilry, and, yes, flies are all central aspects of Lord of the Flies , the title is especially apt.

Golding (nicknamed ‘Scruff’ by his pupils) struggled to get the novel accepted by numerous publishers before Faber and Faber took it on. However, even there it was initially rejected (the initial reader at Faber dismissed it as ‘absurd and uninteresting fantasy’ and ‘rubbish and dull’) until a young editor, Charles Monteith, saw potential in the manuscript and got it accepted. It still sells tens of thousands of copies every year.

But how should we interpret this tale of post-apocalyptic barbarism? Before we offer an analysis of Golding’s novel, here’s a brief reminder of the plot.

Lord of the Flies : plot summary

The novel begins with a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys being shot down; the boys land on a desert island. Two of them, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch shell on the beach, and they use it to signal to the rest of the schoolboys, who then start to form their own ‘society’, with a leader elected among them.

Ralph is named the leader while Jack is his sort of second-in-command, in charge of finding food on the island.

After they start a fire to try to signal for help, they accidentally burn down a large part of the nearby forest, killing one boy. When a ship does sail past, it doesn’t stop to rescue the boys because Jack’s band of hunters have carelessly allowed the signal-fire to go out.

Jack and his gang have managed to hunt and kill a pig for them to eat. Things start to get out of hand, and some of the younger boys in particular are terrified that some sea-monster will come and kill them.

When a parachutist – part of a team of fighter-pilots flying overhead – lands on the island, several of the boys think his flapping parachute is the wings of the mysterious island ‘beast’, and they run away, terrified, and spreading fear to the other boys, who organise a hunting trip to try to catch the beast.

Jack and Ralph fall out, with Jack trying to oust the more senior boy from the position of leader – a move that the rest of the boys resist. Jack stomps off with his hunting band, and many of the other boys subsequently desert Ralph’s ‘side’ for Jack.

Jack, emboldened by his new supporters, ritually sacrifices a pig, which is decapitated, its head placed on a stick. Simon sees it, and thinks it’s talking to him: some devil-like figure known as ‘Lord of the Flies’. When Simon returns to the others, they set upon him and kill him, not realising who he is. Jack and his hunters run off with Piggy’s glasses. Jack and Ralph fight, and Piggy is killed with a rock.

Jack and the others hunt Ralph, who flees, only to be rescued by a British sailor who was on board a ship that spotted the fire raging on the island and came ashore. The other boys turn up, and when the officer confronts them over their appearance, they all break down in tears.

Lord of the Flies : analysis

Golding conceived Lord of the Flies as a sort of dark counterpart, or response, to the classic Victorian boys’ adventure novel, The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, in which three boys are marooned on a Pacific island.

But whereas in Ballantyne’s 1857 novel the stranded children encounter evil as an exterior force on the island, Golding inverted this: he shows us, unsettlingly, that evil is always lurking within ourselves, and is only ever just beneath the surface in so-called ‘ordinary’ or ‘civilised’ people.

Golding’s working title for his novel, Strangers from Within , makes it clear that the devil – that ‘Lord of the Flies’ – is within us, all of us, rather than outside, elsewhere.

But although Golding’s novel is often viewed as a dystopian tale about ‘human nature’ and how, in times of desperation and disaster, certain people will seize power and others will be the victims of their oppressive control, Lord of the Flies actually has its roots in something more specific than this: the British class system.

The three principal characters of the novel – Ralph, Piggy, and Jack – represent the three main classes in England, much as the famous class sketch from The Frost Report captured in a sketch just over a decade after Golding’s novel appeared.

As John Sutherland argues in his discussion of Lord of the Flies in How to be Well Read: A guide to 500 great novels and a handful of literary curiosities , Ralph is a grammar-school boy, Piggy the product of a working-class ‘tech’ school (a short-lived post-war phenomenon), and Jack the privileged public school boy.

Ralph, therefore, is riddled with self-doubt about his middling position in English society: the Jacks of the world are above him and the Piggies below him. Jack has all of the confidence of someone born into privilege and with an almost innate sense of their right to lord it over everyone else.

The message of Lord of the Flies , then, is that if you remove these schoolchildren from Britain, the British class system will still reassert itself as they construct their own stratified ‘society’. The island on which the boys are stranded becomes like the island of Great Britain which they left.

Piggy, however, is working-class. As Sutherland argues, his use of phrases like ‘the runs’ instead of, say, ‘an upset tummy’ are subtle ways in which Golding, without hammering home Piggy’s origins, reveal his status to the reader. He was always destined to be the scapegoat because the English class system dictated it. Coupled with his physical or evolutionary disadvantage (his extreme myopia and reliance on glasses) and he was doomed from the start.

The British class system, then, informs the novel, making it a peculiarly British dissection of power structures. According to Sutherland, Golding – himself a teacher at the sort of grammar school which produced the decent and honourable Ralph – once said that he would happily blow up every public school in England, and Lord of the Flies shows how it is the Jack Merridews produced by the English public school system which are the most capable of wreaking destructive power over others.

But it’s also true that Lord of the Flies bears the influence of another important experience in Golding’s life: his experience in the Second World War fighting in the Royal Navy, which showed him first-hand how ordinary men could become capable of performing acts of great evil.

Of course, the horrors of Nazi Germany were also an important source for Golding’s depiction of evil, especially the way the other boys merrily join Jack’s command.

Along with its searing commentary on the inherent evils of the British class system, Lord of the Flies is a powerful narrative about how fear is all it takes to persuade many ‘normal’, ‘decent’ people to behave horrifically.

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2 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies”

We “did” this at school. I don’t know why they thought a book about badly-behaved boys would interest a class of girls!

Badly behaved boys always should interest girls

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Themes and Analysis

Lord of the flies, by william golding.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a powerful novel. It's filled with interesting themes, thoughtful symbols, and a particular style of writing that has made it a classic of British literature.

Article written by Lee-James Bovey

P.G.C.E degree.

Several key themes are prevalent throughout the book. It is sometimes referred to as a “book of ideas” and these ideas are explored as the plot unfolds.

Lord of the Flies Themes

The impact of humankind on nature.

This is evident from the first chapter when the plane crashing leaves what Golding describes as a “scar” across the island. This idea is explored further in the early chapters the boys light a fire that escapes their control and yet further diminishes what might be considered an unspoiled island. Some interpret the island almost as a Garden of Eden with the children giving in to temptation by slaughtering the animals there. The final chapter furthers the destruction of nature by mankind as the whole island appears to have been ruined thanks to the effects of the boy’s presence on the island.

Civilization versus savagery

This can be seen throughout as the boys struggle with being removed from organized society. To begin with, they cope well. They construct a form of government represented by the conch that theoretically draws them together and gives them all a voice. As they break away from society this adherence to the rules they have constructed is evident. Golding’s ideas of what savagery is might be outdated and rooted in colonial stereotypes but they are evident for all to see as the boys use masks to dehumanize themselves and their increasing obsession with hunting leads to an increasingly animalistic nature.

Nature of humanity

Perhaps the biggest underlying theme is the idea of the true nature of mankind. Golding explores the idea that mankind is innately evil and that it is only the contrast between society and civilization that prevents that nature from being prevalent. Of course, this overlooks that civilization is a human construct and if all men’s biggest motivation were their inner evil, then that construct would never have existed. Golding’s views largely spring from his role in the navy where he was witness to the atrocities of war but are also informed by his work as a teacher.

Analysis of Key Moments in Lord of the Flies

There are many key moments in ‘ Lord of the Flies ‘ that highlight the boy’s descent into savagery.

• Blowing the conch – this introduces us to the conch which acts as a symbol of society and civilization throughout the novel. It is both the device that brings the children together and in theory the object which allows them all to have a say and therefore run a democratic society.
• The fire gets out of control – This shows the effects that the boys are already having on the island. It also demonstrates how lost the boys are without adults there to guide them as they lose one of the boys and nobody even knows his name.
• Jack fails to kill the pig/Roger throws stones – both of these events show how the boys are currently constrained by the expectations of society. We see as time passes these restraints are lifted and that firstly, Jack can kill a pig and finally, and perhaps more dramatically, Roger is not only okay with hitting somebody with a stone but taking their life with one.
• The hunters put on masks – By covering up their faces, they seem to become free from the constraints of society. It is if it liberates them from humanity and allows them to act on more primal, animalistic urges.
• Sam and Eric find “the beast” – When Sam and Eric feel they have discovered the beast it sets a ripple of panic throughout. This fear sways the boys towards Jack’s leadership as he continues to manipulate the situation to his advantage. If not for this then Simon might never be murdered.
• Creating of the Lord of the Flies – Successfully killing the pig is itself an iconic moment but then leaving a pigs head on a pole is both a gruesome image (one worthy of the book’s title) and also plays a pivotal role in Simon’s story arc.
• Simon’s death – Simon is the one character who never seems to succumb to primal urges and therefore his death if looked at symbolically could be seen as the death of hope for boys.
• Piggy’s death – Piggy’s character represents order and reason. With his death, any chance of resolving the issues between Jack and Ralph vanishes. The conch being smashed at the same time is also symbolic and represents the complete destruction of society.
• The rescue – This is not the happy ending that one might expect with all the boys crying due to their loss of innocence. There is an irony as well as the boys will not be rescued and taken to a Utopia but rather to a civilization plagued by a war that mirrors the war zone they have just left.

Style, Literary Devices, and Tone in Lord of the Flies

Throughout this novel, Golding’s style is straightforward and easy to read. There are no lengthy passages nor does he choose particularly poetic words to describe the events. His writing is powerful without these stylistic devices. The same can be said for his use of literary devices. When used, they are direct. For example, the use of symbolism (see below) and metaphor is very thoughtful but not hard to interpret.

William Golding also employs an aloof or distant tone throughout the book. This reflects the way that the boys treat one another.

Symbols in Lord of the Flies

The conch shell.

The conch shell is one of the major symbols of this novel. It’s used from the beginning of the novel to call the boys together for meetings on the beach. It’s a symbol of civilization and government. But, as the boys lose touch with their civilized sides, the conch shell is discarded.

The Signal Fire

The signal fire is a very important symbol in the novel. It’s first lit on the mountain and then later on the beach with the intent of attracting the attention of passion ships. The fire is maintained diligently at first but as the book progresses and the boys slip farther from civilization, their concentration on the fire wanes. They eventually lose their desire to be rescued. Therefore, as one is making their way through the book, gauging the boys’ concentration on the fire is a great way to understand how “civilized” they are.

The beast is an imaginary creature who frightens the boys. It stands in for their savage instincts and is eventually revealed to be a personification of their dark impulses. It’s only through the boy’s behaviour that the beast exists at all.

What are three themes in Lord of the Flies ?

Three themes in ‘ Lord of the Flies ‘ are civilization vs. savagery, the impact of humankind on nature, and the nature of humanity.

What is the main message of the Lord of the Flies ?

The main message is that if left without rules, society devolves and loses its grasp on what is the morally right thing to do. this is even the case with kids.

How does Ralph lose his innocence in Lord of the Flies ?

He loses his innocence when he witnesses the deaths of Simon and Piggy. These losses in addition to the broader darkness of the island change him.

Lord of the Flies Quiz

Test your understanding of human nature and survival with our " Lord of the Flies " Trivia Quiz! Do you have the insight and knowledge to navigate the complex dynamics and symbolism of William Golding's masterpiece? Accept the challenge now and prove your mastery over the gripping and thought-provoking world of " Lord of the Flies "!

1) What does the "Lord of the Flies" symbolize?

2) What happens to the conch shell?

3) Who is the last boy to remain loyal to Ralph?

4) Who is elected leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel?

5) How does the naval officer react when he sees the boys?

6) What is the main source of conflict between Ralph and Jack?

7) What do the boys call the younger children on the island?

8) Who is the author of "Lord of the Flies"?

9) What is the "Lord of the Flies"?

10) What does Ralph cry for at the end of the novel?

11) What do the boys chant during their tribal rituals?

12) What is Ralph's main concern throughout the novel?

13) Who is the first boy to suggest the existence of a "beast" on the island?

14) What happens to the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark?

15) Who discovers the true nature of the "beast"?

16) What tragic event occurs when the boys reenact the hunt?

17) How does Piggy die?

18) What event causes the boys to be stranded on the island?

19) How are the boys finally rescued?

20) What role does Roger play in the novel?

21) What do the boys use to start a fire?

22) What is the significance of the beast in the novel?

23) What does the face paint symbolize for Jack's tribe?

24) What object is used to symbolize authority and order?

25) What is Jack's main priority on the island?

26) Why do Jack and his hunters attack Ralph's camp?

27) Who is responsible for maintaining the signal fire?

28) What theme does "Lord of the Flies" primarily explore?

29) Who leads the boys in the brutal killing of Simon?

30) Which character represents the voice of reason and intelligence?

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About Lee-James Bovey

Lee-James, a.k.a. LJ, has been a Book Analysis team member since it was first created. During the day, he's an English Teacher. During the night, he provides in-depth analysis and summary of books.

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“Lord of the flies”, literary analysis of the novel by William Golding

Philosophical novel-parable “Lord of the flies” by William Golding has first seen the light of day in 1954. At first, many publishers did not want to accept the manuscript by an unknown author, but, after the novel had been printed, it immediately caught the attention of readers and critics alike. Simple plot, realistic images of children, psychologically precise background of character actions and exotic place of action have merged in “Lord of the flies” into a terrifying dystopia that depicts the “brutality” of man.

During the twentieth century, the majority of literature scientists viewed “Lord of the flies” as a warning, a depiction of what could be the result of following Nazism and fascism ideologies. However, political part of the work is just one of historical circumstances, while the meaning of the novel is much more vast and universal. In his novel, Golding shows not concrete ideas that belong to a particular period, but rather timeless human nature – sinful, terrifying, and willing to commit the worst of crimes without the constraints of a positive influence.

The beginning of the novel is a moment of meeting of two boys, Ralph and Piggy. Boys, who`ve met after a plane crash, are trying to understand what has happened to them and to start looking for a solution for their problem. British boys (children, aged 5 to 6 years, and teens, aged 10 to 13 years), gathered by a horn call of a conch, at first try to preserve culture and civilization of their home county on the island.

The boys lay down the rules, the most important of which is the constant upkeep of the smoking bonfire. Fire in “Lord of the flies” becomes the symbol of life; it serves as a hope for survival, children use it to warm themselves and chase the night scares away. Children build tents for protection from rain; there is a designated place for a privy. Older boys help the little ones to reach high hanging fruits. The life on the island goes almost perfectly: 12 years-old Ralph perceives the new world without adults as a fairytale, where everything is fine. Other children, at first, relate to what happened to them as a game: the little ones build sand castles on the seashore and former choirboys, led by Jack Merridew, become hunters.

The first blood changes everything. When Jack realizes he is capable of killing a piglet, hunting becomes a lifestyle rather than amusement. Following their leader, former choirboys change beyond recognition: they paint their faces with bloodthirsty masks and surrender themselves fully to the bloodlust. The feeling of self-importance and power outshine everything – including desire to return to a human world. At first, hunters abandon the bonfire, and then completely turn into the wild tribe lead by a Chief, whose orders are followed unquestionably. New civilization, drunk with overindulgence, consumed by the overwhelming fear of the unknown Beast, decides to pacify it with a terrifying boon – a severed pig`s head on a stick. When the head becomes rotten, flies gather around it, turning the previously grisly item into materialized image of Evil.

The image of The Beast in the novel refers to the image of The Devil (“lord of the flies” translates from Hebraic as Beelzebub). The Beast firstly appears in the nightmares of the kids, who see it as a snake hanging on trees. Optimistic Ralph considers Beast a fiction,     Piggy denies its existence, basing it on a scientific knowledge of the world, and the rest of the boys are secretly afraid what could kill them, not knowing that they should be afraid of, firstly, themselves. This knowledge is revealed to only one boy – the weakest and, consequently, the smartest – constantly falling unconscious Simon. While facing the pigs head, he starts talking to it in his mind, where he receives the clear answer that The Beast is an inseparable part of him.

The ultimate Beast consists of the sum of little beasts. These beasts are what becomes of the hunters, who began with killing pigs and ended with killing their kin. At first, the hunt is disguised as a game: one boy portrays a pig and the rest of the boys “pretend to hunt and kill “it”. Then brutal instincts of once civilized kids reveal themselves and the murder is committed for real.

Ralph, Piggy and twins Eric and Sam, who become unconscious witnesses and, perhaps, accomplices, of the murder of Simon, are so shocked by the event, that they try to pretend it did not happen. Nobody of the boys wants to remember the “dance”, but when it becomes unavoidable, everyone decides to support the version that what happened to Simon was a tragic accident. The following murder of Piggy, that happens in the light of day, and the manhunt for Ralph serve as a culmination of the novel. Now finally gone mad, the children unleash their inner Beast and stop only in front of a more formidable, creative force – an English officer, who landed the island. He becomes the image of the higher divine force, who ended all the conflicts in a moment and with his presence alone defeated the Devil.

Literary images of the boys correlate to a concrete human origin: Ralph is kind, cultured, striving for order, not afraid of responsibility; Piggy is a tongue-tied, smart, able to reason inventor; Simon – weak philosopher – individualist; Jack is a dictator, hungry for power; Roger – an adulatory servant and a cruel sadist; twins Eric and Sam – simple people, going with the stream, who sympathize good but bow before brute force; the little ones are not yet full personalities, who did not yet choose between good and evil, but who can feel the latter intuitively.

An uninhabited island in “Lord of the Flies” becomes symbolic portrayal of the Earth, where civilizations are created (community of Ralph and Piggy) and destroyed (Jack`s tribe), new nations form (separation of the boys on two camps), diplomatic relationships start (Ralph – Jack), wars occur (Jack, Morris and Roger attach Ralph and Piggy) and new religious beliefs are formed (worship of “The Lord of the Flies”).

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'Lord of the Flies' Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices

• B.A., English, Rutgers University

Lord of the Flies , William Golding's tale of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island, is nightmarish and brutal. Through its exploration of themes including good versus evil, illusion versus reality, and chaos versus order, Lord of the Flies raises powerful questions about the nature of humankind.

Good vs. Evil

The central theme of Lord of the Flies is human nature: are we naturally good, naturally evil, or something else entirely? This question runs through the entire novel from beginning to end.

When the boys gather on the beach for the first time, summoned by the sound of the conch, they have not yet internalized the fact that they are now outside the normal bounds of civilization. Notably, one boy, Roger, remembers throwing stones at younger boys but deliberately missing his targets for fear of retribution by adults. The boys decide to set up a democratic society in order to maintain order. They elect Ralph as their leader and create a crude mechanism for discussion and debate, designating that anyone who holds the conch has the right to be heard. They build shelters and show concern for the youngest among them. They also play make believe and other games, exulting in their freedom from chores and rules.

Golding seems to suggest that the democratic society they create is simply another game. The rules are only as effective as their enthusiasm for the game itself. It is notable that at the beginning of the novel, all the boys assume rescue is imminent, and thus that the rules they're accustomed to following will soon be reimposed. As they come to believe that they will not be returned to civilization anytime soon, the boys abandon their game of democratic society, and their behavior becomes increasingly fearful, savage, superstitious, and violent.

Golding’s question is perhaps not whether humans are inherently good or evil, but rather whether these concepts have any true meaning. While it is tempting to see Ralph and Piggy as ‛good’ and Jack and his hunters as ‛evil,’ the truth is more complex. Without Jack’s hunters, the boys would have suffered hunger and deprivation. Ralph, the believer in rules, lacks authority and the ability to enforce his rules, leading to disaster. Jack’s rage and violence leads to the destruction of the world. Piggy’s knowledge and book learning are proven as to be meaningless as his technology, represented by the fire-starting glasses, when they fall into the hands of boys who do not understand them.

All of these issues are mirrored subtly by the war that frames the story. Although only vaguely described, it is clear that the adults outside the island are engaged in a conflict, inviting comparisons and forcing us to consider whether the difference is merely a matter of scale.

Illusion vs. Reality

The nature of reality is explored in several ways in the novel. On the one hand, appearances seem to doom the boys to certain roles—most notably Piggy. Piggy initially expresses the dim hope that he can escape the abuse and bullying of his past through his alliance with Ralph and his usefulness as a well-read child. However, he quickly falls back into the role of the bullied ‛nerd’ and becomes reliant on Ralph’s protection.

On the other hand, many aspects of the island are not clearly perceived by the boys. Their belief in The Beast stems from their own imaginations and fears, but it quickly takes on what seems to the boys to be a physical form. In this way, The Beast becomes very real to the boys. As the belief in The Beast grows, Jack and his hunters descend into savagery. They paint their faces, changing their appearance in order to project a fearsome and frightening visage that belies their true childish nature.

More subtly, what seemed real in the beginning of the book—Ralph’s authority, the power of the conch, the assumption of rescue—slowly erodes over the course of the story, revealed to be nothing more than the rules of an imaginary game. In the end, Ralph is alone, there is no tribe, the conch is destroyed (and Piggy murdered) in the ultimate refutation of its power, and the boys abandon the signal fires, making no effort to prepare for or attract rescue.

At the terrifying climax, Ralph is hunted through the island as everything burns—and then, in a final twist of reality, this descent into horror is revealed to be unreal. Upon discovering they have in fact been rescued, the surviving boys immediately collapse and burst into tears.

Order vs. Chaos

The civilized and reasonable behavior of the boys at the beginning of the novel is predicated on the expected return of an ultimate authority: adult rescuers. When the boys lose faith in the possibility of rescue, their orderly society collapses. In a similar way, the morality of the adult world is governed by a criminal justice system, armed forces, and spiritual codes. If these controlling factors were to be removed, the novel implies, society would quickly collapse into chaos.

Everything in the story is reduced to its power or lack thereof. Piggy’s glasses can start fires, and thus are coveted and fought over. The conch, which symbolizes order and rules, can challenge raw physical power, and so it is destroyed. Jack’s hunters can feed hungry mouths, and thus they have an outsize influence over the other boys, who quickly do as they are told despite their misgivings. Only the return of adults at the end of the novel changes this equation, bringing a more powerful force to the island and instantly reimposing the old rules.

On a superficial level, the novel tells a story of survival in a realistic style. The process of building shelters, gathering food, and seeking rescue are recorded with a high level of detail. However, Golding develops several symbols throughout the story that slowly take on increasing weight and power in the story.

The Conch comes to represent reason and order. In the beginning of the novel, it has the power to quiet the boys and force them to listen to wisdom. As more boys defect to Jack’s chaotic, fascist tribe, the Conch's color fades. In the end, Piggy—the only boy who still has faith in the Conch—is killed trying to protect it.

The Pig’s Head

The Lord of the Flies, as described by a hallucinating Simon, is a pig’s head on a spike being consumed by flies. The Lord of the Flies is a symbol of the increasing savagery of the boys, on display for all to see.

Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon

Each of the boys represent fundamental natures. Ralph represents order. Piggy represents knowledge. Jack represents violence. Simon represents good, and is in fact the only truly selfless boy on the island, which makes his death at the hands of Ralph and the other supposedly civilized boys shocking.

Piggy’s Glasses

Piggy’s glasses are designed to provide clear vision, but they are transformed into a tool to make fire. The glasses serve as a symbol of control more powerful than the Conch. The Conch is purely symbolic, representing rules and order, while the glasses convey true physical power.

The beast represents the unconscious, ignorant terror of the boys. As Simon thinks, "The beast is the boys." It did not exist on the island before their arrival.

Literary Device: Allegory

Lord of the Flies is written in a straightforward style. Golding eschews complex literary devices and simply tells the story in chronological order. However, the entire novel serves as a complex allegory, in which every major character represents some larger aspect of society and the world. Thus, their behavior is in many ways predetermined. Ralph represents society and order, and so he consistently attempts to organize and hold the boys to standards of behavior. Jack represents savagery and primitive fear, and so he consistently devolves to a primitive state.

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Lord of the Flies

Introduction.

Lord of the Flies is written by William Golding who is a Nobel Prize-winning author and is published in 1954.  This novel investigates the darker side of humankind; the viciousness that underlies even the most civilized and cultivated people.

Setting of the Novel

The setting of the novel is an uninhabited island where a plane carrying a number of children crashes. this novel becomes a representative depiction of the Earth, where Humans develop civilizations, the group of the boys in the leadership of Ralph, which are then destructed by the humans themselves, Jack and his hunters destroy, this results in the creation of new nations, Ralph leads one group while Jack leads the other, then wars take place and it makes the people believe in new religious faiths as the boys on the island start believing in the Lord of the Flies.

Context of the Novel

Lord of the flies summary.

 Jack wants to lead the group for survivors but through the votes, Ralph is elected as chief of the group.  Ralph then decides to take along Jack and Samson to explore the island and find some food. Piggy wants to go with them but Jack humiliates Piggy.

Jack stands up and curses the small boys for being afraid of the animals and he makes them believe that there is no beast on the island. One of the boys tells them that he has been able to see a pig near the shelters. Jack dismissed them but Simon also approves the notion of the small boy that he has also seen the pig near the shelter. Jack taunts Piggy and they both start a fight. Ralph stops them and tells them they must follow the rules. Jack asks him who cares about the rules. Jack vows to kill the beast and breaks the assembly by going for a hunt.

The boys search and continue their hunt. Ralph sees his appearance and thinks that he has totally changed and looks very dirty. The boys go to the opposite side of the island. This spot is exactly the opposite of the place where the boys have shelters. The view of the island and the sea is totally different here. Ralph loses hope of return but Simon assures him that he would eventually leave the island and reach their homes.

In the evening, the boys go to the mountain for the fire but Ralph is pessimistic about his return. Jack wants to go to the beach for hunting but Ralph is not interested because he thinks that leaving the small boys with Piggy is not secure and that the light is very dim, too. Ralph senses that Jack hates him and he asks him the reason for hate but Jack has no answer.

Piggy suggests that they should make another area for the fire which could be visible. They then locate a place near the beach for fire. Ralph notices that some of the boys are missing. Simon is also missing but he is gone to an isolated place. Piggy thinks that they can do well without Jack but they need to use their common sense.

  Chapter 9

The rain intensifies and the boys are forced to run towards the shelter. Meanwhile, the dead boys of the parachutist fly in the air because of the fast wind. The boys get more terrified. They believe that it is the beast.

Themes in Lord of the Flies

The repercussions of the war, man versus nature.

Lord of the Flies presents the subject of man’s optimal relationship with this world. The novel is set in the natural habitat of the island, in which there are no people before the group of the boys, the boys expound various mentalities towards nature that mirror their particular characters and ideological understandings. The boys` connections to the normal world, for the most part, can be categorized as one of three classifications: enslavement of nature, congruity with nature, and subservience to nature.

The third classification is obedience to nature and it is encapsulated by Ralph. He takes the contrary position from Jack’s stance. In contrast to Simon, Ralph doesn’t discover serene amiability with the world of nature like Jack. He comprehends it as an impediment to human life on the island.

 However, while Jack reacts to this apparent clash by acting damagingly towards animals on the island and vegetation, Ralph reacts by withdrawing from the common world. He doesn’t take an interest in chasing or in Simon’s outings to the woods. He remains on the seashore, the most refined piece of the island. As Jack’s chasing communicates his vicious nature to different readers, Ralph’s craving to remain separate from the world of nature stresses his hesitancy to entice risk and his liking for human advancement.

Savagery as an opposite to Civilization

One of the main themes of Lord of the Flies is the contention between the human motivation towards brutality and the principles of progress which are intended to contain and limit it. All through the novel, the contention is sensationalized by the conflict between Jack and Ralph. These characters portray savagery and civilization, respectively. 

Golding’s focus on the repercussion of brutality can be taken as opposite to the civilization of humans. In the initial parts of the novel, he proposes that one of the significant elements of a society that is civilized and cultures is to give an outlet to the savage driving forces that dwell inside every person. 

Jack’s underlying want to slaughter pigs to exhibit his boldness, for instance, is directed into the chase, which gives required nourishment to the whole gathering. For whatever length of time that he lives inside the standards of human progress, Jack isn’t a risk to different boys of the group. His driving forces are being re-coordinated into a beneficial assignment. When Jack does not acknowledge the legitimacy of society and rejects Ralph’s position brings out the perilous parts of his character. Golding recommends that while brutality is maybe an inevitable certainty of human presence, civilization can relieve its dangers.

The Lord of the Flies symbolizes the unification of the young men under Jack’s leadership which is advocated through fear and punishment for those who do not approve his orders. The obliteration of the conch shell at the location of Piggy’s killing implies the total destruction of human civilization on the island, while Ralph’s destruction of The Lord of the Flies portrays his own plunge into viciousness and savagery. By the last scene, brutality has totally dislodged human progress as the overarching framework on the island.

Loss of Innocence

Lord of the flies characters analysis.

He is among the survivors of the plane crash. He makes a good bond with Ralph who becomes the leader of the group of boys. He is not able to do physical labor because he suffers from asthma but he is the only boy who has a higher level of intelligence and perception. The group of boys accepts him because he gives them the idea that they can ignite fire with his glasses. He is a true depiction of civilization and wants the boys to behave in a civilized manner. 

The death of Piggy recommends that intellectualism is helpless against savagery. The death of Simon can be seen as a mishap or a heightening of crowd attitude, the death of Piggy is the most purposeful and unavoidable event on the island which marks the group of boys completely falling into the clutches of brutality and savagery.

Jack Merridew

Sam and eric.

The hunter group when tries to kill the pig, would chant kill the pig and Maurice would become a pig- a feigned pig and the hunter group would pretend to slaughter Maurice. He is an intermediate sort of character who represents the mass that is mindless.

Naval Officer

He is the most introspective of all the characters present in the novel. He loves nature which urges him to walk in the forest and enjoy seclusion. Simon stands for the symbolic representation of spirituality in the nature of humans. He is outcast like Piggy and the group of boys considers him an odd boy. 

He is the first boy in the group who sees the beast. But later, he recognizes that the beast is the dead body of the pilot of the plane. He then decides to tell it the boys but the boys in frenzy kill him. He is shown to be a figure of Christianity and his death is portrayed as martyrdom. His spirituality is also portrayed by the fact that his name means a person who has been heard by God. He stands a pivotal character in this Judeo-Christian allegory.

Lord of the Flies Analysis

The allegory of the title, lord of the flies and cold war.

This novel was published in 1954 in the era of the Cold War.  The novel has a strong base in concerns in sociopolitical aspects of the era. This novel implies the Cold War struggle between liberal democratic countries and the rules system and Communist totalitarian governments. Ralph shows a liberal convention of democracy and before his taking up the total anarchic rule of leadership, Jack, portrays the military autocracy that remains in the communist systems. It is eminent that Golding sets the novel in what gives off an impression of reality of the human future. 

Significance of the Conch

The young boys` underlying energy for the process of democracy procedure permeates the conch with incredible force as a method of correspondence, as the young men singularly concur that the conch symbolizes a commonplace and beneficial perfect.

The conch is an image of free discourse and a common procedure that every kid understands easily. However, the ideas themselves demonstrate progressively hard to stick to in practical speaking, and soon the conch’s capacity finishes as the young men oppose the requirements of the vote based procedure. Ralph is disappointed that the gatherings he utilizes the conch to collect don’t really achieve a lot. 

The Conceptualized meaning of “The Beast”

Golding passes on the identity of the beast through the strict activities of Jack and his hunter group and through the dynamic idea which takes place in the vision of Simon. Simon’s disclosure about the beast happens upon him after he observes the death of the sow and then it’s beheading. Simon can understand the ruthlessness of the demonstration because he observes when this drama takes place. The flies capture the head of the sow to eat it and then duplicate themselves because they do not feel any sympathy towards the dead sow.  

This feeling of empathy is one of the main segregation lines between humans and animals.  Although Jack is a human being yet he lacks this feeling of sympathy for Piggy and other little boys on the island. Like Jack, his hunter group also loses this feeling of sympathy and they only look to kill the pigs and the boys who do not obey the orders of Jack.

Some portion of Golding’s purpose is to exhibit that a particular country or state is not characterized by evil.  On the island, this beast in the novel is shown through dead pictures and things that show the power of lust. Preceding the war, a few of the boys, for example, the exploited Piggy, encounter the fierceness of others in the play area, and the irony is that the play area is specific for happiness and joyous activities. 

Inside every society which calls itself civilized, the beast appears in various ways: like military operational areas, like the conditions of madness which conveys negative repercussions. In Lord of the Flies Golding outlines that maliciousness and evil are there in everybody and all over the place.  Mankind’s work lies not in destroying it but to shield it from turning into the predominant power in our lives.

Ending of the Novel

Lord of the Flies closes with maritime officials showing up on the island. His initial perception of the boys is that they are engaged with pointless fooling around. At the point when he gets the details from Ralph what has occurred on the island, he is flabbergasted that children of Civilized British have gone to such a lower degree of humanity. Ralph and the young boys take his scolding and begin to weep that immediately become cries. They are crying over the loathsomeness of their experience and alleviation over coming back to human progress. As the young boys sob, the maritime official just watches out to the ocean to permit them to recover.

Ironically the maritime official while seeming to portray Civilization and rationality of the society symbolizes evil which is inside the civilization as the boys have. He is a warrior who battles wars, which is positively human progress even from a pessimistic standpoint.

Lord of the Flies as an allegory for The Fall of Man from Eden

From the starting the bad and good are divided. Simon is loaded with human characteristics in addition to his education and spirituality. He brings great natural food for the littluns. He also gives credit to Piggy because he has been participating in every job and the making of fire is only possible because of Piggy. His instinct discloses to him that Ralph would endure towards the end. He is also very clear in his understanding that there is no brute outside and that evil exists in the brain of people.

Notwithstanding to the sacrifice of Simon the appeasement of Ralph for his transgression, there are other elements of Christianity in the novel as well. The most significant is the picture of Eden and its Garden and the dream of the Lord of the Flies. The island has all the highlights of the Eden. Golding in his novel suggests that when a person is encompassed by different sorts of solace and extravagance and without government and parental standards, it will prompt obliteration and defilement. Thus the young boys on the island have started to thwart everything and they even murder their companions.  

For the Christian allurement and undermining are the two primary ways utilized by powers of evil to abscond goodness towards them. Satan enticed Adam and Eve to bring about the calamity for mankind. The scene that portrays Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies resembles the scene in the Bible where Christ meets the fallen angel in the desert. The righteous people can’t be cheated rather they are killed by the abhorrent powers.

More From William Golding

Lord of the Flies

By william golding, lord of the flies study guide.

Sir William Golding composed Lord of the Flies shortly after the end of WWII. At the time of the novel's composition, Golding, who had published an anthology of poetry nearly two decades earlier, had been working for a number of years as a teacher and training as a scientist. Golding drew extensively on his scientific background for his first narrative work. The novel's plot, in which a group of English boys stranded on a deserted island struggle to develop their own society, is a social and political thought-experiment using fiction. The story of their attempts at civilization and devolution into savagery and violence puts the relationship between human nature and society under a literary microscope. Golding's allusions to human evolution also reflect his scientific training. The characters discover fire, craft tools, and form political and social systems in a process that recalls theories of the development of early man, a topic of much interest among many peoples including the mid-century Western public. The culmination of the plot in war and murder suggests that Golding's overarching hypothesis about humanity is pessimistic, that is, there are anarchic and brutal instincts in human nature. Ordered democracy or some other regime is necessary to contain these instincts.

As an allegory about human nature and society, Lord of the Flies draws upon Judeo-Christian mythology to elaborate on the novel's sociological and political hypothesis. The title has two meanings, both charged with religious significance. The first is a reference to a line from King Lear , "As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods." The second is a reference to the Hebrew name Ba'alzevuv, or in its Greek form Beelzebub, which translates to "God of the Flies" and is synonymous with Satan. For Golding however, the satanic forces that compel the shocking events on the island come from within the human psyche rather than from an external, supernatural realm as they do in Judeo-Christian mythology. Golding thus employs a religious reference to illustrate a Freudian concept: the Id, the amoral instinct that governs the individual's sense of sheer survival, is by nature evil in its amoral pursuit of its own goals. The Lord of the Flies, that is, the pig's head on a stick, directly challenges the most spiritually motivated character on the island, Simon , who functions as a prophet-martyr for the other boys.

Published in 1954 early in the Cold War, Lord of the Flies is firmly rooted in the sociopolitical concerns of its era. The novel alludes to the Cold War conflict between liberal democracy and totalitarian communism. Ralph represents the liberal tradition, while Jack, before he succumbs to total anarchy, represents the kind of military dictatorship that, for mid-century America and Great Britain, characterized the communist system. It is also notable that Golding sets the novel in what appears to be a future human reality, one that is in crisis after atomic war. Golding's novel capitalizes on public paranoia surrounding the atom bomb which, due to the arms race of the Cold War, was at a high. Golding's negative depiction of Jack, who represents an anti-democratic political system, and his suggestion of the reality of atomic war, present the novel as a gesture of support for the Western position in the Cold War.

In addition to science, mythology, and the sociopolitical context of the Cold War, Lord of the Flies was heavily influenced by previous works of speculative fiction. In particular, Golding's novel alludes to R. M. Ballantyne's 1857 The Coral Island , which tells the story of three boys stranded on a desert island. Golding, who found Ballantyne's interpretation of the situation naive and improbable, likely intended Lord of the Flies to be an indirect critique of The Coral Island . Golding preserves the names of two of Ballantyne's characters, Ralph and Jack, to force the two texts into deeper comparison. While the boys of Coral Island spend their time having pleasant adventures, Golding's characters battle hunger, loneliness, and the deadly consequences of political conflict after they are deserted. The pessimistic character of Golding's story reflects the author's emphasis on the necessity of democratic civilization. Critics also have noted the relationship between Lord of the Flies and Joseph Conrad's canonical 1902 Heart of Darkness , which follows a soldier's excursion into marginal African civilizations. Reflecting some biases, Heart of Darkness depicts these parts of Africa as places where social order is absent and anarchy rules, breeding death and disorder; the novel sees the same problem as an issue within the individual human soul. Like Conrad's work, Golding's novel emphasizes the brutal and violent human impulses that arise in the absence of political order.

Lord of the Flies, with its dystopian and speculative characteristics, established Golding as a solid author with an interest in the science-fiction literary genre that was popular in the 1950s. The novel depicts ostensibly realistic characters, but the plot, which follows a small group of humans isolated within an alien landscape, employs or alludes to the conventions of popular science fiction novels of the time. Golding's subsequent works saw him moving even further into the science fiction genre. The Inheritors , heavily influenced by H. G. Wells's Outline of History , imagines life during the dawn of man and is considered a modern classic of speculative fiction.

Lord of the Flies was not an instant success, selling fewer than 3,000 copies before going out of print in 1955. Shortly thereafter, however, the novel became a bestseller among American and British readers who, as the arms race intensified, likely saw in Golding's wartime dystopia a grim prediction of their own future. By the 1960s the novel was required reading for many high school and college courses, where it has remained to the present day. The enduring popularity of the novel inspired two film adaptations, one by Peter Brook in 1963, and the second by Harry Hook in 1990. Golding's original novel, however, remains the best-known version of the tale. In 2005, Time Magazine named the novel one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923.

A continuing controversy surrounding the political message of the novel and its view of human nature has led some readers to challenge its status as a book suitable for children. The American Library Association thus positioned Lord of the Flies at number 70 on its list of the 100 most challenged books of 1990-2000. Among literary critics of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, however, Lord of the Flies has been revisited less as an allegory of human evil than as a literary expression of Cold War ideology. This historicizing does not do justice to the novel. But in terms of reception history, contemporary critics are right to note that the novel's position at the center of many English curricula across America and Great Britain during the Cold War illustrates how the pedagogy of literature has been used to bolster national identity and ideology.

Lord of the Flies Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Lord of the Flies is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Where had Simon fainted before?

From the text:

“He's always throwing a faint,”said Merridew. “He did in Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor.”

Quote Analysis. "There was a throb..."

At this point Ralph is once again challenging Jack's authority, Unfortunately all the cards are stacked against Ralph. A storm is brewing and to deflect the boys' fears, Jack orders them to dance around the fire. This communal spectacle of...

How do the boys respond to Jack's call for Ralph's removal as chief? How does Jack react? Respond with evidence from the text.

There is a lot of immaturity here. The other boys refuse to vote Ralph out of power. Enraged, Jack has a tantrum and runs away from the group, saying that he is leaving and that anyone who likes is welcome to join him.The boys don't like the open...

Study Guide for Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies study guide contains a biography of William Golding, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Lord of the Flies
• Lord of the Flies Summary
• Lord of the Flies Video
• Character List

Essays for Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

• Two Faces of Man
• The Relationship Between Symbolism and Theme in Lord of the Flies
• A Tainted View of Society
• Death and Social Collapse in Lord of the Flies
• Lumination: The Conquest of Mankind's Darkness

Lesson Plan for Lord of the Flies

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Lord of the Flies
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Lord of the Flies Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Lord of the Flies

• Introduction

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Home of The Brave

Lord of the flies – sample essay..

Choose a novel in which an important theme is explored. Explain how the author develops this theme throughout the novel.

            The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in which the theme of savagery versus civilisation is explored. Some British boys are stranded on an isolated island at the time of an imaginary nuclear war. On the island we see conflict between two main characters, Jack and Ralph, who respectively represent civilisation and savagery. This has an effect on the rest of the boys throughout the novel as they delve further and further into savagery.

             The theme of savagery versus civilisation is first introduced to us through the symbol of the conch shell which we associate with Ralph as he is the person who first uses it and becomes the elected leader of the boys. This symbolises authority amongst the boys. At the first assembly Ralph says “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak…he won’t be interrupted”. This suggests civilisation as Ralph is allowing each boy to have an equal say and opinion. If they have the conch, no matter who they are or what age they are they will be given the chance to speak and will be listened to by the rest of the boys. The boys have created the island to be a democratic place which shows a civilised side to them as they try to mimic the homes they have just left.

             Contrasting with the symbol of the conch is the symbol of the beast which comes to be associated with Jack as by the end of the novel he is almost devil worshipping it. The beast begins as a  “snake thing” but by the end of the novel it has become “the Lord of the Flies”. The first quote shows us that the beast is clearly evil. Western society considers snakes to be bad omens because it was a snake that led Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. However at this stage of the novel the beast is quite insubstantial as it is only a “thing”. As the boys fear of the beast grows so to does the beast itself until it has manifested into the devil – the ultimate and most powerful evil. He has a strong status as a Lord although it is over something pretty disgusting – the flies. The boys belief in the beast leads them to behave more like savages as they act out from their fear and they begin to loose hold of the rules, led by Jack, thus demonstrating the theme of savagery.

             One of ways Golding shows conflict between savagery and civilisation is when Jack and some of the other boys are killing the first pig. Jack chants “kill the pig, cut her throat, spill the blood”. This suggests savagery as the boys are being violent and aggressive when killing the pig and they don’t care about it. This is particularly clear through Golding’s word choice. Jack talks about cutting the pig’s throat which makes it sound like a savage action and spilling her blood which reinforces the lack of care and feeling shown towards the pug’s carcass. This shows that the boys are no longer feeling guilty about what they have done thus showing them becoming savages. 

             We can see the conflict between savagery and civilisation developing further when Piggy’s glasses are broken. We are told “Piggy cried out in terror ‘my specs!” This shows us that the boys savage natures are beginning to overule their more civilised sides. At the start of the book Jack would never have dared touch Piggy, but here he actually snaps and goes for Piggy who he despises. We can tell that Piggy is really scared as Golding chooses the words “cried” and “terror” to describe the scene. Piggy sounds like he is hurting and is genuinely terrified about what Jack might do to him and the loss of his sight. Piggy’s glasses have also come to represent intelligence on the island, with them breaking we see that the pathway to savagery is now completely open for the boys. This is the first true piece of violence between the two factions on the island and it will result in nearly all the boys becoming savages.

             A final way in which we see the theme of savagery versus civilisation being demonstrated is when Ralph sticks up for Piggy after he is attacked by Jack. Ralph says “that was a dirty trick”. This shows that Ralph is really angry at Jack for what he said and did to Piggy. He is still attempting to impose himself as leader here as he says this in an aggressive and assertive tone. This suggests there is still some glimmers of civilisation on the island at this point as there is still someone with a sense of moral goodness ready to fight for justice.

             In conclusion The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in which the theme of savagery versus civilisation is shown. Ralph represents civilisation as he wants to enforce rules and let everyone have an equal say. Whereas Jack who represents savagery as he rules over the boys and he is not interested in what they have to say. Through the boys actions Golding shows us that we need rules and to consciously impose them to make sure society functions properly.

27 thoughts on “Lord of the Flies – sample essay.”

AWESOME thanks guys!!

This essay was really helpful and thought provoking. I noticed a comment about how this essay could improve and I understand that this essay follows Scottish Qualifications, but I just have two suggestions to improve it.

At the beginning of Paragraph 4 it states “One of ways”. I think that perhaps the author meant “One of the ways”.

Also, in Paragraph 5 the author uses “We”, it may be different in Scotland, but I learnt that in essays one does not use personal pronouns.

Other than that it was really well written <3 Thank you!

I’m sorry you didn’t find the essay any help. There are mistakes in this as it was written by a National 5 class and is an exact sample essay as written by the pupils (equivalent to GCSE) and as a result of that there are some errors. It does talk about the same thing over and over again – civilisation versus savagery – but it is supposed to as this was the focus of the essay question. When writing a critical essay you need to pick out things from the text that answer the question. You will notice that different things are picked out from the text that relate to the fight between civilisation and savagery – whether this is the symbols used in the book or the actions of some of the characters. Once this has been selected to speak about you need to lift evidence from the text to support what you are saying and then explain it to your readers. I hope this has helped you understand the point of the essay a bit better.

Ms Davidson

Is this essay meant to be for a GSCE course? I am doing an essay about it now and I’m in year 8.

This text is being used by students in a Scottish Secondary School for their National 5 English qualification. They sit their exam at the equivalent age to those studying GCSEs. It doesn’t really matter what age you are when you study the text, it’s more to do with the levels of analysis you go through whilst studying the text. This essay would be a minimum pass at National 5 in Scotland. It is written by students and is simply an example of what students could write in their exam.

Hope that’s helped, Ms Davidson

I was desperate to know what to write in the conclusion but then this conclusion gave me some help, Thank you

Thank you so much!! The points in this essay are extremely helpful and I was able to interlink them in my GCSE exam today. Very helpful source!!

You are very welcome!

I’m glad you found it useful!

Thanks so much I have this 5 paragraph essay that’s due and you helped me so much for idea wise

WOOOOW amazing thank you so much

😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

this is gold as I have to write an essay on lotf and was having troubles finding main quotes the had good techniques paired to them and this helped a lot

Is this a full mark piece ?

This would probably get 15-16 out of 20 at National 5 in the Scottish system. Hope that helps.

Glad it was useful!

Thank you so much this was so extremely helpful. You are a lifesaver!

I’m glad I found this essay because i got an A on my school essay. THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙂

I wanted conflict between ralph and jack ONLY

You can change the points and the link backs (the first and last sentence in each paragraph) to focus on the conflict between Jack and Ralph if you need to. Each symbol talked about here is either associated with Jack or Ralph. Also Jack and Ralph link to the wider theme of the book with each boy respectively representing civilisation or savagery. This essay can be used to help you structure the one you need to write.

I am writing a paragraph and i need to write about the theme, charecters/groups… i cant start the paragraph with the answers, i need an intro, what can i do for an intro, i am a bit stuck

I’m not sure I understand your question Sarah. Your paragraph seems to include an awful lot of things. What is the overall point you are trying to talk about? If you were looking at the theme of civilisation then you could start with a simple sentence saying “The Lord of the Flies explores the theme of savagery versus civilisation”. If you are focusing on a particular character then begin with “The Lord of the Flies uses one of it’s main characters Jack/Ralph to explore certain ideas within the text.” I hope this helps. Ms Davidson

This helped me soon much!I’m so happy that I got an A+!My teacher was so happy.

That’s excellent!

THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙂

I need help with that essay lotf essay why should a leader read lotf base on ralph.

Take a look at the essay based on the character Ralph. Adapt it the first sentence in each paragraph (your POINT) so that it focuses on Ralph being a good example of being a leader, or how they can learn a lesson from him doing something that shows him being a bad leader. Then adapt the final sentence (your LINK BACK) so it responds to him setting an example (or not!) for leaders.

I was reading through the comments and you mentioned that the essay would be about 15-16 marks out of 20, and was wonder what improvements could be made to get the last few marks?

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Lord of The Flies — Symbolism in “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding

Symbolism in "Lord of The Flies" by William Golding

• Categories: Lord of The Flies Symbolism

About this sample

Words: 1210 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 1210 | Pages: 2 | 7 min read

William Golding,Glasses,Lord of the Flies,Novel,Symbols,BOY,Birthmark

• Bruns, B. (2008). The symbolism of power in William Golding’s Lord of The Flies. (https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A132457&dswid=-4646)
• Li, X., & Wu, W. (2009). On Symbolic Significance of Characters in” Lord of the Flies”. English Language Teaching, 2(1), 119-122. (https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1082261)
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