Informative Essay on Lord of the Flies Analysis
“And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy… ” Written in 1954, when the world was trapped in a state of utter confusion and disarray as a result of the aftermath left by World War Two as well as the unpredictable conditions brought by the Cold War, William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is an allegorical novel that centers on the darkest depths of human souls. Lord of the Flies”, on the surface, may resemble any other children adventure story. Beyond its literal sense, however, it actually has a lot more to offer: it is an attempt to unfold the superficiality and fragility of civilization, a pessimistic and dark commentary on our innate human nature and a downright challenge to the deep-rooted societal belief that children, British children in particular, must be naturally virtuous.
Such unprecedented thematic focus, together with the extraordinary degrees of political realism portrayed symbolically in the novel, make “Lord of the Flies” a truly brilliant, remarkable and ground-breaking classic of all time. The novel opens with a group of British schoolboys who find themselves stranded on an unidentified Pacific island after a serious plane crash. With no adult surviving the crash, the boys are left to fend for themselves. Ralph, our protagonist, plays the role of a leader by summoning them all to the beach with the help of a conch shell.
Here is where our antagonist, Jack and his choirboys are introduced. As seemingly educated and civilized children, the group is absolutely rational at the outset: they hold an election to vote for a chief (Ralph is elected); they formulate rules to maintain discipline; they take up different responsibilities and duties. Unfortunately, the children’s goodness and self-discipline are quickly overridden by their underlying evil, barbaric and sadistic instincts. Without restrictions or rules created by civilization, the children sink deep into a life of sheer savagery and immorality – hunting, chanting and killing all day long.
This results in a series of horrible, bloody and frightening events, including oppression of the weak, power struggle and even murders. Toward the end, Jack who is atrocious and animalistic replaces Ralph who is sensible and far-sighted as chief on the island, suggesting the complete collapse of morality, both within the characters and on the island. The novel ends with the return of order and sanity only when a British naval officer comes to their rescue. True that the children are now saved from the lone island, but is there any rescue or escape from our innate darkness?
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The above mentioned intriguing and melodramatic plot of “Lord of the Flies” is definitely creditable. Yet, the gist of the novel, in my opinion, lies not in the plot but the many sophisticated and powerful symbolisms that it embodies. For example, it is obvious that Ralph and Jack are employed as a symbolism of two competing impulses in men, and the conch shell described above is also used as a symbol of rule and order. One may ask then, what about the book title “Lord of the Flies”?
What does this book title symbolize, and what insights can we obtain from it? The Lord of the Flies, as a matter of fact, is both a telling imagery and symbolism. It primarily refers to an image that can be found in Chapter 8 of the novel – the image of a black blob of flies flying around a sow’s head that is put on a sharpened stake. This imagery denotes the very essence of Golding’s dark look at human nature, and it is so significant and powerful that even the novel is titled according to it.
To understand the symbolism of the Lord of the Flies, we must first comprehend the representation of the pig’s head and the buzzing flies that revolve around it, as these are the two essential elements that construct the imagery. In the novel, the pig’s head is a representation of everything that is evil, not only because it is created out of the children’s ruthlessness and sadism but also because the pig’s head is instilled with very sinister qualities, for example, it grins malevolently at Simon, the only purely good character in the novel.
The buzzing flies, on the other hand, is meant to be a symbolism of human beings in general. By depicting in details how the flies are instinctively drawn to the filthy and grotesque pig’s head, therefore, Golding satirizes the fact that human beings make no difference from the blind and sightless flies, as we are also naturally drawn to evilness and savagery when civilization is not present. In fact, this imagery recurs in the last scene of the novel, when the children are running across the hill under the led of Jack, wishing to hunt Ralph down.
When viewed afar, the group of children appear as black dots that resemble the flies, and their frenzied attraction to Jack is just like the flies’ natural inclination toward the unpleasant pig’s head. As such, with the use of such compelling symbolism, Golding’s notion on humanity is reinforced – Evilness does not arise from external sources. It is always there in us, looking for a chance to be unleashed and released. I am also tremendously impressed by Golding’s ingenious use of contrast between the exposition and resolution in the novel.
Distinct contrast can be seen in terms of setting, physical appearance of the children and even the dictions that Golding utilizes to address the boys. These effective contrasts highlights the fragility of the veneer of civilization, showing how readily humans can return to our primitive nature. In the opening of the novel, the island that the children are marooned on is one that is beauteous, if not paradise-like. There is a lagoon where water shimmers, a beach with warm sand as well as a palm terrace filled with all sorts of tropical fruits.
Butterflies also flutter across the island elegantly, heightening the sense of tranquility and harmony on it. The children, on the other hand, are in absolute order. Dressed in neat uniforms, Jack and his choirboys are “marching approximately in step in two parallel lines” and are “wearing a square black cap with a silver badge on it”. These exquisite descriptions suggest that the boys do in fact come from an educated background, and therefore are expected to have a high sense of civility in them. As everything is still orderly and undisturbed, the group is referred as “children” or “schoolboys” by Golding.
Yet, as civilization and order collapse, and as the children willingly turn away from civilization, tremendous changes take place. The earthly paradise that is offered at the beginning is gone, and is replaced by an image of an earthly purgatory. This is due to the fact that toward the end of the novel, the children’s insanity and wickedness have reached such a peak that they have set the whole island ablaze for the sake of smoking Ralph out to kill him. The appearances of the boys, on the other hand, are also far from what have been presented at the outset.
Instead of tidily uniformed, the children are now naked, with their faces camouflaged like “demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green”. The choirboys are also no longer singing but are chanting and howling in a frenzy of madness. Basically, everything on the island has been so eroded and devastated that now Golding does not see any ‘human’ quality in the boys and thus addresses them as “savages” and “animals” only. As such, the clever use of contrasts reveals the rapid process of moral decay inside the characters, reinforcing the idea that morality is only conditional.
Golding’s attempt to delineate the inherently wicked nature of men is certainly successful and thought-provoking. Yet, the ultimate reason that constitutes my strong sense of admiration for him is due to his ability to infuse political realism as well as political satire into his story. Written in the 1950s when the world was recovering from devastation of World War II, the horror of totalitarianism was still fresh in the author’s mind. Hence, it is true to say that “Lord of the Flies” can also be read as a conflict between rival political systems.
By telling a tragic story of how a group of children gradually betray their democratic and elected leader, Ralph to support a downright autocratic and dictatorial leader, Jack, Golding satirizes the blindness and short-sightedness of people in his time as a lot of them would really give their support to the totalitarian leaders frantically. In the novel, under Jack’s rule in the Castle rock, the “littleluns” often suffer severely from oppression as the leaders of the often abuse their power. This creates a contrast with Ralph’s rule in which all people regardless of age are granted a right to speak in the assembly.
This stark contrast reveals Golding’s political viewpoint: given that it is human nature to desire for more power and to abuse power, a totalitarian regime cannot be tolerated because this would mean a lot of weaker people having no voice in a society. On the contrary, democracy should be upheld and treasured at all times because it is only with democracy that citizens, regardless of backgrounds, can be sufficiently represented in a society. All the above paragraphs demonstrate the reasons why I consider “Lord of the Flies” a true classic.
However, “Lord of the Flies” is in fact never my favorite novel at all. As far as the arrangement of the story goes, I think William Golding has done a brilliant job. Yet, what restrains it from becoming my “all time favorite” novel is that Golding’s perception on human nature is too dark for me to agree with. While I understand that the novel was produced in the midst of a chaotic century, with wars and conflicts wrecking havoc on our earth, that did not mean one could easily make the conclusion that every person must be predominantly evil.
For instance, even in a state of war, there are great personalities such as Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg who dare to risk their lives and reputation to save the innocents. In fact, The Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem is founded primarily to honor at least over 11,000 “Righteous Gentles” who secretly assisted or rescued the guiltless Jews. Golding certainly has no justification to deny the greatness that these people display. I do reckon that certain instincts within us are directing us to immorality but it is definitely not a fact that everyone would resort to unethical ways when there is no restriction to bound us.
At the end of the day, whatever comes our way, we always have a choice, and there are people who choose to do what is right. “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill? ” – this is a question posed by the Lord of the Flies in the middle part of the novel. Even after reading the novel for repeated times, I still believe “Yes, the process may be hard as it takes a great deal of courage, determination and faith but the beast can surely be killed, as long as we want to. “
