Lord of the Flies

Lord Of the Flies

Theme:

Most people perceive children as being innocent, precious beings. Some believe that they are angelic. Put in the wrong situations though, they can become savage beasts. The innocence leaves their bodies and they are no longer precious. The survival of the fittest instinct kicks on and they can become killers. In the book Lord of the Flies the theme is that kids are not as innocent s they seem.

At the beginning of the book the boys seem to have peace and order. They help one another out. They elect Ralph as their leader. They follow his orders when they need to work together. The conch shell is used to bring order within the group of boys. Soon these practices die out and the kids start to change.

Jack and his group of hunters, began to get a thrill from killing pigs. Jack and the hunters also lose all respect for Ralph and the conch. They start their own tribe, who soul purpose is to hunt and have rituals. The killings of the pigs start to bore them so they began to find other things to kill.

The hunters start forcing people to join the tribe through threats. Then the threats lead to the killings of two boys. The hunters first kill Simon , whom they think is a beast. Then they kill Piggy by rolling a stone on top of him. With the two killing under their belt they soon began to go after Ralph. They chase him all over the island but soon he is rescued. The naval officer witnesses how the children had turned from well-behaved boys to savage beast.

Though children are not as innocent as they seem they still hold a close place in their parents heart. They are also human just like everyone else. They know the difference between black and white and right and wrong. The survival of the fittest instinct is something that every creature on this planet has. The weak one always loose. The book showed this well.

Important Passages:

"Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass." I chose this quote because it show the importance of the meeting they were having. This quote is important because it show that at first, the boys did have order.

"Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!" I pick this quote because it showed how mean jack was towards the other boys. This quote is important because it foreshadows Jack thoughts through the rest of the book.

"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!" I picked this quote because it tells how the kill Simon. This quote is important because it shows how evil the boys had become.

Symbolism:

The Island-

The island is a symbol in this book. It represents the Garden of Eden. The island represent purity before the boys (the corruption) crash there. Like in the bible the when the Garden is destroyed, the island becomes destroyed with the corruption of the boys by fire.

Simon-

In this book he is symbolic for Christ. He seem to be the one who stays out of troubles way. He never speaks unless he has to. He is always helping someone and doing the right thing. Towards the end of the book he is murdered by the hunters like Christ was murdered by the Romans.

The Conch Shell-

The shell is a symbol of peace for most of the book. It was used by Ralph to call meetings of the boys. It was also used as sort a ticket to talk at the meetings. Whoever had the conch could be the only one talking. Later in the book it is destroyed by Roger when he roles the bolder on Piggy.

Setting:

The island is a small coral island in the Pacific. Though it is unknown by other humans, it does have the necessities for the boys to survive including fresh water, fruit trees, and wild pigs. The island is described as boat shaped with two mountains, a sandy beach and an area of forest

Style:

The style of the book is simple. It reads fast. The narration is simple, the thoughts flow smoothly, and the moods change quickly without much effort. The boys are not given last names, the titles of the chapters foreshadow the action that is to take place. Despite his simple style, Golding has wrote a good book.

Major Characters:

Ralph-

Ralph is a young boy about the age of 12. In the book he is described as a tall slender built kid. He is the son of a naval officer. In the beginning of the book Ralph is elected leader of the group of boys. He helps set up a system where all the boys work together to stay alive. Towards the end of the book most of the boys turn against him. He is then put in a powerless position, where all he can do is run and hide from the other boys. When he is finally rescued by the navy he breaks down and