Lord of the Flies

LORD OF THE FLIES

A symbol is an object that seems to have meaning attached. Actions can also be symbolic and sometimes even characters or what they do or what happens to them can symbolize an idea. In Lord of the Flies Golding makes extensive use of symbols to make important points.

In the beginning of the novel when the civilization between the boys has been made a boy named "Piggy," gets teased and ridiculed for being overweight. He is in their minds a nerd. Even though the boys think that Piggy is a nerd they don't know that he is in actuality the smartest boy among the group. When the group has to start a fire on the island in order to keep warm and to notify anyone that they are abandoned Ralph shouts: " Piggy! Have you got any matches?" of course Piggy has none, but then Jack pointed at his glasses suddenly. "His specs-use them as burning glasses!"(p.40, LOTF). They use Piggy's glasses to reflect light onto dried sticks and grass to do so. Piggy's glasses symbolize the purpose of intelligence and technology in society.

The fire that the boys set in the beginning of the novel is another symbol used in Lord of the Flies. It is perhaps the only indicator in the book that the boys try to use to connect to other civilization. When the fire goes out because Sam and Eric are too busy sleeping, talking or looking for the beast. Ralph says, "I said before, the fires is the main thing. Now the fire must be out--" (p. 102, LOTF). This is an example foreshadowing the failure of their civilization.

Perhaps the most important symbol in the novel The Lord of the Flies is the conch. In the beginning of the novel Ralph and Piggy discover this conch shell on the beach. Ralph and Piggy play around with it blowing sounds into it and discover that everyone from the abandoned plane has come to see what the noise is from. This gathers many boys around. Ralph and Piggy use it as a means of communication. Whoever has the conch may speak, the others must listen. The conch is a symbol of civilization. It in a way establishes a form of government between the boys. "I'll blow the conch," said Ralph breathlessly, "and call an assembly." "We shan't hear it," (p.151, LOTF). It is interesting to see the value of the conch decrease as the novel progresses along. When the large rock that Roger rolls onto Piggy demolishes