Lord of the Flies

"Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story." Argue against this statement. It may look as if Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story. However, there is also a truth concealed deep inside the novel where Golding uses symbolism effectively so that readers are able to become conscious of certain issues. The issues it concerns are: society, human nature, good vs. evil, ecological balance and cooperation. Lord of the Flies reveals a multifaceted story beneath an effortless storyline. In the novel, Golding takes the time to explicate to readers that man and women are who they are because of their childhood, that if they were not brought up well they will grow to be uncivilized. Take this for example Piggy continuously talks about his auntie saying, 'my auntie-'this and 'my auntie-'that, remembering everything that his auntie told him, what was right and what was wrong and understands that,' grown-ups know things.' This shows that without care and guidance that children receive from parents, guardians, or anyone at all, children will regress back to the roots of savagery of their fellow ancestors. Nonetheless, if you look in-depth into the story there is more than meets the eye. Thus claiming that Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story is incorrect, the story exposes a more intricate plot. At the beginning, the boys were ordered and

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  • Level: GCSE
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Lord of the Flies

Reading Lord of the Flies, one gets quite an impression of Golding's view on human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong, true or not, is a point to be debated. This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share. This opinion, in fact, is a point that many have disagreed with when reading his work. There are many instances throughout Lord of the Flies that state Golding's opinion suggesting an evil human nature. Each of these instances are the bricks holding together his fortress of ideas that are constantly under attack. Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of human nature in the minds of his readers. Throughout the novel, it is stated that all humans are evil. It is said that this evil is inescapable and will turn everyone evil. At one point in the book, when the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as, "The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon" (Golding 130). Along with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic of Jesus Christ (a Christian deity), confront the Lord of the Flies. This is a pig's head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this

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Lord of the Flies.

Megan Davies Lord of the Flies Simon says, "maybe there is a beast" Ralph says, "maybe there isn't a beast" Jack says, " we'll make sure when we go hunting" How Does William Golding use the "beast" in the novel as a whole? The beast symbolizes the evil residing within everyone, the dark side of human nature. It is internal, inside the soul and mind of every boy. The beast evolves gradually throughout the novel, into The Lord of the flies, physically represented by the head of the slaughter sow. The boys have different ideas what the beast is, and there are various physical representations for it. All the boys apart from Simon see the beast as a real object on the island. The idea of a beast is brought up in chapter 5, at the point when the boys begin discussing their fear, from here on the boys become preoccupied with this idea or a beast which they believe to be some kind of animal. To begin with Jack refuses to believe in a beast, he immediately insists that he has explored everywhere. " There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island." Piggy's initial reaction is to disbelieve in the beast, because it can not exist in a world with science. However as the novel continues eventually all but Simon, become frightened by the beast. He is the only boy who realizes there is no beast. "It's only us". He believes that it is just a force of savagery or evil inside them,

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Lord of the Flies

LORD OF THE FLIES QUOTES AND NOTES Lord of the Flies: This is the name given to the inner beast, to which only Simon ever actually speaks. As Simon's waits for the beast's arrival near the bloody sow's head on the stake (buzzing with flies), The Lord of the Flies speaks to him, warning him not to get in its way or else he shall be killed by the boys. The Lord of the Flies name comes from the sow's head and the countless flies buzzing about it, which soon move from the sow's head to swarm around the head of Simon as the Lord of the Flies tells him, "I'm a part of you." In biblical texts, the Lord of the Flies is the title of Beelzebub (a direct translation of his name), a demon of Hell and cohort of Satan. Ralph: His body described as 'golden', it is Ralph who establishes a mock-democratic government for the group in order for them to be rescued, and to maintain peace and order. But due to the opposition of Jack, Ralph's chief goals of maintaining a signal fire to alert passing ships of their presence, building the shelters and holding assemblies end up in the dust as nearly all of the boys, over time, join Jack's 'tribe', whose chief focus is to hunt, kill and eat the wild pigs of the island. Ralph is the one boy at the close of the novel who is not a hunter. Having been pursued ruthlessly by Jack and his tribe, Ralph begins weeping on the beach before his grown-up

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Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies "Lord of the Flies" by Sir William Golding is a story of survival and adventure when a small group of schoolboys become marooned on a remote desert island. During the day the island is an idyllic paradise where they can run about and play in the pools but at night they are haunted by the terrible "Beast". This essay will examine and comment on the use of symbolism throughout the novel. The boys' first important event when they are on the island is the discovery of a conch shell. Ralph (a sensible boy) and Piggy (a fat boy with glasses) use the conch shell to call all the boys back together after the crash. The shell is also used at the future twice daily meetings to keep the order. Only the person holding the conch was allowed to speak. The conch grew to be a powerful symbol for law and order. Towards the end of the novel when Roger pushes the rock from the ledge and causes Piggy to fall to his death the conch also smashes. The conch shattering on the rock symbolises the end of all law and order on the island. Another symbol is the one which gives the novel its title, "Lord of the Flies". It is, of course, the pigs head. The description which Golding gives of the pig's head gives the reader a real sense of the evil surrounding it. With some research I found that the title, "Lord of the Flies" is a translation of the name Beelzebub otherwise known as Satan.

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LORD OF FLIES

Lord of the Flies by William Goldman is one of the most popular and endearing books of the twentieth century. In part a morality tale, in part an analysis of the human psyche, it is also a supremely interesting and exciting adventure story. All of these combined elements make the book a true classic and a perennial audience favourite. The book also demonstrates its significance to today's audiences via the many references made of it in popular culture. Artists as divergent as U2, who named a song after one of the book's chapters, through to the creators of cult TV drama 'Lost' pay testament to the value and resonance of William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'. Within its pages we see drama, tension, horror, cruelty and the extraordinary complexities that can occur when people are forced into unique situations. This encourages the audience to philosophically engage with the book and look more deeply into it to find answers to the questions it poses "That work was Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. The book was the first novel that caused me to reflect for longer than I read" (Dalrymple, T, 2005) A plane crash strands a group of British schoolboys on an unknown island. In a society now shorn of traditional authority figures, it is up to the abandoned boys to establish some kind of working system to guide them through the dangers, inevitably inherent, in their new,

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Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Files: More than just an adventure story? The tale of 'Lord of the flies' is a riveting adventure story. It is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, which grips the reader. However, even though this book is based on English boys stranded on an island and what they do on the island, it is more than just an adventure story. There is a lot of evidence in the book to prove this, through all the symbolism, characters and the variation of themes running through the book. The novel 'Lord of the Flies' can be read on many different levels. A small child could read this book and think it is merely about boys who get stuck on an island, while an older more educated person could understand this book on a deeper more complex level. Almost everything in the book is a symbol including the island. It symbolizes the earth and all the boys on the island represent the population. In this novel you can see how the island starts out as a 'good, fun' island and slowly deteriorates into a place with barbaric and savage like behavior. The book symbolizes what would happen to the world if there was to be nuclear war. This novel has many distinctive characteristics about it that are not usually found in an adventure story. The boys being stuck on an island and exploring it makes the novel appear to be an adventure story on some levels. However, I think it is ironic in the way that

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  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Languages
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Lord of the Flies

Jessica Johnson 10h 7th June 2006 Lord of the Flies Coursework essay Question 13- "Show how Golding creates a world of increasing violence in the novel Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, written shortly after the Second World War. It tells a story of school boys deserted on a island , and their struggle to manage, by an omniscient narrator who comments on setting and movement. This is similar to the story of Coral Island, however Golding is challenging the ideas in this, instead of the boys resorting to team work and success like expected, they resort to activism and create a environment of "increasing violence". By purposely setting the novel on a isolated island Golding can show his impression of the true nature of humans, and that he believes they would act sadistically and slowly become more and more distant from any means of civilisation. Golding manages to create a small world and community filled with violence by the end of the novel through a number of aspects; the settings, the characters and their behaviour, events, and general themes that run through the novel. Golding purposely sets his novel Lord of the flies on an isolated island so the boy's natural behaviour can emerge when taken away from rules or boundaries. This setting creates a small community, and the island is like a microcosm of the world. The first setting we are introduced to when

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Lord of the flies

Essay-Lord of the flies How Golding uses Symbolism effectively? Introduction: Symbolism plays an important role in Lord of the flies. Each of the symbols stands for something and has importance in the story. The symbols that we will explore are the Island, the Fire, Piggy's glasses, the Conch, the Names, the Beast, the Pigs Head and the fable. The novel is about a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain on a deserted tropical island and how they live their life without no rules and elders. The Island: The island is a tropical deserted island. It symbolises Isolated. 'Their scent spilled out into the air and took possession of the island'. It symbolises Freedom because 'this is our island, it's a good island until the grown-ups come to fetch us, and we'll have fun'. This tells us that the boys enjoy their life without any grown-ups and spend their time doing anything they want like splashing in water, having fights and playing games. On the other hand, it symbolises Dangerous because 'he saw a shelter burst into flames'. This tells us that Jack's tribe set the island on fire because they wanted to kill Ralph when there is no escape. Names: Golding has used for each of the characters names to have a symbolic meaning. For say Ralph means 'council'. He is a listener, chief and a snob. The boys elected him to be their leader. Jack means 'one takes over'. He

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Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies . INTRODUCTION In the year 2001, our drama group Namasté played Aipotu Paradise Lost. This play was about the story of the Lord of the flies and I have found it really interesting. So I have decided to read again the book (I had read it for the play) and to do the book report about it. The book, I read last term was Animal Farm. 2. SUMMARY Some boys crashed down with their plane on an island. A war is going on in the outside world. The boys are Ralph, who becomes the leader, Piggy, Jack and his choir, Simon, the twins Sam and Eric and many little boys (six to seven years). Rules are set down. Jack wants to go hunting to have meet to eat. Some time later Ralph calls a new assembly and he says that they are completely alone on the island without adults. Then a little tells that he has seen a beast on the island, but the others only think that there is no such thing. Afterwards they make a signal fire to be rescued. They grab Piggy's specs and focus the sunlight to ignite their fire. Jack and hi choir are trying to hunt while Simon, Piggy and Ralph are building shelters. Ralph complain that nobody helps them especially Jack. They have an argue. During a swim Ralph sees a ship. He hopes that it will see their signal fire, but it has been out. He is very angry, because Jack has had the charge to look after it. But he has hunted a pig and he has caught

  • Word count: 1424
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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