Golding uses symbolism in the book, such as the conch, which represents authority and order of the society that the boys have come from. The symbol is Piggy’s specs, which adds a depth to his appearance. The thick specs of Piggy shows that he is very short sighted.
At the start of the novel, we find a natural group already formed when Jack appears at the head of the choir. As order on the island breaks down, the boys begin to behave differently when in groups. Pigs hunt becomes more obsessive, in which they chant,
‘Kill the Pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash Him in!
The boys act as vampires dying for human blood and start to lose their individual identities. This distracts the boys from their aim, which is to leave the island.
The high point of the crowd comes when Simon returns with the news that the ‘beast’ is actually a dead pilot. Simon is compared in the book as Simon in the bible, coming home to tell the good news.
The battle between good and evil is the main theme of lord of the flies. This is often dealt by conflicts between the conch groups and the savages. The two leaders are Jack and Ralph. Jack is a character Golding has clearly intended to be disliked by the readers. Jacks main part to the survival of the boys is to track the pigs and provide meat. Meat is not essential to their survival, because the children already have fruits, crabs and shellfishes which they can eat. Jack tries to take over the conch group, which does not work at first but soon later they do tend to go to his side because he hunts pigs and doesn’t make them work. Golding describes Jack in many ways as Hitler. Hitler turned mobs against Communists, and Jews. Jack thinks he should be chief automatically because he is head boy. Jack likewise kills and intimidates until he gets control of the most power in the group. Jack sees this whole experience as a game and as an urge to hunt. This is the side, which is savagery.
The other side is Ralph, which is mostly based on rules and civilisation. Ralph represents the forces of good. Ralph is described in the book as representative leader. He is portrayed as a handsome and honorable young boy, but without any great intelligence. Golding describes him as mild featured.
‘There was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil’
He has no hidden depth or unhealthy character qualities. Ralph uses the conch to assemble the boys in one place. His relationship with Piggy is strange because he acknowledged the fat boys nick name to raise a laugh but he also develops both respect and affection for him and his qualities. Piggy was an educated boy rejected by the kids of his age group because he was over weighted. It was his academic background and his isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from the island. His unattractiveness separated him from the other boys on the island. He was not welcomed on their first trip of the island. "We don't want you," Jack had said to Piggy. His position in their society allowed him to look at the boys from an outsider's view. He could learn of the hatred being brought out of the boys without having to experience the thirst for blood that Ralph was out to. He was easily scared by the other boys, especially by Jack. He did not lack the self-confidence to protest or speak out against the embarrassment from the boys as the shy former choirboy Simon did. Piggy not only knew what the rules were, but he also had the patience to at least to wonder why the rules existed. He shouted at the boy’s immatureness, "The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach... Then when you get here you build a bonfire that isn't any use. Now you been and set the whole island on fire”. Like Ralph, his sense of responsibility set him apart from the other boys. Golding has used Piggy’s long hair to portray the image of civilized behavior. In this story isolation and loneness lead some one to see from the outside calmly the benefits of following rules. As Golding was a class teacher he saw different groups of children’s from the reaction, ambitions, patience, bulling, polite, the ability of children who can organize, the children who come from cruel background, the degree of cautioness the children are able to take, child For a brief moment, Piggy's anger at the unfairness and his helplessness robbed him of his usual reasoning, which returned when he was confronted with his fear of the savages. Piggy was an intelligent boy with a good understanding of their situation on the island. He was able to think clearly and plan ahead with caution so that even in the freedom of no adults, his knowledge and his isolation from the savage boys kept him from giving into the evil that had so easily obsessed Jack and his followers.
At first, the boys try to repeat the orderly environment they have come from. Partly due to their inexperience, and because of the mean spirit of Jack, their efforts are disorganised and uncreative. Jack and his savages become dominant force on the island, challenging order wherever they find it. In the end they are even prepared to kill Ralph, a figurehead of order.
Lord of the flies used changes experienced by boys on an unoccupied island to show the evil nature of man. By using different characters the Golding was able to describe various types of people found in their society. Their true selves were revealed in the freedom from the laws and punishment of a world with adults. Under the power and regulations of their former society, Jack's inner evil was trapped. But when the rules no longer existed, he was free to do what he desired. Ralph had grown so used to the reliability of a civilized world, that the changes they underwent were difficult for him to understand. He became confused and less capable of thinking clearly and independently. Although he too had experienced the urge for violence that had driven Jack and the hunters to the peaks of madness, his more sensitive personality and his sense of responsibility saved him from complete savagery. These two characters also helped to keep Piggy from becoming primitive in behaviour. He was made an outcast by his weight and his intelligence. This isolation and wisdom also helped Piggy to retain his civilized behaviour. As well, he was made painfully more aware of the great amount of unfairness in the world. From these three characters, it could be seen that under the same circumstances, different individuals can develop in different ways depending on the factors within themselves and how they relate with each other. Their personalities and what they knew can determine how they would understand and adapt to a new environment such as the tropical island. Not everyone has so much evil hidden inside themselves as to become complete savages when released from the boundaries of their society. Some people will, because of the ways they were conditioned and abide by the rules they had depended on for social organisation and security.
