Golding describes the conch as white and cream, “in colour the shell was deep cream touched here and there with fading pink.” These colours are mainly white and white is associated with good and fairness. People value democracy very highly and in the past have fought and even died for it. Democracy is seen as fair, good, and this is also what the colours of the shell are associated with. Democracy, like the shell, is very precious and is easily broken. Golding describes the shell as if it is democracy as an object. When it is broken that is the end of fairness and equality. Although democracy is there most of the time the boys do not always respect and favour, it is because of this the democracy is destroyed.
At regular intervals during the book Ralph’s hair gets in his eyes this represents Ralph’s perception to see and understand things. This works on a physical and mental level. When his hair gets in his eyes he has to push it out of the way, “Ralph pushed the hair out of his eyes,” it is like a curtain over his mind obscuring his minds sight. When he has these mental blocks he has to have Piggy there to tell him what to say or make him understand something.
Piggy’s glasses act in the opposite way to Ralph’s hair. When Ralph’s hair is over his eyes he can’t physically or mentally see thing, but Piggy’s glasses have to be over his eyes for him to mentally and physically see things. When his glasses are on he is very insightful and intelligent. Piggy’s glasses get actionably steamed up this is much the same as Ralph getting his hair in his eyes, it obscures his vision so his is momentarily blind, both physically and mentally. When this happens Piggy must take his glasses of and clean them, “Piggy cleaned his lens.” He also takes his glasses of and cleans them when he needs to think about something. When Piggy’s glasses get half broken he has to take them off to polish them more often, “Piggy took his one pound of glass of and polished the surface.” He does this because he only has one glass and he can’t understand things as well as when he had both lenses, he has to think more about things to understand them. When his glasses are stolen he can’t see, understand anything and this inability to perceive thing’s results in his death.
Golding uses the fire to represent a number of things throughout the novel. It is used to symbolise hope, the only thing keeping Ralph, Piggy and Samneric form becoming savages at the end of the book is the hope of rescue the fire brings. It also represents power alongside the conch because whoever has the fire has light, warmth and the other assets that the fire brings. “We’ve got to keep the fire going.” By the end of the book even Ralph starts to forget why the fire is important all he knows is that it brings hope, “Ralph tried indignantly to remember, there was something good about the fire. Something overwhelmingly good.” His brain is starting to be affected by the lack of authority and guidance.
It also represents humanity, it looks good at first but if you get closer it will burn you. This is another message that Golding is trying to say all the way through the book, that we are fundamentally evil. Its destructive power is shown on the two occasions that the island is set on fire, it gets out of control, ravages and destroys whatever it comes into contact with. This, Golding believes, is the same principle as humanity
“Over the island the build up of clouds continued. The revolving masses of gas piled up the static until the air was ready to explode.” The storm represents the building tension between good and evil. It builds up as the tension between Ralph and Jack does, until finally it breaks and explodes. The final release of the build up between good and evil results in the death of Simon. “Then the clouds opened and let down the rain like a waterfall. The water bounded from the mountaintop, tore leaves and branches form tree’s, poured like a cold shower over the struggling heap on the sand. Presently the heap broke up and figures staggered away. Only the beast lay still, a few yards from the sea. Even the rain could see how small a beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand.” The force leading to this incident has been building up throughout the book and has got more and more tense until it reached its limit, then exploded resulting in serious outburst of rage and anger.
The boys on the island are afraid of a beast and first they think the beast is a physical thing, “the beast had teeth and big black eyes,” that the boys can hunt and kill with a spear. Infact the beast is quite the opposite, the beast is the evil within them, humanity’s evil. Golding said in a fable he wrote, “Humans produce evil like bee’s produce honey,” this is a message that he is trying to convey all the way through the book. Simon sees that the evil is not physical but mental towards the end of the book and as he trys to tell the others he is killed, like a martyr of his cause. The beast is also a symbol of the boys fear and paranoia; they get scared of something that isn’t physically there. The beast symbolises the devil as well and as it is also the evil within that means that mankind is the devil. Lord of the Flies in translated into Hebrew is Beelzebub which is another name for the devil.
The mountain symbolises the boy’s highest aspirations, what they aim to do. It also symbolises hope because they put the fire on top of the mountain. When the Parachutist landed in the mountain and they couldn’t get up to the top their aspirations and hopes of being rescued are unable to be achieved.
The parachutist represents a sign from the adults. It is also a sign that the adult civilisation is corrupt and that they are really no better than the civilisation that the boys have set up. “The beast was harmless and horrible,” the boys thought the parachutist was physically the beast and in some respects they were right, humanity is the beast and the evil.
These are just some of the symbols that Golding uses during the book, there are many more. He uses symbolism very well most things in the book usually have more than one meaning to them. He uses symbols to express and convey his personal feelings on mankind and civilisation. He doesn’t directly say that mankind is corrupt and fundamentally evil until the end of the book when he writes “Ralph wept for the darkness of mans heart” up until that point it is a subconscious message that is conveyed to the reader in an enigmatic way throughout the novel. Golding has very strong views that if he went straight out and just said them then people would condemn and argue with him but as his has conveyed it so subconsciously it does not register in your brain even though you are thinking about it.