There is alot of symbolisation with in the characters particuarlly The Beast as it is not seen at all by the boys except Simon but he is experiencing a fit. I think The Beast is the evil that resides within man. The children were all aware that such a beast exists, but none of them realized (except Simon) that it lies within them. Ralph seems to know that the beast is otherworldly “He felt himself facing something ungraspable.” But was yet to discover fully as Simon had done.
Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making rules for the boys to follow. As chief, he knows right from wrong. At the end of the novel he too realizes that man is not a kind creature by nature. Anarchy finally hunts down society in the end, but Golding does not let the reader see which side would win without intervention.
Jack (and his tribe) represent anarchy. When jack paints his face and put on his mask he is becoming a diiferent person that no longer cares about rescue but just the primal instinct to hunt and kill “...the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”. Jack did not have the integrity to keep the Beast at bay “He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up.”. He is the perpetrator of all three deaths that occur on the island and wishes to spend his time hunting instead of helping Ralph with rescue he turns into a cruel viscious creature that is pleasured by taking away life from the innocent “His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.”
Piggy symbolizes knowledge and morality. Without Piggy to help Ralph it is very possible that Ralph may have lost sight of things and given in to the Beast. Jack, who, throughout the novel seems to remove the forces opposing him like Simon who had just found out about the beast and Samneric, he is afraid of Piggy and eventually kills him to eliminate his moral influence and foresight on the group.
The Conch is a symbol of law and democracy. Used to call meetings, it is magical to the boys, who for the most part respect it. In the end, when it is destroyed, authority on the island is gone and Ralph is left to fend for himself. The Signal Fire is a representation of commonsense and rescue from the island which is portrayed to be hell in the end. When the signal fire can no longer be lit, because Jack stole Piggy’s glasses that light it, its beacon of hope and knowledge is no longer present to guide Ralph who must then be constantly reminded by Piggy about what is right and after the ship passes marks the momnet when Jack and Ralph part ways and become hated rivals “Not even Ralph knew how a link between him and Jack had been snapped and fastened elsewhere.” . Piggy’s glasses represent the fore sight on the island, and as jack break them and finally steals them represent the descent into savagery The Lord of the Flies represents the Beast’s danger and power. The lord of the flies was also a name for Satan in ancient times, this could signify that the island has turned into hell and now the devil is present fuelling the savagery.
The most evident moment of pure hatred and savagery can be seen in Simon's savage killing. He represents the search for the truth, but even the truth has not enough power to be heard in such a chaotic atmosphere. What deserves consideration is the similarity between Simon and Christ's figure. Simon is the only character depicted in the novel that will have enough courage to search and confront the beast, finding the logical solution to this mystery. Ralph represents leadership, charisma and reason as an attitude. He often needs Piggy's help to express clearly what his purposes are. The relation between these two characters defines the authority of the democracy of the shell. Ralph is balanced enough to contemplate a sensible character with his like for adventure. His humanity is perhaps one of his most endearing characteristics: he could not bear sleeping alone in the night even when being persecuted by the children's tribe and decided to hide near the Castle rock. The beast, an illusory creation, was less frightening to him than the imminent danger of his own hunting.
Once Piggy and Simon are dead, reason is out of the island. There is still one representative character of the initial order, Ralph, but he is persecuted and his credibility no longer exists. Therefore he will be tracked and hunted as a pig until the officer arrived.
In spite of his quiet character, he is a blood-thirsty child who enjoys hunting and hurting people, finding special pleasure when killing Piggy. But if Jack tends to represent the evil figure, Roger represents evilness as a force. The relation Jack and Roger hold could be compared to that of Ralph and Piggy. If Piggy symbolizes the voice of reason, Ralph's charisma makes his reasonable proposals come to light. Roger is also the executive power, the indispensable authority which stands beside the leader doing the dirty work; but a secret yearning of power is observed when mistreating Sam and Eric. Simon is the opposite of Roger, a strange and secluded one, like the artist which trusts in solitude to develop inspiration and deep thinking. He could be seen as the philosopher who sacrifices enjoying any pleasure for making complex intelligent efforts. Simon took delight in taking care of the "littluns". His like-mindedness with the children leads him to search and discover the enigmatical truth. Sam and Eric are also interested in the good working order, since they need amity with the group similar to the one that the two brothers maintain. The strength of their union is idealized to the extent of being considered an only person. It is so explicit that the kids on the island even call them by a single name: Samneric. We can also outstand other features in their character like being subdued to the leader. Firstly they accept the order of the shell, but later on their lives overcome their honour and they finally betray Ralph. Their betrayal is due to their innocence, but their act could be seen within the adult world as a sign of cowardliness and interest.
The adult world appears finally in the book with the coming of the officer, an officer which is taking part in a real war. He is surprised of finding a burning island, but he is still proud of being a soldier who also contributes on a nuclear war which is destroying the whole world.
So I think that the events on the island are mirrored in real life off on the island as the world is slowly destroying itself much like the boys are on the island.
