The defects of human nature are shown in Golding’s novel through the characters of Jack and his hunters. Here, Golding shows that men are fundamentally evil; and when left alone to fend for themselves, they revert back to the savage roots of their ancestors. This is seen in the novel towards the end, when the tribe is hunting Ralph. By now things have become out of hand, and there is little or no control. Even the naval officer who saves the boys knows their civilization has become savage. He explains various themes, and basic ideas that give the reader something to think about. One of the most basic and obvious themes, is that the society holds everyone together, and without these rules and conditions, our ideals, values, and right and wrong would be lost. Without society's rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light.
Although there are many “beasts” in this novel, the real beast is within the boys at the end of the story once they have become savages; they even kill because of what they have now become. In the beginning of the story the boys are clean, presentable and well mannered; they are sociable, innocent boys, but as the story goes on we see the deterioration of the boys, by the end of the story they have become savages, dirty, angry; an uncivilized, unpleasant group of rebels. Their deterioration is represented well by Piggy’s glasses. The glasses symbolize the voice of reason and logic among the boys. Piggy defends his glasses more than anything, even more than the conch. Piggy from start to end is always attempting to keep order, and show the importance of rules while standing behind Ralph, “How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?” Piggy, who represents the society’s combined personality, uses his glasses to find solutions to the boys’ problems. The most important solution the glasses find is lighting the fire, the boys’ best chance of being rescued. The glasses are eventually smashed, representing the boys losing touch with their old lives, now they have become a wild tribe.
The beast, the Lord of the Flies, is seen as a real object on the island which frightens the boys. Actually the beast is something internal; the Lord of the Flies is in soul and mind of the boys, leading them to the natural disorder and mayhem of a civilisation with no reasoning adults. Only Simon understands what the real beast is, but is killed when he tries to tell the boys about the Lord of the Flies. The beast shows how we create something evil in our lives so we can be seen as good.
The boys create many different images of the beast; the snake thing is one of these, it is a “beastie” from the woods seen by only one boy alone in the dark, this is seen towards the beginning of the story and is the first image of a beast, Ralph immediately tries to dismiss this because “there isn’t a beastie,” of course he is right and most agree, except a few of the younger boys who are a little frightened of the idea. Golding is clever to use a snake as one symbol of the beast because the snake is a traditional symbol of evil & the devil, as shown when Eve is tempted by the snake in the Garden of Eden. The snake is only present in the boys’ imagination.
As the idea of a beast in the woods is dismissed, the younger ones in the group come up with the idea of something in the sea, a creature, a beast. Ralph once again tries to argue the fact that it’s all imaginary, but this time his attempts fail, because now his voice is less confident, so a chaotic argument breaks out. Jack takes his chance to become leader, by promising to hunt the beast. This argument is when the confusion and disorder really starts, and their civilization is broken down. Jack forgets the rules and returns to talking of the hunt “Bollocks to the………………..and beat and beat-!” with his strong words the boys turn to him for leadership, and so Ralph and Piggy are now considered the enemy/outcasts to the hunters.
The arrival of the parachutist provides another beast to be hunted by “the choir” (the hunters).The dead body hanging (flying) in the parachute, symbolizes the end of adult supervision over the boys and the island. The parachutist is swinging back and forth on the island, creating a powerful image of its’ drawn out death. So while the law and order of the adult world is disappearing, childish behaviour and chaos is growing. Simon has a special connection with the parachute man. He climbs the mountain (while in a hallucinatory state) in search of the beast. He has a conversation with the beast, and it talks to him “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” then Simon talks back. After his conversation he finds that the beast was only the parachutist, and the real beast is what the other boys have become. He is the only one to realise this because he is unafraid. He runs to the group to tell them what he knows, but is tragically killed by the tribe during a fierce dance, which takes place in the storm.
At the end of Golding’s novel, the titles’ meaning has long been realised; the lords of the flies, is the; devil, beastie, snake, parachutist, thing from the air/sea/woods and it is the beast within. The head of the dead sow is symbolic of the lord of the flies. The lord of the flies has won when the boys had become savages.
I believe that Golding has decided what he wants to say in this novel, and put it across successfully in a discreet fashion, and he has this done without flaw, but I will say the story is so symbolic it needs much thought to really understand. Although the story is complex and at times confusing, once you realise the various different meanings present, it can be quite rewarding, and the overall story alone is extremely moving. I personally prefer to look at both meanings; that there is some evil (a beast) in all of us, and that each of the characters represent different aspects of the human personality.