Lord of the flies

We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have hands up like at school

ralph attempts to establish order in the group through meetings and rules. These symbols represent the boys’ struggle to create a community with shared values amidst the chaos and individualistic impulses

Context: social control theory where lack of rules from the adult world and absence of societal norms leads to descent into savagery

Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood

the chant signifies the boys’ descent into savagery, marked by primal actions and mosyllabic, violent language. Their behaviour contrasts sharply with societal norms, reflecting the theme of savagery. This chant and jack’s shift to tribalism represents a regression from Christian morality to primitive, blood thirsty paganism

Without structure of organized religion and law, humans naturally gravitate towards a religion of fear than a religion of love

the mask was a thing on its own, behind which jack hid liberated from shame and self consciousness

jack’s use of face paint symbolises his abandonment of societal rules. Golding suggests that without constraints, individuals can descend into savagery, reinforcing the theme of civilisation vs savagery

Context: social control theory where→ lack of rules = savagery

Hobbes: man is born evil → Golding’s pessimistic view of man produces evil like a bee produces honey → jack already had evil, hence why he hid behind a mask till rules were gone, his true self came out away from adult world.

the rock struck piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist

piggy’s death and the destruction of the conch symbolises the collapse of reason and marks the victory of autocracy over democracy. The conch exploding shows the final break of civilisation, the end of structure and the arise of chaos and savagery. Piggy;s death also symbolises the no need for reason or intellect → showing his morals weren’t wanted

Symbolises total collapse of order

Context → post world war 2 disillusionment → loss of faith in civilised systems

The creature was a party of boys

the description of jack’s choir as a creature foreshadows the boys’ descent into evil. Golding suggests that human evil stems from within rather than an external force → reinforcing themes of good vs evil

roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry - threw it to miss

Roger’s restrained violence toward Henry demonstrates his capacity for evil, constrained only by societal norms. Golding implies that without rules, individuals like roger would commit horrific acts

Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart

Ralph’s tears reflect his realisation of humanity’s innate capacity for evil. Golding suggests that even in the face of authority, evil persists, reinforcing the theme of good vs evil

He weeps for the end of democracy within society, as jack uses violence to dominate, this leads to the killing of Simon and piggy which results in Ralph’s realisation that jack’s autocracy has taken over and dominated with the use of fear and violence → overall division of the boys.

Roger was conditioned by a civilisation that knew nothing of him and was in ruins

Initially, he hesitates to throw stones at Henry, due to the constraint of rules and societal norms. But now as he spends more time away from the adult world and grown ups, this conditioning fails and his evil emerges. Evil = the natural state while morality is an artificial learned behaviour which as soon as it is dropped, natural evil emerges.

Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach

Simon’s act of kindness parallels the biblical figure, Jesus, Simon embodies the Christ like figure like Jesus feeding the multitude. Golding explores the conflict between absolute human goodness ( Simon ) and the innate evil within the individuals

Context: the bible and Jesus feeding the multide and this contrast between Hobbes theory of innate evil and rousseau’s theory that actually humans ae naturally good and society corrupts them → the death of Simon caused by the evil

He’s queer, he’s funny

Ralph’s derogatory remark about Simon isolates him despite his altruism ( unselfishness and generosity ), reflecting golding’s view on humanity’s innate capacity nature. It suggests a rejection of community in favour of individualism also showing that goodness is rejected in the presence of evil, evil dominates no matter what → showing the ‘darkness of man’s heart’

We’ve got to have rules and obey them, after all, we’re not savages’

jack’ attitude towards rules foreshadows hi authoritarianism and lust for power. Golding contrasts democracy with authoritarianism highlighting the allure of power of cooperation. Also showing that power in the wrong hands → corruption

Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew didn’t you? I’m a part of you?

the lord of the flies, speaks to Simon, confirming that evil is internal, Simon is the only one who realises this, Golding uses this hallucination to show that the boys are actually afraid of their own capacity for violence rather than the external force of evil. The beast is a projection of their own evil and inner corruption

Fear: he is a symbol of truth, in attempt to tell the truth, that beast lies within man, this results in his death → the destructive nature of fear and fear-driven ignorance

What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grown - ups going to think?

piggy’s power is intellectual; without the projection of Ralph’s presence or the conch’s social standing, he is powerless. Golding suggests that in a statue of ‘right’ intellect is easily crushed by a physical force → his death

I ought to be chief because I’m chapter chorister and head boy, i can sing c sharp

initially jack looks for power through social status, when this fails and he ‘hides behind a mask’ he uses the beast and his violence as a political tool, a common enemy to keep his followers in fear and dependence

Where the conch is, thats a meeting

strucutre of civilisation. Ralph’s power is tied to the conch showing speech and order, but his power is fragile as it requires the boys to choose survival over hunting

The island → ‘enchanted’ and ‘bright’ but marred by the ‘scar’

scar is left by plane crash and the boys initial nakedness and lack of shame eventually turns into a violent loss of innocence

Golding uses the concept of original sin to show that even in a paradise free from adults, with no shame, like Adam and Eve in garden of Eden, they cannot maintain peace as the serpent is already inside of them

It is initially symbolised as idyllic and a paradise, a home for beauty then nurtures violence and corruption

Hopeless fear on flying feet

fear drives the plot forward and this shows Ralph’s fear when hunted by jack’s tribe

Decaying coconuts

‘Darkness’

‘Threatening heat’

descriptions of the island explore how the island creates a fearful atmosphere → inner fear within the boys already

Golding wrote novel in the time of aftermath of World War Two, this reflects the fearful atmosphere during this time that is imprinted into the atmopshere in the novel here

what does dead parachutist symbolise?

body represents the boys’ projection of their own inner savagery onto an external figure → fear which accelerates their panic

Where the conch is thats a meeting

Conch symbolises democracy, authority and social structure within society

Represents fairness, rules and its authority depends on the boys

Once conch is destroyed, loss of civilisation → links to after world war 2, people’s loss of faith in civilised systems

His specs - use them as burning glasses!

From his left hand dangled piggy’s broken glasses

fire = survival and hope - glasses enable hope for survival and represent the dual nature of using science to help nature → creation vs destruction

shift → destruction of his glasses → loss of clarity and rationality and pure intellect

Context → atomic bomb → science used destructively during ww2

The lord of the flies hung on a stick

Religious imagery ( a mocking sacrifice )

Lord of the flies is a direct confrontation of evil to Simon the pig is like a sacrifice to the demon

Context → links to the allusion of beelzebub ( a demon ) → reinforces theme of innate sin

The fire’s the most important thing on the island

Contrast with : ‘the forest was savage with smoke and flame’

• Ralph values rescue and order

• Symbolises hope and safety

• fire is then progressively used to hunt and destroy and becomes a symbol for violence and death

Context: dual symbolism → reflects human capacity for both creation and destruction

the crowd leapt on to the beast…screamed, struck, bit, tore’

violent verbs → animalistic behaviour

Reference to Simon’s death → ultimate loss of moral control and morality in general

Hunter full embody savagery and collective violence

Context: man is naturally evil, hence they are so capable of going so far with their evil instincts

which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?

Piggy uses logic and reasoning → moral clarity

Glasses and piggy symbolise knowledge and technological, scientific power

Intellectual power is valuable but physical weak → easily overthrown by evil

Fear can’t hurt you unless you’re frightened of people

fear becomes a political tool

Power is first done by rules then is maintained through manipulation of fear

Power thrives when people are controlled psychologically

I cut the pig’s throat

violence and killing becomes desirable and exciting

Links to the chant → rhythmic, ritualistic violence

Violence shifts from necessity to enjoyment

I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you

• Acts like this is a game

• Jack publicly rejects Ralph’s authority And splits the group by creating his own tribe

• Personal conflict between him and Ralph becomes societal division