Introduction
In the novel Lord of the Flies, a group of young unsupervised boys are stranded and left to develop their social society and ways of survival. To develop this story, Henry Golding uses the symbolism of the fire, the Beast, and the mask as symbols that demonstrate the evil of humankind in every human being who operates without the rule of law.
- The Beast
- The Beast is a symbol of superstition and fear in the group of boys
- Piggy sets the tone on the island early when he says, “We may stay here till we die” This makes the already on-edge boys even more fearful of the unknown (3).
C.) Fear that the Beast creates shows that fear can change even the most slain of men into savages
III. The Mask
- The mask helps the boys hide from the reality and consequences of their actions.
- The mask helps the boys feel anonymous about their actions, giving them the illusion of freedom from their savagery.
- This is very evident when Ralph states that the other group of boys “understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought” (172).
- The Fire
- The fire symbolizes comfort, destruction, hope, and rescue.
- When Ralph sets his first signal on fire, it burns out of control,
The destruction gives the boys a different view than the fire, which is only for comfort.
Conclusion
Lord of the Flies creates a view on liberalism conservatives and fear of the unknown.
Symbolism in the Lord of the Flies
The events in Lord of The Flies represent political and primitive situations based on the reactions of a group of unsupervised young boys. The boys are stranded and lost after their plane crashes on a far removed island. Their lives progress as they make decisions about how day-to-day jobs and how they are to be completed. Strife results between two groups of boys, and it is hard for the boys to find a healthy balance of rules and power (Golding). In the novel Lord of the Flies, a group of young unsupervised boys are stranded and left to develop their social society and ways of survival. Symbols add meaning to the novel and provide clarity to the ideas being passed across in the novel. All this takes place during the WWII period when the plane crashes from being shot. The boys survive but find themselves alone on an inhabitable island. The boys encounter strange things which symbolize crucial concepts and ideologies in the novel (Boyd). To develop this story, Henry Golding uses the symbolism of the fire, the Beast, and the mask as symbols that demonstrate the evil of humankind in every human being who operates without the rule of law.
The Beast is another imaginary being that symbolizes and causes the fear needed to instigate savagery. To begin with, William Goldberg uses the symbolism of the Beast to demonstrate superstition and fear in the group of boys (Dicken-Fuller). Also, the boys realize the seriousness of their predicament when they accidentally discover the Beast hanging in a tree. Piggy sets the tone on the island early when he says, “We may stay here till we die” This makes the already on-edge boys even more fearful of the unknown (3). Finally, the fear that the Beast creates shows that fear can change even the sanest of men into savages. However, the fear also leads some boys to create more rules in society to cope with the fear instilled in them. Since the beast is a figment of their imagination, the Beast itself is in their mind, creating their fear. This increases their savagery because they can’t find any closer to defeating the beast. In reality, the Beast is their mind playing tricks on themselves. Not only does the symbolism of the Beast demonstrate the evil in unrestrained human beings, but also so does the symbolism of the Mask.
The symbolism of the Mask represents the various ways the boys justify their acts of savagery. Ralph wears the Mask while killing two of the boys to protect his position of power on the island (Alnajm). The mask represents their self-consciousness and our general feeling of guilt for things we do, which is why Ralph wears the mask when he commits his inhumane actions ( Wikibooks). Also, the mask helps the boys feel anonymous for their actions, giving them the illusion of freedom from their savagery (Symbols and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies, Lord of the Flies, Essays). This is very evident when Ralph states that the other group of boys “understood only too well the liberation into savagery that the concealing paint brought” (172). Masks can be made of different materials such as plastic model, a piece of paper, however, in the novel the Lord of Flies, the painted face, creating the feeling of freedom from duties or responsibilities ( LitCharts).
The fire symbolizes control, hope, and comfort. Without the fire, there would be no moments of calm on the island. Also, the addition of the fire provides hope that the boys will be rescued. When the signal fire burns out of control, the boys feel a lack of control on the island. Even though the fire is an important symbol in the story, so is “the Beast.” As the novel commences, Ralph is determined to keep the fire signal from going off so that ship passers-by can be easily traced and rescued (Gale). This depicts the boys’ hope of being saved and returning to civilization. Later, the fire spreads from the mountain to the beach, and this symbolizes the boys who also get out of control. The fire burning out symbolized their turn down to civilization. Unfortunately, the boys change their interest in the ship and start focusing on hunting and filling their bellies, led by Jack. The fire to the reader represents the technology. Like an atomic bomb destroying the world when it becomes uncontrollable. It’s all good until it can’t be controlled. The boys lost vision of life rescue and instead gave in to the savagery of life on the aisle. The power of destruction still arises within mankind (Bloom). Thus the fire symbolized control, hope, and comfort, however, the Destruction makes the boys have a different view than the fire being only for comfort.
To sum up, the lord of the Flies is a novel that explores barbarity versus civilization. Their main aim was to create a fire that would produce a smoke signal, which would enable the ship that passed by to identify and avail to their rescue (Lord of the Flies Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory). All this was symbolic. Arguably, the symbolism used in the book is very significant in bringing out the theme and apply in our daily lives today (SparkNotes). Golding tries to explain that evil nature is inherent in humanity and decides to take control whenever they are made free from societal rules. In real life, some of these actions, places, and objects are not taken seriously, and this is the primary cause of the deviation from good to evil acts.
Work Cited
Alnajm, Alaa Lateef. “The Main Themes in Lord of the Flies.” International Journal of English and Literature, vol. 6, no. 6, 2015, pp. 98–102.
Bloom, Harold. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Infobase Publishing, 2007.
Boyd, Stephen J. The Novels of William Golding. Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990.
Dicken-Fuller, Nicola C. William Golding’s Use of Symbolism. State Mutual Book &Periodical, 1990.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Peter Brook’s” Lord of the Flies (Film Entry)”. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin, 1983.
Lord of the Flies Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory. https://www.shmoop.com/lord-of-the-flies/symbolism-imagery.html. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.
Lord of the Flies Symbols from LitCharts | The Creators of SparkNotes. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/lord-of-the-flies/symbols. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.
Lord of the Flies/Symbolism – Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies/Symbolism. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.
SparkNotes: Lord of the Flies: Symbols. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/flies/symbols/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.
Symbols and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Lord Flies Essays. http://www.123helpme.com/assets/9704.html. Accessed 10 Apr. 2018.
