Symbols and Symbolism in Lord of the Flies :: Lord Flies Essays

symbolization in Lord of the Flies   In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, the boys who are stray on the island come in contact with galore(postnominal) unique elements that mean ideas or concepts. Through the use of symbols such as the sentient being, the pig beds head, and even Piggys specs, Golding demonstrates that humans, when emancipated from societys rules and taboos, allow their natural capacity for repulsiveness to dominate their existence.   One of the nigh important and just about obvious symbols in Lord of the Flies is the inclination that gives the novel its name, the pigs head. Goldings description of the slaughtered animals head on a spear is real graphic and even frightening. The pigs head is depicted as dim-eyed, grinning faintly, inception sableening between the teeth, and the obscene thing is covered with a black blob of flies that tickled under his nostrils (William Golding, Lord of the Flies, New York, Putnam Publishing Group, 1954, p. 137, 138). As a result of this detailed, striking image, the reader becomes aware of the great dark and darkness represented by the Lord of the Flies, and when Simon begins to converse with the seemingly inanimate, devil-like object, the line of descent of that wickedness is revealed. Even though the conversation may be tout ensemble a hallucination, Simon learns that the beast, which has long since frightened the other boys on the island, is not an orthogonal force. In fact, the head of the slain pig tells him, Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill Ö You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? (p. 143). That is to say, the evil, epitomized by the pigs head, that is causing the boys island society to line of descent is that which is inherently present within man. At the end of this scene, the immense evil represented by this powerful symbol can once once more be seen as Simon faints after looking into the wide mouth of the pig and seeing blackness within, a bl ackness that spread (p. 144).   Another of the most important symbols used to present the theme of the novel is the beast. In the imaginations of many of the boys, the beast is a tangible source of evil on the island. However, in reality, it represents the evil naturally present within everyone, which is causing life on the island to deteriorate. Simon begins to realize this even before his encounter with the Lord of the Flies, and during one personal line of credit over the existence of a beast, he attempts to share his insight with the others.