LORD OF THE FLIES
Symbolism
THE CONCH SHELL
•Symbolizes law and order of the adult world –
democracy.
•Represents the authority the boys are so used to
obeying.
•When Jack destroys it, anarchy takes over because any
hope of strong, central leadership has been abandoned.
THE SIGNAL FIRE
•The smoke of the signal fire symbolizes the best hope
of the boys being rescued.
•To Piggy and Ralph, the fire represents the moral
influence of their old life in England.
THE “BEASTIE”
•The beast is seen as a real object on the island which
frightens the boys. In reality the beast is only their own
internal fear.
•It is located in the soul and mind of the boys, leading
them to the natural chaos of a society with no adults.
•The beast personifies the fear that every human being
on earth feels.
THE PIG
•It illustrates the line of aggression which becomes
more and more dominant in the course of events.
•So it is a symbol of Jack’s leadership. The pig-runs and
the dances around the fire show the upcoming madness
which leads to slaying of innocents
in the boys’ mystic rituals.
•The first killing of a pig also is a foreshadow of
Piggy’s death. His nickname Piggy contains the syllable
“pig”. He is killed by the hunters like a pig.
THE LORD OF THE FLIES
•Symbolizes the power of evil and the
evilness in the boys (and in humanity).
•The head is called “Lord of the Flies”
which is a translation of the word
Beelzebub (name of the devil in the Bible).
•The Lord of the Flies is connected with the symbol of
the pig (or rather, the head of a pig). It is the prince of
the devils and a symbolic dramatization of human evil.
PIGGY’S SPECS
•They symbolize the voice of reason and logic among
the boys. A symbol of intelligence and education.
•Notice how Piggy defends his glasses even more than
the conch. Piggy uses his glasses to find solutions to the
boys’ problems.
THE ISLAND
•The island symbolizes “isolation” and serves as the
perfect backdrop for the frailties of human nature which
eventually surface.
FACE PAINT
•The face paint is the excuse many of the boys use for
living as hunting savages, instead of civilized English
citizens.
•It serves as a mask that allows the boys to become
someone they are not.
•The paint symbolizes the smoke screen the beast uses
to infiltrate the boys’ souls.
THE PARACHUTE MAN
•The dead body flying in the parachute symbolizes the
end of adult supervision.
•Simon has a special connection with the parachute man
when he climbs the mountain to determine if the
parachute man is still alive.
•Simon realizes that the man is dead,
and
the beast is still alive.
THE SCAR
•The scar is where the plane crashed; it symbolizes
destruction.
•Time spent on the island also leaves a scar.
•The boys destroy themselves and others leaving internal
scars.
RALPH
•This character represents the law-abiding hardworking
citizen who works for the good of the group and has
faith that everything will turn out all right in the end if
the proper rules are obeyed by everyone.
JACK
•This character represents the destructive forces in
society: ruthless and evil, he plays on the fears of the
group to gain power over them. Rather than help society,
he wants to dominate it.
PIGGY
•The character stands for the intellectual who tries to
solve problems with logic and reason. Because he is
considered “different” by the others, they pay little
attention to him and he is ineffective despite his
intelligence.
SIMON
•This character represents the mystic, spiritual leader or
philosopher who functions on a higher plane than the
rest of society. He simply “knows” things – but is
unable to communicate his knowledge to the others.
SAM AND ERIC
•They are the last to remain loyal to Ralph and they
represent the tug-of-war within us to remain good.
“LITTLUNS”
•“Littluns” ~ The younger kids.
•Represent the common folk, who easily follow the lead
of others into savagery when there is no enforced
structure in society.