Lord of the
Flies
Literary Analysis

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1. The conch. Skim pp. 11-15; identify keywords and quotes. Read pp. 200-201.
Analyse the destruction of the conch and what it signifies.
2. The sow’s head. Skim pp. 150-151 and
157-158. Identify keywords and quotes; discuss the significance of the sow’s head in Simon’s death.

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3. The signal fire. Fire represents both destruction and rescue in this book. Read pp. 41-47 and 219-223. Identify keywords and quotes. Analyse the fire and what it signifies.
4. Piggy’s glasses. These represent the power of science and rationality. Read p.
40 then pp. 184-186. Identify keywords and quotes. Analyse what the loss of
Piggy’s glasses represents.

Use of characters as symbols
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1. Ralph: represents leadership and humanity in all its inherent goodness as well as its flaws.
Analyse Ralph as a character in terms of leadership and as a person with flaws.
Chapters 1, 9, 10 and p. 225.
2. Jack: represents the evil that lies concealed by the thin façade of civilisation.
He desires power and is also a natural leader, so is the equal but antithesis to Ralph. Analyse
Jack as a character and the catalyst for the breakdown of society. Chapters 1, 4, 8, 9, 11

Use of characters as symbols
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3. Simon: is variously described as “the Christ figure”; “the essence of goodness”; “the representation of truth”. Simon is prone to fainting and hallucinates, meaning that he’s probably epileptic. He is a revelatory character. Analyse Simon in terms of what he reveals and what is concealed by his death.
4. Piggy: represents reason, progress, science.
His is the voice that is most strongly for law and order and most emphatically denies the beast. His hair never seems to grow. Analyse
Piggy in terms of his relationships with others.

Use of characters as symbols
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5. Roger: the resident psychopath. Find the early description of him and discuss what this reveals about him from the beginning. Analyse Roger in terms of what he means to Jack’s leadership and connections to similar figures in history – e.g., Himmler.

Literary Devices/Techniques
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1. Allegory: the novel is set on an island during an unknown war – probably nuclear. The “microcosm” of the island represents the world at war.
2. Narrator’s POV: the style is that of the
“omniscient” narrator – the “eye of God”.
Everything is reported – both actions and feelings. See especially Chapter 8: the pig hunt, Simon’s encounter with the LOTF and
Piggy and Ralph at the fire.

Literary Devices/Techniques
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3. Setting: the island is beautiful, tropical and uninhabited until the boys land on it.
That such brutality occurs in such a beautiful place is a direct criticism of man’s negative effect on his environment.
4. Genre/Style: this is known as a
“dystopic” novel – one that represents a corrupt, dysfunctional and decaying society (as opposed to “utopia” which is the ideal society).

Literary Devices/Techniques
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5. Pathetic fallacy: this is a particular type of personification where nature can represent and reflect human feelings. See
“The air was ready to explode” at the beginning of chapter 9. How does this underline/reflect what is happening?
Personification: e.g., the fire. Analyse the effect of the fire as a consuming, voracious human in the final chapter.

Literary Devices/Techniques
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Foreshadowing: e.g., Simon’s death foreshadowed; his prediction that Ralph will get off the island; the personified fire in chapter 2 foreshadowing the destructive fire of the final chapter; Jack: we’re not savages.” What is the effect of foreshadowing?
Irony: used throughout almost as a motif.
What is the point of it? Give some examples.

Literary Devices/Techniques
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Allusion: The Lord of the Flies is a biblical allusion – refers to one of the biblical names for Satan: Beelzebub.
Motifs: “I’ve got the conch!” – Piggy’s motif.
“Sharpen a stick at both ends” – Roger’s ominous intentions for Ralph.
“chief” – “Chief”
The fire.
The beast.