The Lord of the Flies
William Golding
“Coming of Age” fiction novel
LITERARY DEVICES:
Setting: an uninhabited island on the Pacific Ocean
Page 27 “It was roughly boat-shaped: humped near this end with behind them the
jumbled decent to the shore. On either side rocks, cliffs, treetops, and a steer slope:
forward there, the length of the boat, a tamer descent, tree-clad, with hints of pink: and
then the jungly flat of the island, dense green, but drawn to the end to a pink tail. There,
where the island petered out in water, was another island; a rock, almost detached,
standing like a fort, facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion.”
Page 95 “The lagoon had protected them from the Pacific: and for some reason only Jack
had gone right down to the water on the other side.
Characterization:
Protagonist: Ralph
Ralph is a good looking tall child who is at first the chosen leader of the island. He is
serious and direct with the children as he focuses solely on survival and getting rescued.
He is also a fair leader and this is shown by his use of voting to make decisions. At first
Ralph is respected by most of the children, but once Jack takes charge, Ralph is resented
by everyone on the island except for Piggy and Simon, and is no longer viewed as a
leader. Ralph is a static character because he stays true to his idea throughout the story
and is one of the few who do not turn into savages.
Antagonist: Jack
Jack is a tall, red haired child who is power hungry who believes that he should be the
leader of the island. He feels a need for action and he plays by his own rules. This is
shown through his lack of respect for the conch, his opposition to voting, and the way he
bullies Piggy. Jack detests Ralph and feels that Ralph is a traitor for not following his
group. At first Jack is mostly viewed as a co-leader but most of the kids listen to Ralph
and not him. As time passes, Jack’s idea of hunting the beast and having fun becomes
more appealing and the children begin to view him as their leader. Eventually, only a few
characters do not follow Jack and he is the leader of the island. Jack is a dynamic
character because his ideas get darker and darker as time passes. At first he just wanted to
have fun and not worry about being rescued, but by the end of the novel, he transformed
into being a murderous savage. As he gets more powerful, he also becomes more violent
and more of a savage. As he transforms into something more evil, the rest of the children
who follow him change as well.
Other Characters: Piggy, Simon, Sam and Eric, Roger
Conflict: Conflict:
1) Man v. Nature
The struggle of the boys to find food, water, and shelter- savagery represented by the pig.
Page 28 “ They were in the beginnings of the thick forest, plonking with weary feet on a
track, when they heard the noises- squeakings -and the hard strike of hoofs on a
path…The three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish.”
Page 42 “Cooked fruit, that’s what we’ll have to eat, and roast pork. And that‘s nothing
to laugh at!”
2) Man v. Man
The development of two tribes of boys.
Page 84 “If Jack was chief he’d have all hunting and no fire. We’d be here till we died.”
Page 92 “ We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things.”
Page 135 “Long before Ralph and Piggy came up with Jack’s lot, they could hear the
party… All the boys of the island, except Piggy, Ralph, Simon, and the two tending the
pig, were grouped on the turf.”
Page 135 “ Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of
the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol.”
3) Civilization V. Savagery
One tribe of boys represented savagery by hunting boys and animals. The other tribe
strived for organization.
Page 42 “The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach. It
wasn’t half cold there in the night But the first time Ralph says ‘fire’ you goes howling
and screaming up this here mountain. Like a pack of kids!”
Page 164 “Jack had backed right against the tribe and they were a solid mass of menace
that bristled with spears.”
Point -of-View:
3rd Person Narration: narrator tells story omnisciently [moves back and forth between
different scenes and thoughts; doesn’t just tell the story from one character’s perspective]
Mood:
Sad: Piggy is dead [loss of most of the civilized people on the island]
Fearful: There must be rules on the island or chaos will break out [Jack and his followers
do not maintain the “fire“], Ralph doesn’t think he will live during the hunt in the end
Angry: Ralph is chosen chief [Jack creates his own tribe just so he can be chief]
Tone:
Pessimistic: Golding’s The Lord of the Flies examines the dark side of human nature
through:
-the creation of two tribes [civilization v. savagery]
- the death of Simon and Piggy
-the parachutist
-the spears Jack and his group uses to kill the pigs
Themes:
Theme: The Need For Civilization
The most obvious of the themes is man's need for civilization. Contrary to the belief that
man is innocent and society evil, the story shows that laws and rules, policemen and
schools are necessary to keep the darker side of human nature in line. When these
institutions and concepts slip away or are ignored, human beings revert to a more
primitive part of their nature.
Quote from Chapter Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair
"Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space
round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here, invisible
yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of
parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was conditioned by a
civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."
Theme: Innocence and the Loss of It
The existence of civilization allows man to remain innocent or ignorant about his true
nature. Although man needs civilization, it is important that he also be aware of his more
primitive instincts. Only in this way can he reach true maturity. Golding implies that the
loss of innocence has little to do with age but is related to a person's understanding of
human nature. It can happen at any age or not at all. Painful though it may be, this loss of
innocence by coming to terms with reality is necessary if humanity is to survive.
Quote from Chapter 12: Cry of the Hunters
"And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept
for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the
true wise friend called Piggy."
Theme: The Loss of Identity
Civilization separates man from the animals by teaching him to think and make choices.
When civilization slips away and man reverts to his more primitive nature, his identity
disintegrates. The boys use masks to cover their identity, and this allows them to kill and
later to murder. The loss of a personal name personifies the loss of selfhood and identity.
Quote from Chapter Eleven: Castle Rock
"Ralph nodded. He relaxed his fighting muscles, stood easily and grounded the butt of his
spear. Jack watched him inscrutably through his paint. Ralph glanced up at the pinnacles,
then toward the group of savages. . .The tribe of painted savages giggled and Ralph's
mind faltered. He pushed his hair up and gazed at the green and black mask before him,
trying to remember what Jack looked like."
Other Literary Devices:
Symbolism:
-the conch shell = unity and organization, it is the only thing that brings the boys
together. -the beast = represents the evil naturally present within everyone.
-Lord of the Flies = the reader becomes aware of the great evil and darkness represented
by the Lord of the Flies, shows the evil within man.
- Piggy’s specs = The evil within the boys has more effect on their existence as they
spend more time on the island, isolated from the rest of society, and this decline is
portrayed by Piggy’s specs. Piggy represents the civilization and the rules from which the
boys have been separated, and interestingly, as Piggy loses his ability to see, so do the
other boys lose their vision of that civilization.
Foreshadowing: The rolling of the boulders off the Castle Rock in Chapter 6
foreshadows Piggy’s death; the Lord of the Flies’ promise to have some “fun” with
Simon foreshadows Simon’s death. William Golding foreshadows by the use of conflict:
-weak (Piggy) versus strong foreshadows that Piggy will not be able to make it out of the
island alive.
-Ralph versus Jack= the tension from the beginning of the book between Ralph and Jack
foreshadows Jacks tribe completely separating from Ralph’s in chapter 11, order versus
chaos = Ralph is the only one who wants the island to be in order but the boys are
running around wildly.
Irony:
-The survivors of the plane crash are boys evacuated from a battle zone in a world war.
However, the society they form eventually breaks down, and the children go to war with
one another.
- Piggy's eyesight is weak, but his insight is strong.
-The British naval officer who arrives to rescue the boys at the end of the novel appears
to represent civilization and sanity. But he and the society he represents are actually a
mirror image, on a large scale, of the boys and their corrupt island society.
-When Jack sets a fire to roust Ralph from the forest, he unintentionally saves the lives of
all the remaining boys. It was this fire that attracted the attention of the British ship.
Satire: the roles of adults and children in modern society appears. Golding creates a
situation where children represent how adults handle the problems of society although
they are much too big for a single person to handle. Adults come to represent their own
hypocrisy, especially in the eyes of children, and the relationship between the two
develops in light of how, when adults become preoccupied with their own interests,
children sometimes get abandoned and left behind.
Diction: In The Lord of the Flies, Golding’s language is neutral. However, it is simple
and it is as if he is telling the story himself rather than writing prose. The vocabulary and
sentence structure are simply and easy to understand.
syntax: Most of the sentences in The Lord of the Flies are simple. There are sentences
that are complex and the occasional compound sentence. Most characters speak simply
and clearly. Often, they speak fragments and string together fragments and ramble.
Imagery: Golding frequently uses imagery to describe the scenery and the setting.
Personification - Golding uses little personification in this book. He does use it, however,
during the conversation between the dead pig head and Simon. The head is personified
and given able to speak to Simon. Although it is dead, it is proud and defiant in its
speech.
Simile - Golding occasionally uses simile. One occasion occurs in the first passage when
Golding compares the sand with a road saying, “there was a strip of weed-strewn beach
that was almost as firm as a road.”
Metaphor - Golding often uses metaphor in this book. In fact, all symbolism is a type of
metaphor since they compare two unlike things. Other metaphors in the book was when
Golding described the choir boy at the beginning of the book as a dark creature crawling
along the sand.
Allusion - Golding has several allusions in the book. The title itself is an allusion to the
Bible since “The Lord of the Flies” was a title given to Beelzebub. Simon’s name in the
book is also an allusion to the disciple Simon Peter.