The Lord of the Flies by William Golding NAME _______________________ Date _____________
SYMBOL - An object (concrete noun) that represents an idea or concept (abstract noun). For example, the American Flag stands for
democracy.)
Allegory - A narrative in which literal meaning corresponds clearly and directly to symbolic meaning. For example, the literal story in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress—
Christian’s journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City—is an allegory for the spiritual journey from sin to holiness.
Theme - A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work. For example, a major theme of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is the perpetual contest between good and
evil.
Secret
DIRECTIONS:
Who?
SYMBOL /Motif
1) Lord of the
Flies
Think about the chapters that you have read and fill out the chart.
What?
Where? When?
How? Why?
The Lord of the
Flies represents the
Devil/ Evil
This symbol first appears in
Chapter 8. Clues to this
meaning are apparent on page
122 &127-130. Simon witnesses
the pig’s head being impaled on
a stick.
The explanation of this is that the impaled figure is a representation of evil and violence. In some
sense a false God to whom the boys make sacrifices. It promotes violence because the boys kill in
order to appease it. When Simon has a conversation with the Lord of the Flies it is a biblical
allusion. It acts as a motif, because it brings to mind Jesus’ conversation with the devil during
his 40 days in the wilderness. The author uses these biblical references in order to point out the
moral issues of the novel.
Motif: parallels
certain events from
the bible.
2)
The Beastie
3) The Conch
4) Fire
5)Piggy’s Glasses