LORD OF THE FLIES
THEMES
HUMAN BEINGS ARE INNATELY EVIL
 Golding’s main reason for writing Lord of the Flies was to prove
that humans are born evil and that society with its rules and
consequences is what keeps mankind from acting evil
THE NEED FOR CIVILIZATION
 Laws, rules, policemen, schools, etc. are needed to keep the
darker side of human nature in line
 When these institutions are taken away, human beings
revert to a more primitive part of their nature
LOSS OF INNOCENCE
 The existence of civilization allows man to remain innocent
or ignorant about his true nature
 Golding implies that innocence has little to do with age, but
is related to a person’s understanding of human nature
LOSS OF IDENTITY
 The loss of a personal name personifies the loss of selfhood
and identity
 Piggy, littluns, Samneric
 The boys use masks to cover their identities thus allowing
them to do things that they would not normally do
 kill pigs, murder
POWER


Different types of power with their uses and abuses are
central to the story
Each type of power is used by one of the major characters
in the novel
 Ralph= democratic power
 Jack= totalitarian power
 Piggy= intellectual power
 Simon= spiritual power
 Roger= brute force
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
 Humans fear what they don’t know
 On the island, the boys fear of the darkness and the beast
whips them into hysteria
 The recognition that no real beast exists and that there is
only the power of fear is one of the deepest meanings in
the novel
THE INDIFFERENCE OF NATURE
 In the novel, nature is proven to be indifferent to human’s
existence
 Though mankind is aware of nature, nature is not aware of
mankind
BLINDNESS AND SIGHT
 Being blind and having sight are interwoven themes in many
works of literature we have read this year
 One who is blind to his immediate surroundings usually has
special understanding of things others cannot fathom
 This person sees more yet is not recognized by those around
him
 Such a person is often considered a fool and ridiculed by
others
 Piggy
 Tiresias
 Soothsayer