The Symbolic Use of the Color Green in Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is the story of boys evacuated from England
during an atomic war at some unspecified future time. The boys land on a tropical island in a
passenger tube which drops from a flaming airplane, and in their struggle for survival they
encounter conflicts similar to the antagonisms of the society from which they have come. But
without the traditional society and the guidance adults, the natural evil in the boys overwhelms
their weak social system, and their civilization itself is threatened. In the plot Golding’s major
theme becomes apparent as an attempt to display evil as the inborn characteristic of man which
gives rise to the defects of a community. In order to present this theme, Golding builds a many
layered structure interwoven with numerous motifs with varying degrees of prominence. An
inconspicuous but highly significant motif is the word green.
Green has almost innumerable meanings but is often used to express the idea if
immaturity or inexperience. The meaning of these two words can e combined into one specific
word, innocence, meaning the innocence of the child and the innocence of nature. Nature is
green and nature is innocent. But it is the innocence of the wild and the untamed, for the quiet
forest cannot conceal the bitter fight for survival among the different species of animals. A child
is innocent, and the child is also “green.” Hidden behind the mask of innocent youth is animal
instinct and desire. When the natural instinct of man becomes apparent, he has become “green”;
he has become like the wild animal. In the novel the retrogression of the boys from civilization to
savagery is paralleled with the motif green which first describes the “feathery tops of the palms”
but later describes the green which the boys crave.
In the beginning of the story Golding describes the “green feathers” of the palm tree and
the “dense green” of “the jungly flat of the island.” These phrases introduce the reader to the idea
that green is a symbol of the natural state. Similar statements are made throughout the novel in
order that the reader will continue to associate green with nature. Further into the book the author
attempts to show the reader the different sides of nature. Reference is made to “waxen green”
flowers and the “green candle-like buds” which surround Simon’s “little cabin.” But there is also
reference to “a mass of twisted stems, black and green and impenetrable.” The former is
representative of the peaceful and beautiful side of nature, and the latter is representative of the
wild and ugly side of nature. This idea of green as a force of nature must be kept in mind while
considering all other repetitions of the color.
After the motif green is established as a symbol of nature’s power, the reader notices how
frequently the boys have been found in green shadows. At the beginning of the novel when
Ralph removes his clothes to go swimming, he “stood there among the skull-like coconuts with
green shadows from the palms and the forests sliding over his skin;’ when he leaves the water he
“decided that the shadows on his body were really green.” Shortly after, Ralph blows the conch
and watches the boys coming up the beach, “their heads clustered above the trunks in the green
shade.” Golding narrates: “Some were naked and carrying their clothes, others half naked, or
more or less dressed . . . “ It is through these references to green that Golding begins to build a
parallel to the retrogression of the boys. The clothing which they have shed is the first link to
civilization which they have broken. It is indeed ironic that a the end of the novel, the boys are
rescued by a naval officer who also stands in a “green shade.”
At this point Golding presents the reader with an outstanding analogy to his theme. While
Piggy and Ralph are speaking of the conch, Piggy tells where he has seen another. Someone he
knew “had it on his garden wall . . . . He had some white stones too, an’ a bird cage with a green
parrot.” The conch was suspended on the wall for everyone to admire and respect, but the green
parrot was in a cage. To be allowed in society, green must remain caged or hidden. Otherwise,
this inborn characteristic of man becomes apparent and leads to the defects of society. In effect,
Golding is presenting a summary of his theme in the words of his intellectual character, Piggy.
With the progression of the story, the boys become more dependent on materials
associated with green. They procure food from the forest with “the palms that made a green
roof.” Even by “the place of assembly,” one of the boys’ major links to civilization, stand trees
which form a “green roof.” If the boys are to be rescued, they must build a fire which will emit
smoke, and for this “green branches” are necessary. And with the retrogression of the island
society, these dependencies become ironic. The forest which is necessary for the boys’ survival
is also believed to be the home of the beast. The pigs which provide the meat the boys cherish
leave “olive green” droppings, and the boys believe droppings to be “the dirtiest thing there is.”
Also, the boys do not have enough organization to keep the fire, a symbol of rescue and hope,
burning. The boys are even warned that “green” is responsible for their social decline. They
believe the beast to be the threat to their survival, but as Jack, Roger and Ralph lie by the “soft
ashes of the fire” and look for the beast, “green lights of nausea appeared for a moment and ate
into the darkness.” When they thought they saw the beast, “green lights were opening again and
growing.” Indeed, they were seeing the beast when they saw the green, for the beast was the
natural or animalistic part of each boy, and this was exactly what green symbolized.
The boys pass from the stage in which they seek a dependency on green to the phase in
which they crave green, to the point at which they actually “become” green. While Jack smears
clay on his face before going on a hunt he says to Roger, “If only I’d some green!” But Jack and
his followers do at last find green to smear on their faces, and it is then that the animal instinct in
each becomes overwhelming. They become like the “black and iridescent green” flies. When
they “attack” Ralph’s camp for fire, Golding describes them as “Demoniac figures with faces of
white and red and green rushing out howling, . . .” Later there are several references to the “black
and green mask” that Jack wears, and Ralph attempts “to remember what Jack looked like”; he
“cries out hopelessly against the black and green mask.” But his cry is indeed hopeless, for Jack
and Roger and their followers are now more animal than human. The “green glow” of the
horizon is the author’s symbolization of the animalistic state which now encompasses the island.
Golding finishes the novel with a highly significant reference to green in a description of
the naval officer who, ironically, stands in “the green shade of the peak” of his cap. Although he
represents the authority which the boys have needed on the island, he is also representative of the
animalistic force which critically weakens the society from which he comes. It is ironic that the
boys are rescued from the green which has lowered them to savagery by an adult who also stands
in green shade. And it is indeed “the end of innocence” for all the boys on the island. They have
seen the power in “the darkness of man’s heart” and have witnessed the animal instinct which
attempts to destroy every society.
Ken Cohn (12th grade student)
Copyright 1982 by Allyn and Bacon, Inc.