Essay on Lord of the Flies Symbolism
...are used several times to start fires for different purposes, either to create a signal fire or for cooking. Since Piggy is Ralph's advisor, without the glasses the future would be unclear to Piggy because he needs the glasses to see clearly. When the first lens is destroyed, the fall of human kind can be seen. Unfortunately, after they are taken, it represents the collapse of their society, and the end of a better, clearer future. Near the end of the story, Piggy is killed in a barbaric manner, symbolising the fact that civilization is almost extinct, and exists in the few minorities. At the starting of the novel, Ralph is the other character that appears first alongside with Piggy. Although he is not as smart as Piggy, he demonstrates skills to show that he is in fact a leader. After Piggy finds the conch, it becomes into his possession. The conch helps to define his leadership over the boys since it was used to call the first assembly. Therefore, the conch symbolizes leadership quality and/or democracy because it brings the boys out of isolation so they can become a group, a civilization, where they can think together. It calls them away from primitiveness and towards awareness. It is the law and order, stability, and communication. Together with Piggy they realize the amount of trouble that they are in and the measures that they should take to try to survive and get out of the island as fast as possible. Piggy’s role helps Ralph to keep peace and order among the boys, as well as the conch. That is why he was elected as a leader at first. Ralph represents democracy and order. He symbolizes rational leadership, fights against the superstition and terror (the beast), and recognizes the presence of evil as a condition of life. Ralph is the most complete, most human, and most heroic of the characters on the island. Near the end of the story, when Piggy is killed, the conch is destroyed along with him. This therefore represents the destruction of civilized civilization and democracy amongst them. Anywhere where one goes of too, he or she will always be afraid of something. The fact that during the night, in the dark startling things can occur may leave one questioned. To a child’s mind, there is less questioning since they can always find something to blame it on. For instance, a branch reflected into the room my look like a monster to them from the closet. That is what happened in the Lord of the Flies. The littluns were afraid, and believed that there is something evil out there, a monster of some sort, called the beastie. The beastie was seen as a giant snake - like figure. This can relate Biblically, since the serpent is always attributed with evilness. As the story progressed, the beast was portrayed as something from the air. However, it was only the dead parachutist, thought the night tricked the eyes of the littluns. However, the beast is rather something internal; something inside each of us. In the book it is represented by the Lord of the Flies. It is in the soul and mind of the boys, leading them to the natural chaos of a society with no adult supervision. The Lord of the Flies symbolizes the lowest part of man, the source of violence, hatred, fear, and murder. Its religious translati...