In the work of William Golding, Lord of the Flies, there is cruelty and justice, folly and reason, evil and good. Each concept has a corresponding symbol, which can be considered when reading the work. Even the very essence of the plot is an underlying meaning, drawing a parallel with the fate of humanity and civilization and the difficulty of becoming a society. One of the main symbols at the center of the work is the notion of the Beast, to which the book’s title is connected. The lord of the flies symbolizes evil as understood by the boys and is supported by allusions to Satan. The vines also belong to the collective group of symbols (Golding 52). They remind the book’s characters of snakes crawling through trees and being a sign of evil.
The parachutist, a symbol of the beginning and the end of the conflict of the boys’ stay on the island, is a symbol of cruelty. He is a victim of hatred, another figure in the wind that is eventually swept away by bad weather (Golding 147). As the leading cause of the peculiarities of the island’s educated society, he only emphasizes his untimeliness, sadness, and finitude.
The shell found by Ralph and used to call for a meeting is a symbol of nature’s mystery and order. Its appeal because of its unusual color and outline captures the children, and the hoarse sound becomes an overpowering roar (Golding 20). Eventually, its splitting becomes a symbol of the demise of a part of nature, like the unjustifiable demise of beauty, shaded by the author.
Fire is as much a symbol as anything else and pervades the entire book. It goes through a change – first, the fire is made in the hope of salvation, symbolizing a signal for help (Golding 54). Then it becomes merely a standard tool for cooking. However, eventually, its evolution ends in the role of a beast or man in a deadly race. He denotes power, excitement, and lawlessness to those who call him for help.
Thus, one can note the maximum fullness of symbolism in work. Among those listed are not all examples, and in addition, each reader may see something different or interpret certain things differently. Nevertheless, the book’s author is not for nothing highly appreciated by the world community, being able to squeeze such a multitude of eternally relevant meanings into a relatively small work.
Work Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition). Penguin, 2016.