| Allegory= | a symbolic story |
| what do the characters represent? | a part of society |
| what type of allegory is this book? | a “Religious allegory” |
| What from the bible can the island represent? | the garden of Eden |
| What does Simon represent? | Christ |
| what does the ” lord of the flies represent? | an old testament demon “Beelzebub” |
| Motif: | fall of man from grace |
| Ralf: | common sense, order, and responsibility |
| jack: | immediate gratification, irresponsible authority, hunger for power |
| piggy: | ineffective intellectualism, science |
| Simon: | mysticism, religious side of man, Christ figure |
| Sam and Eric (samneric): | dependence (on each other and leaders) they represent loss of identity through fear of the beast |
| Roger: | evil, depraved indifference |
| the beast: | abstract symbol of man’s capacity for evil, is also the intangible equivalent of the Lord of the Flies (The pig’s head) |
| Conch shell: | law and order, the shell loses its authority as anarchy grows, the conch shell fades in color and power as savagery increases |
| Lord of the flies: | Refers to the head of the pig that jack had left as an offering to the “beast”, literal translation=Beelzebub, prince of demons, symbolizes mans capacity for evil |
| face pait/mask: | represents savagery, the paint helps the boys hide from their own consciences, turning them into anonymous savages who are feed from the restrictions of civilized behavior |
| the island itself: | the island is I microcosm of society at large, it represents a smaller version of the larger world, it can also be seen as the garden of Eden |
| Huts: | Represent the desire to preserve civilization; when jack gains power they move into caves like the animals they have to become |
| fire: | separates civilization from savagery, note that ralph uses it for hope, jack only or cooking and destruction, jack’s group allows the fire (hope) to go out |
| Piggy’s Glasses: | represent logical thinking and the scientific method, the original breaking of piggy’s glasses begins the descent into savagery |
| The creepers: | the vines that are called creepers are the symbols of “the snake”, as in the serpent in the garden of Eden which represents evil (or the devil) |
| Scar on the island: | represents how people came in and destroyed a beautiful island permanently |
| Beast: | Savagery, evil, boys worship it |
| Glowing fish: | angels, simon being taken into heaven |
| Piggy and conch dying/breaking: | order and inelegance leaving |
Lord of the Flies symbolism
February 12, 2020