In William Golding’s ‘Lord of The Flies’ the author gives a dark and humbling description of human nature. He demonstrates this by showing the degeneration of a group of boys stranded on a deserted island. As the rules and symbols of power and authority are stripped from the group they revert to savagery power struggles and murder. The strong survive and the weak perish.
The story starts when a plane, rescuing children from the war crashes on a remote, uninhabited island. The main protagonists include Ralph (elected leader), Piggy, Jack (leader of a choir who become the hunters). They have regular meetings. Some of the small boys talk about being scared of a beast they see at night. A rule is established that a fire should be kept burning at all times in the hope that a passing ship will rescue them. However when a ship passes but the fire is not lit. The hunters return (having taken responsibility for keeping the fire going) with a slaughtered pig and there is a bitter argument amongst the boys. Jack soon refuses to obey orders and the boys think that they see ‘the beast’. Jack breaks away from Ralph and forms his own, savage, tribe. They kill a pig and leave its head for the ‘beast’. Simon sees this head and imagine

At the beginning of the story the boys thought that this was going to be a fun and enjoyable experience “Here at last was the imagined but never fully realised place leaping into real life.” There was no savagery and everyone including Jack was willing to obey Ralph and work together as a group “I agree with Ralph. We’ve go to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things.” Golding however does give some hints that the boys will find it difficult. When the boys are hunting, for example, they find it difficult to kill, “They knew very well why he hadn’t because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.” When the boys do kill they kill the mother sow thus showing that they have no consideration for the future (supply of new pigs). Golding uses these descriptions of the pig well as the reader becomes aware of how he would not be easily able to kill a pig.

In my essay I will be examining the many themes present in this book. I will also look at Golding’s message. Golding shows how society holds everyone together and protects the weakest members (eg. Piggy who is eventually killed). He shows that without the rules of society the sense of right and wrong are lost and ‘savagery’ and corruption become apparent.

The island is used as a microcosm of the world and society. The island is an unspoilt natural beauty. When the plane crashes however the first sign of man’s destruction is left with the scar that it produces. The island also shows aspects of Jack and Simon. Jack wants to treat the island with no respect to satisfy his own desires. Simon who I see as a symbol of goodness, wants to respect and admire the island. He often goes off by himself into the jungle.

Golding uses symbolism throughout the book is with the intent of giving significance to every character or thing. For example, a rule is made about the conch, (a shell that when blown creates a loud noise and is u