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The Breakdown of Civilization – Lord of the Flies


            In the classic novel "Lord of the Flies" the author William Golding, shows a compelling variety of narrative techniques. This modern literary classic and Nobel Prize winner talks about simple survival and the challenges you'd have to face. A number of literacy techniques are used, such as Symbolism (the conch, piggy's specs, the fire, etc.), Setting (based on a deserted island during the time of the war) and Characters (the teenage boys themselves).
             The setting of the book is on an island which is deserted as to allow the characters to play out their struggles against each other. The environment is unspoilt to symbolise man kind's struggles in a perfect world of nature. In the beginning of the novel Ralph gazes out over the beach in the direction of a "coral reef" and past that, the "dark blue" of the "open sea." Behind Ralph is the "darkness of the forest proper." Golding has portrayed a dark forest, which represents danger, a sunny shimmering bay which represents excitement and an extensive open sea which represents remoteness. Once the schoolboys can see the entire island, the group notice on the far side "another island; a rock, almost detached, standing like a fort, facing them." This is the youngsters very first time looking at what is to be later named as "Castle Rock", it is explained in the book to be parallel from "their beach". The boys have taken title to the naturally occurring structures on the island, (beach, reefs, rocks, etc.). Golding portrays this by taking the beach into the kid's ownership by saying, "their". .
             Throughout the book, the author makes substantial use of symbols to present the themes and dramatic conflicts of the novel. For instance, Golding introduces the nerdy kid, Piggy, who wears specs as an illustrative of logical and intellectual aspects of civilization, as his glasses are a symbol of wisdom and intelligence.


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