Evil Is Within Everyone Lord Of The Flies Analysis

Evil is Within Everyone
Mentally visualize: one uninhabited island, a crashed plane full of boys, and The Lord of the Flies. William Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies in 1954. Golding stated, “’It was simply what seemed sensible for me to write after the war when everyone was thanking God they weren’t Nazis. I’d seen enough to realize that every single one of us could be Nazis.’” Lord of the Flies conveys an immense theme- without civilization the dangers of evil lurks inside of all of humanity. Golding communicates this clear message through the characters, events, and symbols in the novel to support his theme.
Golding uses multiple characters to reinforce the theme of the novel. First, Simon is the only boy who portrays pure goodness.
One of the first incidents that shows the savagery within the boys is when they reenact the pig hunt using the littlun, Robert. After the disappointment of not killing a pig, Jack casts Robert into a ring of biggins, and began to chant, “’Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!’” (114). Robert cries as they prod him with spears, “’Ow! Stop it! You’re hurting!’” (114). Robert felt sincerely endangered. The hunters primary chant referred to the pig as “her”, whereas now they refer to the pig as “him”, which is ironically attributing the boys. A second incident that shows the savagery within in the boys is the slow, torturous, death they bestow on the Lord of the Flies. The air was thick with blood and sweat (135). “Roger ran around the heap, prodding of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife” (135). This scene uncovers the truth about the loss of civilization and furthermore, how brutal and bloodthirsty the boys have become. A third incident that shows the savagery within the boys is the death of Simon. Previously, Simon had found the dead parachute man and recognized it was not the “beastie.” Simon was going to the beach to inform the others about his discovery, when he fell over a steep rock causing the boys assume he was the “beastie.” The boys hastily ran to Simon. “At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, lept on to the beast,
Foremost is the conch. It was piggy’s idea to use the conch as a signal to the others potentially on the island, however Ralph blew the conch. From then on out the conch represented leadership and civilization. Rules were created for the conch-who ever held the conch had the right to speak. It is ironic, that in the end when piggy dies the conch gets shattered into pieces symbolizing all leadership and civilization has vanished. Additionally, is the Lord of the Flies. When jack’s tribe curly kills the pig they leave the head on a stick as a gift for the “beastie.” Golding names the pig head Lord of the Flies, it represents the evil that lives in everyone, and in some cultures it even means “Devil.” Lastly, is piggy’s glasses. When the boys decided to build a rescue fire, they soon realize they do not have matches. Jack speaks up with an idea, “’His specs-use them as burning glasses !‘” (40). Jack denoted to piggy’s glasses. Later in the novel, Jack raids Ralph’s tribe. He could have stolen piggy’s glasses or the conch, but chose the glasses because he wanted to feel as if he had power and was in control. It is also ironic that piggy’s glasses portray power, but piggy has no power. The symbols Golding uses help deliver the theme of the