Lord of the Flies
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, evil is portrayed through various types of situations, characters and symbols. Golding depicts an image in the readers mind as he ventures out to imitate how savagery can take over if there is no civilization intact. During many parts of the novel, innocence is also used to show that anything can happen to the ones that we presume to be guiltless, even in the gentlest of hearts a seed of evil exists. One of the many symbols that Golding exerts into the novel is the conch.
The conch was nothing but a mere shell Ralph spotted at the lagoon and used to obtain order. It had held such importance that the one to hold the conch was given the right to speak. Not only did it give the right to speak, but also allowed for meetings to be held when it was blown. The island is deprived of civilization when the conch is pulverized by a boulder, the same boulder that Roger rolls over to kill Piggy. At that point, the significance of the conch begins to cascade. The conch had symbolized order, power, authority and a civilized society; however, near the end of the novel, it demonstrates the complete breakdown of civilization and the conquering of savagery over discipline.
Similarly, the Lord of the Flies was another symbol presented in the novel which illustrated evil. In Hebrew, another word for the devil is Beelzebub and when translated to English, means the Lord of The Flies. On the other hand, Golding tried to represent Simon as Christ. When Simon confronts the pig’s head, he begins to communicate with it. The pig’s head tells Simon that evil lies within every human. The children were given a choice of taking a side, the devil on one shoulder and Christ on the other. The bloodthirsty children murdered Simon and Piggy. Yet, they were reluctant to feel guilty because evil had prospered within their hearts. The Lord of the Flies itself, was just a representation of the power of evil and it is shown when the Lord of the Flies says, “Fancy
The conch was nothing but a mere shell Ralph spotted at the lagoon and used to obtain order. It had held such importance that the one to hold the conch was given the right to speak. Not only did it give the right to speak, but also allowed for meetings to be held when it was blown. The island is deprived of civilization when the conch is pulverized by a boulder, the same boulder that Roger rolls over to kill Piggy. At that point, the significance of the conch begins to cascade. The conch had symbolized order, power, authority and a civilized society; however, near the end of the novel, it demonstrates the complete breakdown of civilization and the conquering of savagery over discipline.
Similarly, the Lord of the Flies was another symbol presented in the novel which illustrated evil. In Hebrew, another word for the devil is Beelzebub and when translated to English, means the Lord of The Flies. On the other hand, Golding tried to represent Simon as Christ. When Simon confronts the pig’s head, he begins to communicate with it. The pig’s head tells Simon that evil lies within every human. The children were given a choice of taking a side, the devil on one shoulder and Christ on the other. The bloodthirsty children murdered Simon and Piggy. Yet, they were reluctant to feel guilty because evil had prospered within their hearts. The Lord of the Flies itself, was just a representation of the power of evil and it is shown when the Lord of the Flies says, “Fancy