Lord of the Flies Essay Example
Emma Kirby
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our power.” An interpretation of this quote would be that we cannot control the situation we are put in but we can choose what we do with the situation and the choices we make. Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Macbeth by William Shakespeare represent this quote as an agreeable one. Both literary works show many examples of people’s decisions in situations that they are not in control of.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about British school boys stranded on an island without any sign of civilization on the island. The setting is an island which is portrayed as a perfect paradise, also used as a symbol for the Garden of Eden. Symbolism is heavily used throughout this story, the conch shell symbolizes democracy, Piggy represented the closest tie to the adult world and civilization and the fire represented hope and rescue. Throughout Lord of the Flies the boys are thrown into many different situations where they need to choose between being civilized or turning to savagery. For example, when Simon was in the jungle and face to face with the Pig head on the stick, the author used personification to make it talk to Simon, which caused him to flee, when he showed up at the dance with the boys at Castle Rock, the boys went crazy and savage and attacked Simon, resulting in his death. They could not control the fact Simon came out of the dark, but they could of controlled their reaction. They could’ve asked who it was rather than getting frightened and attacking him. Also when the boys are faced with the external conflict of needing meat, when they’re hunting they come across a sow feeding her piglets, rather than finding a different pig they decide to savagely slaughter the sow. They couldn’t control their need for meat but they could have gone the civilized route and found another pig rather than an innocent sow feeding her piglets,
Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our power.” An interpretation of this quote would be that we cannot control the situation we are put in but we can choose what we do with the situation and the choices we make. Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Macbeth by William Shakespeare represent this quote as an agreeable one. Both literary works show many examples of people’s decisions in situations that they are not in control of.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel about British school boys stranded on an island without any sign of civilization on the island. The setting is an island which is portrayed as a perfect paradise, also used as a symbol for the Garden of Eden. Symbolism is heavily used throughout this story, the conch shell symbolizes democracy, Piggy represented the closest tie to the adult world and civilization and the fire represented hope and rescue. Throughout Lord of the Flies the boys are thrown into many different situations where they need to choose between being civilized or turning to savagery. For example, when Simon was in the jungle and face to face with the Pig head on the stick, the author used personification to make it talk to Simon, which caused him to flee, when he showed up at the dance with the boys at Castle Rock, the boys went crazy and savage and attacked Simon, resulting in his death. They could not control the fact Simon came out of the dark, but they could of controlled their reaction. They could’ve asked who it was rather than getting frightened and attacking him. Also when the boys are faced with the external conflict of needing meat, when they’re hunting they come across a sow feeding her piglets, rather than finding a different pig they decide to savagely slaughter the sow. They couldn’t control their need for meat but they could have gone the civilized route and found another pig rather than an innocent sow feeding her piglets,