William Golding Lord Of The Flies Theme Analysis Lord of the Flies by Sir William Golding has been said to be one of the best books in english history. For decades Goldings theme or message of this remarkable novel has been questioned by interpreters and critics, but the only one theme we will all believe would be that the author himself would say. Golding has told an english journalist in one of his last interviews that the theme he intended to present from his novel as he said " we have to trace the problems of society back to the sinful nature of the human being. " - Golding (5) In other words, society is not bad, and society is not to be blamed, its the evil side of every human being that ruins society, now to see that more vivid imagine the earth without man; it would be perfect and there would be no problems its man that is in the pilots seat and man is who has control over society and not the other way around.
The story Lord of the Flies was not written on a late night on which Golding was bored, it was a story written during a time of war and a ruin of society. William Golding lived thru many wars and his work reflects his experiences. Lord of the Flies gives a complete explanation to the cons of war. " War is a game, which man knows from the beggining of his life, and war is the game where human nature never gave up " - Golding (2) Lord of the Flies is a novel which explains the real nature of man which is not as innocent as we all think it maybe. Golding was born in 1911 at his grandmothers house in Cornwall and died in 1993 of a heart attack, he lived next to a graveyard that scared the living out of him.
William Golding wants to show that the condition of society must depend on the nature of the individual and not on the political system. - Valsamas ( 5) Most of William Goldings work reflects his life directly. Golding got the idea for the book because of his experiences in the war, where he served in the Navy and learned the inherent sinfulness of man. The war is mentioned in th story both at the beginning and at the end but nowhere in between. This is a remarkable literary device of Golding. - Carver, Judy (3) William Golding however held a much more negative perspective on human nature, which he expressed in his works, beginning with Lord of the Flies. Most of Goldings writiing seems to have been created from his extraordinary ability to focus his imagination and put himself completely in the role of another.- Carver, Judy (3).
This story is enriched with many themes, perhaps the most obvious one of the story is in the title of the novel itself as interpreted by the author himself is that society holds everyone together, and without society the basics of right and wrong are lost. One other theme in the story is the beast in which the boys believe they have encountered but turned out to be the evil residing with everyone, and the darkside of the human nature. " People will abuse power when its not earned " - Golding (1).
Many Objects, events or characters represent something that branch out from the primary message. Piggy and his glasses represent the clear-sightedness, intelligence, and the condtition of the glasses throughout the story represent the status of social order. Ralph and the Conch represent democracy and order. Simon represents the pure goodness as he is the one to first realize that the beast is the boys themselves and Roger represents the evil that resides withing the bottom of man. The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn you to either insight or hysteria. - Geresner (2) which is demonstrated by Jack the savage.When given a chance, people often single out another to degrade to improve their own security. - Geresner (2). It's better to examine the consequrences of a decision before you make it than to discover them afterward.
- Geresner (2). At the beginning of the sotry the boys were very organized for example if one of the boys wanted to say something he had to raise his hand as if he were in school which shows that they still had civilization in them.
Golding demonstrated that humans, when seperated from society's rules, their natural existence of evil will dominate. The beast in the story was a major part of the main theme, as described by Golding "dim eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between the teeth," and the "obscene thing " is covered with a "black blob of flies" that "tickled under his nostrils" - William Golding, Lord of the Flies. The evil existence within the boys has more growin effect as their time away from the taming society increases. Throughout the novel Ralph and Piggy represent the civilization and the rules from which the boys have been away from. As Piggy loses his ability to see, so do the other boys who lose their vision of civilization.
The uncivilized acts of the boys way of life is symbolized by the masks they where which as Valsamas said showed that their original personalities have completely vanished and that the evil spirit withing the boys has taken over them.
During one of the boys celebrations for killing the pigs the boys became wild savages and lose the ability to control themselves and then they attack one of their own mistaking him (Simon) for the beast. One of the most sad and memorable events in the story is the death of Piggy (Civilization), which shows the violence which came over the boys on the island.
Roger releases a rock which in literature symbolizes power and strength - Volsamos (5) over Piggy, now this rock was read which resembled blood and violence. Piggy's death is a symbolisim of the end of the last tooth of civilization on the island. When the rock striked Piggy it also crushed the cronch which also represented civilization.
The boys express no regret over the death of Piggy, yet they only feel more powerful like the animals and evil within theses savages.
Anarchy defeats order and government is an ineffective way to keep people together said Golding and when the power is given to a single individual it will get out of control as it does in the novel where the power is given to Jack. Ralph portrays the role of the government in any modern society while Piggy and Jack symbolize the two opposite extremes of human behavior, and Ralph is pulled between these two opposite societies as the government is today.Jack and his hunters show that they are inherently evil and if left alone they will revert back to the savage roots of their human ancestors, when the young boys are left without social formation or more experienced supervision they have to make the rules, and they become savages and become more like the animals in which man really is.
Society is presented in the story as the small island in a smaller level. Golding said he wrote the story to show how political systems can not govern society effectively without first taking into consideration the defects of human nature.
In conclusion, William Goldings Lord of the Flies is a story that expresses the life that results from mankinds inherent capacity for evil, which controls humans when they are freed from the rules of society and government.