LOTF Notes Part II
The basic Allegory: (Be sure you can define “allegory”)
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Ralph—represents law, democracy, and civil society
Piggy—science and rationality
Jack—human love for dominance and power
Simon—represents prophets of all religions who confront and reveal the truths about human nature
Roger—mankind’s sadistic instincts
The Lord of the Flies/the beast--the evil in all men’s souls
--Political Allegory –
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Ralph—leader of a democratic state, who wants to rule by law derived from common consent. [Like
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill or U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt]
Piggy—his advisor, offers sound advice, unable to rule because of personal/physical shortcomings
Jack-- a totalitarian dictator, a ruler who appeals to emotions of followers, ruling by charisma and fear
[like Hitler, Mussolini, or Stalin].
Roger—the henchman necessary for such a totalitarian ruler to stay in power.
Symbols:
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The Conch—rule of law; democracy; civilized authority
Piggy’s Glasses—wisdom; insight; reason; civilization
Glasses = sight sight = knowledge. Piggy knows how to do things.
Without sight, he’s useless.
Fire—2 symbolic meanings: 1. Hope, technology used well, connection to civilization 2. ????
Lord of the Flies/Beast--the evil in mankind
Themes:
LOTF has many themes, but two themes that Golding himself has discussed are as follows-Human Nature—Human nature, free from the constraints of society, draws people away from reason toward
savagery. The beast lives in the hearts of men, so human beings are savage by nature.
Civilization—Even though we have created thriving civilizations for thousands of years, people are
fundamentally savage. The laws and rules of civilization merely hide the beast. As the boys descend into
savagery, what are the “civilized” adults doing in the real world?
If you are feeling unsure about any of this deep literary stuff, I recommend checking out the Lord of the Flies
links on my website.
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Literary Terms and Rhetorical Devices in LOTF:
IRONY-- Usually, irony refers to an outcome or a circumstance that is the opposite of what one might
expect.
LOTS of Irony in LOTF!
Test Question Alert: Look for irony in the last pages of the novel!
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The survivors of the plane crash are boys evacuated from a battle zone in a world war. However, the
society they form eventually breaks down, and the children go to war with one another.
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Piggy's eyesight is weak, but his insight is strong. He can see what needs to be done.
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Piggy says I know there is nothing to fear “unless we get frightened of people”. The irony of that would
be that, that is exactly who they should be afraid of
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Simon discovers that the boys have mistaken the dead body of a parachutist for the beast. When he
set out to inform the boys of his discovery he is himself mistaken for the beast and beaten to death.
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Choirboys turn into savages (and what do the little angels end up hunting, by the way?)
Other Test Stuff:
Personification, metaphor, simile, alliteration, foreshadowing, irony, allegory – you will need to identify
examples from the novel.
Foreshadowing –
Ex: At the end of Chapter 6, Ralph says, “If only they could send us something grownup—a sign or
something.” Chapter 7 opens with this sign from the adult world-- the dead parachutist landing on the
mountain. [What does this sign from the adult world mean? How civilized are the adults?!]
Ex: “You’ll get back to where you came from”
Metaphor—
Ex: “The creature was a party of boys”
“The pigs lay, bloated bags of fat, sensuously enjoying. . .”
“The darkness, save for the useless oblong of stars, was a blanket”
Simile—
Ex: “When the sun sank, darkness dropped on the island like an extinguisher. . .”
“One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel. . .”
Personification-Ex: “uncooperative silence” “the fire threw out a savage arm of heat”
“a golden light danced”
“a long sigh from the leaves”
Alliteration—
Ex: “’By the bathing pool!’ The boys began to babble.”
“There would be no need to go near.”