Short Plot Summary:
In the middle of a war, a group of school boys, evacuated by a plane is shot down into a deserted island. Two boys from the group, Ralph and Piggy woke up finding a conch shell and realizes it could be used as a horn to assemble all of the boys. Ralph was voted as the leader and gave Jack and the choir boys to serve as the hunters. In the first few chapters of the novel, the boys followed discipline rules set by Ralph. Jack did not like to be led by and disobeyed the rules leading to a major conflict that happens in the novel. Many savagery events happen including a couple of deaths within the boys. In the end, when Ralph was running away from Jack’s tribe, he sees a British naval officer.
Theme: Civilization VS Savagery
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The concept of the novel is to emphasize what problems could occur between the instincts of living by the rules and acting violently with one another that exists within all human beings. The conflict between the two instincts turned most of the civilized and well-behaved boys to adapting the life of a brutal and wild barbaric life on the island. Golding reflects the problem between civilization and savagery with the two main characters: the protagonist, Ralph who represents civilization and discipline, and the antagonist, Jack who represents savagery. Golding had also demonstrated how different people can feel towards civilization and savagery. Piggy, for example does not like the idea of killing mammals at the first place whereas Roger seems to how to comprehend rules needed to form a well civilized environment. Golding hints that the instinct of savagery is much more important and easy to grasp, especially to the boys as they felt hunting was more beneficial than sending signals to ships passing by. Overall, civilization and savagery is the biggest theme of Lord of the Flies as it is the biggest problem that separates the group of boys since Ralph believes in civilization yet Jack believes in savagery. This artwork links to the theme: civilization vs savagery. The boy on the left wears modern clothes with a conch shell in his hand. This shows that the person is civilized, which that is Ralph. The boy on the right wears a dress/pants made with leaves. He holds a stick in his hand with his face painted. These are all features of Jack described by Golding. Since they are not facing each other, it also demonstrates that there is hatred between the two main characters.
Symbol: The Conch Shell
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At the start of the novel, the conch shell was found by Ralph and Piggy. This is already a symbol of friendship between the two boys. Ralph and Piggy figured it could be used to gather all the boys who was separated from the plane crash together. The conch shell symbolizes civilization and rules. When Ralph was voted as the leader, he said that whoever holds the conch shell would be able to speak while others need to listen. Piggy regularly takes advantage of the shell during meetings because he wanted the power and respect from the other boys as they always make fun of Piggy due to the fact that he is the only ‘fat’ boy with glasses. Overall, when the conch shell was shattered, it also signifies that the bonding between the group of boys has broken and civilization no longer exists on the island. The picture on the right is a broken conch shell. This shell relates to the novel because shows the unity the group has. When the shell is broken, the friendship between the boys also broken.
Symbol: Lord Of The Flies
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The Lord of the Flies is the sow’s head that Jack has stab to a stick on the forest floor. This is a complex symbol nonetheless the most important symbol in the novel. It embodies the human urge towards savagery, violence and barbarian that exists within every person. The Lord of the Flies leads to the beast as it mythically speaks to Simon. The pig’s head tells Simon he can not escape the evilness of savagery. It also tells Simon that the pig will have some ‘fun’ with Simon. In other words, the pig foreshadows Simon’s death. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph didn’t understand why other boys would find dancing, hunting, and bullying more interesting than maintaining the signal fire and being rescued. But when Ralph joins the boar hunt, he started to feel the excitement of hunting and got his mind into savagery. Even though this didn’t last long as Ralph regrets participating in Simon’s death, this shows a major victory for Jack. Since Ralph has been a part of Jack’s tribe for a night, it demonstrates that savagery has surpassed civilization and had caused Ralph to be a prey of the hunters. Lastly, the boar hunt shows that Jack’s commitments towards savagery nearly replaces Ralph’s civilization concept. This artwork relates to the novel because it is the scene when Simon faints as he sees the 'Lord of the Flies'. The artwork could also mean the death of Simon.
Symbol: The Signal Fire
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Ralph’s aim of making a fire -that burns on the mountain and later on the beach- is to attract passing ships and signal there are abandoned people living on the island. This symbol represents the connection between the boys and civilization. Having the fire burning, it signifies that the boys wants to be rescued. Golding emphasize the determination of being rescued on the amount of fire. When it burns low, it means the boys has adapted and accepted in the barbaric life. When the fire burns high, it means the boys wants to be saved by others. The amount of fire shows how much civilization is left on the island. At the end of the novel, it was also the forest fire that attracted a naval officer to go on the island and saving the boys. This artwork relates to the novel because the boy in between the rocks and the fire is Ralph, whereas the boy behind Ralph holding a stick could be Jack or anyone in his tribe. I think this scene is when Jack's tribe set the fire in the forest to kill Ralph, but Ralph escaped and bumped into Jack's tribe.
Symbol: Piggy's Glasses
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Piggy is an important character because he represents science and intellectual strive to do something. Furthermore, he is the only boy with glasses. Piggy’s glasses is a symbol of Lord of the Flies because this object gives power to a group. Since Piggy and Ralph had started their friendship at the beginning of the novel, Piggy is the ‘right-hand man’ of Ralph. The glasses were first used in Ralph’s group to make fires. But when Jack left the group bringing many other boys with him, they raided Piggy’s glasses so that they could make their own fire. Without the glasses, Piggy and Ralph could not make the fire and has lost control of the boys to Jack’s tribe. Additionally, the lost of Piggy’s glasses shows that Ralph no longer has a powerful figure. This artwork relates to the novel because one side of the lens are broken as Piggy was punched in the stomach by Jack while his glasses fell, resulting in one lens becoming cracked.
Symbol: The Dead Parachutist
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The parachutist also reminds the readers why the boys got isolated on the island. Which is due to the war that is happening somewhere in the world. The dead parachutist was firstly seen by Sam and Eric. Which they though was the beast. This shows that the boy’s primitive inner instinct of being terrified still exists on the island after all the barbaric actions has happened. Lastly, the dead parachutist is also a symbol if Lord of the Flies because it foreshadows all the deaths that happens on the island: Piggy (hit by a boulder), one of the youngest boys (said to be killed in the fire) and most importantly, Simon (killed by the boys). Additionally, Ralph taking part in the animalistic killing of Simon shows that the last hope of civilized order on the island is gone. This leads to the fact that lawlessness and chaos has overtaken the island. This artwork relates to the novel because greyish-blue spots on the artwork can symbolize the deaths that has happened, not only in the island but also the deaths during the war.