Lord of the Flies Symbolism Analysis Essay Sample

Authors use settings to send readers different messages about key elements of a work of literature. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, symbolism and imagery are used to show how the remote setting establishes the values of the security of society and the contrast between civility and savagery. 

Golding uses the symbolism of the forest and the beach to explain and illustrate how society provides a sense of security to the younger members. The vines on the island are described as “like ropes in the trees and hung in the branches” (Golding 36). While never actually stated that these creepers are vines it is implied they are because they are located in the woods and hang from the trees. The vines are a sign of fear and uncertainty because the boys on the island get caught in them while they wander around the forest. Fear is a symbol of the safeness of society. With this, or lack thereof, the fear is of the unknown, and intensifies when there is no one else there for you. Another reason the creepers are a sign of fear is that Ralph, a protagonist, blames the scared boy’s idea, a beast inhabiting the island, on the vines in the trees or something of the child’s imagination. A little boy complains about the beast, and Ralph tells the group the child “was dreaming” and “the older boys agreed; but here and there among the little ones was the doubt that required more than rational reassurance” (Golding 36). Since much is unknown about the forest to the boys after their plane crashes on the island, the younger children, without the security of their parents or grownups, get scared of something that could be lurking in the shadows. This brings out the value of society and the security it brings by showing how the younger boys get scared when there is no one to protect them from a beast. This conversation amongst the boys happens on the beach, which gives Ralph a place “to think, and only here could he allow his feet to move without having to watch them” (Golding 76). When Ralph walks along the beach without having to worry, it shows how being distant from a group can help one be cognizant of their own judgment without it being clouded by others around them. Someone sticking to themselves and their own people are key in civility versus savagery because it is what keeps Ralph alive until the end. He does so without following Jack, the main evil character, and becoming brainwashed by his descent into savagery. As Ralph walks along the beach, “he found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet” (Golding 76). The symbolism of the beach of being secure and part of reality causes Ralph to realize the actuality of life on the island, and he thinks like an adult in this situation. When he leaves the beach and is joined by the other boys, these thoughts are turned down by the rest of the group, whose thoughts contrast his own. The remoteness of the beach and the endless water on the horizon provides peace and serenity to Ralph as he is being faced with an extreme situation. The use of settings as a form of symbolism aids the author in developing how society is safe and it can comfort one when they are dealing with difficult times.

Alongside symbolism, Golding uses the imagery of settings to establish the importance of society and the effect that lack-there-of can have on children and instincts. As Samneric, the twins, are watching the signal fire one night, they run across what they believe to be the beast, the deceased parachutist who landed in a tree. At the sight of this monster “neither one of the boys screamed but the grip of their arms tightened and their mouths grew peaked… then as though they had but one terrified mind… they scrambled away… and fled” (Golding 98). The sighting of the beast on the mountain starts the idea that the mountain will become a place of viciousness and barbarity. Since it is dark with only a fire accompanying them, the twins do not see what the beast actually is, which is just a man. This represents the concept that none of the boys realize the beast is in themselves. If the boys had come to this realization, or seen the monster during the day, they might have been able to reel-in some of that savageness that comes out as they stay longer on the island. During a conversation between the boys, they ask “‘why can’t we stay here [on castle rock] for a bit?’” and the description of there being “no food… and no shelter. Not much freshwater” in comparison to Jack thinking it “would make a wizard fort” further continues the separation of Ralph and Jack, good and bad (Golding 108). The mountain, being more remote from the rest of the island, since it is located along the coast, becomes the location of Jack and his tribe after he departs from Ralph’s group. When Jack claims the mountain would make a great fort, the lack of resources gives insight into the lack of morality by indirectly explaining how Jack’s viewpoint is not one of logic, but one of kid-like behavior. This is important in their descent into savagery because Jack’s mindset is stuck on one thing, hunting, and this is part of what separates the good and bad. Had he thought more like a civil person, there may not have been a fight in the beginning, and it could have completely changed the course of how the boys turned out.  When Piggy’s glasses get stolen, Piggy being a rather helpless boy, he, Ralph, and Samneric go to Castle Rock to try to get them back from Jack. When they do this there is a conflict between the two groups and Roger, a rather sadistic person, launches a rock at Piggy, who “fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit” (Golding 181). The imagery of this event, along with the symbolism of Castle Rock being a place representative of the descent into savagery, reveals how reason and logic can be crushed when people lose sight of society. As Piggy falls he becomes aloof to the group, and his death establishes how logic and reason can be forgotten and out of reach when the sense of security of other people is lost. Following this scene, the tribe starts their hunt for Ralph as they threw their spears at him and “the point tore the skin and flesh over Ralph’s ribs” and he was able to get away from them by “crashing through the foliage… and [he] was hidden by the forest” (Golding 181). But since Samneric were not able to get away, Jack tells them “‘You got to join the tribe’” (Golding 182). The imagery of the forest and the damage the boys do to Ralph show the innately savage side of man and how most people are followers of the greater group. It also represents how once one comes to terms with their savage side, it is rare that they are able to overcome and escape that instinctive feeling. 

On the whole, authors create remote settings in literature to establish the sense of security that society brings, and how it contrasts with savagery. William Golding does this in Lord of the Flies through the use of symbolism and imagery.