The Lord Of The Flies By William Golding: An Analysis

William Golding was a British author who wrote many novels in the mid to late 1900s. His most famous novel Lord of the Flies was written in 1954. Though during the time period that the novel was released it was not popular, in recent years it has become a prominent novel read across schools in the U.S. The Lord of the Flies comes in the wake of World War II. The novel is set on a remote island, where a plane was shot down by an enemy missile. Passengers on the plane were mostly young boys with few adults. Ironically all the adults died in the crash and the boys were left to fend for themselves. This coincidence allowed the boys to find their true selves, which were not like the ones we would imagine. A cruel leader, Jack, took control of the …show more content…
As the idea of the beast brought fear among the boys, they would do anything to please it. The beast is the equivalent of the devil. The beast takes many characteristics of the devil such as urging the boys to do things to please it. The Devil creates the feeling of security and makes one feel as though they are doing the right thing. Just as the Devil, the beast does the same. This can be seen by "This head is for the beast. It's a gift" (Golding 137). Simon, the most clear-headed of the boys, can be viewed as the equivalent of Christ. Through the chaos around him, he continued to follow his mind. His actions and mindset allow us to understand while most are naturally evil, there are some boys that are level headed and strong-willed. While doing this, he is killed just as Christ was. Simon’s effort was valiant, but it was not great enough to turn back to the civilized world they had once known. Simons effect on the boys can be seen by, “The messianic Simon is destroyed, but the children, with the possible exception of Ralph, are no better off for his death” (van Vuuren par 38). Just as Jesus, Simon does many things to try to guide the boys while he is alive but with his death, he is forgotten and so is his intelligence and reasoning. The many symbols relating the Bible help us understand how the characters in the novel become evil as well as why the evil …show more content…
Though they both do become somewhat savages, Ralph is able to maintain some of his humane side. Jack’s power is used negatively to feed the evil hunger that was buried deep inside him. The struggle for power can be seen as early as the election at the beginning of the novel, “Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself” (Golding 22). As the fight for control of the boys continues, Jack becomes more authoritarian to try to retain leadership. Jack’s actions to retain power can be explained by, “Authoritarian leadership can be strengthened by the feeling of fighting a common enemy, by evoking some impending, mysterious danger and by reassuring the children with the promise of protection and safety from the unknown, the “beast” lurking in the dark of the jungle” (Golding par 14). Jack’s uses fear to gain his power and also control the minds of the boys. The boys only understand the objective to find safety, which appears to be the most strong and powerful character, Jack. The struggle for power is a key theme that urges leaders such as Jack to turn savage in order to retain his power.
The themes such as terror, evil, and power are explored in Lord of the Flies in order to uncover what truly lives below the surface of the human mind. The use of terror steers the boys into madness, while the presence of evil results