Devestation Man Brings upon Himself in Goldings Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a story that has hidden symbolism. It is about a group of British schoolboys fleeing from England during World War 1. Their plane crashes on a deserted tropical island. Once on the island they have to cope with their new ?adult-less? life and make rules to live by. After spending time on the island, the boys begin to struggle for power which leads to several problems. The experience on the island serves as a symbol of life in the outside world and the devastation that man brings upon himself. Setting, specific characters, and symbolism help show this. The setting of the story is an important symbol of the outside world. Certain circumstances that happen on the island coincide what happens in the outside world. The world is in the midst of World War 1. On the island Jack and Ralph have their own war happening. The boys set fire to the island. It was a mistake, but they were enjoying it: ?At the sight of the flames and irresistible course of fire, the boys broke into a shrill, excited laughter.? They were enjoying the fire, though it was causing destruction and even killed an innocent boy. However, they were not much bothered by the thought because it did not involve them directly. They built ?war like? forts, even though there was nothing worth protecting. The island is like a miniature world. Certain circumstances that happen in the world happen on a miniature scale on the island. Specific characters in the story represent people in the outside world. Jack represents a dictator, like Hitler or Mussolini. He controls everything around him and abuses his power. He would take littluns and randomly beat them because he had more power over them. The littluns represented the masses. They would flow towards the leader that seemed the best for them. All they wanted to do was have fun, relax, and hunt. Jack provided all of that. Piggy was the voice of intelligence and reasoning: ?Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up He was the most intelligent person on the island and the rules came from him. Each person?s true identity came out on the island, for better or for worse, and they are all representative of to people in the outside world. The symbolism throughout the entire novel was significant. Jacks mindless hunters never spoke out against their leader.