Symbols and Motifs in "Lord of the Flies" | Symbols and Motifs in "Lord of the Flies"

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses symbols and motifs to convey his theme of the nature of mankind. In the beginning they are organized and behaving in a rational manor. As the story progresses the boys become more and more savage until at the end they are hunting one of them with the intention of killing him. Through the book, Golding uses the conch, the fire, the hunting party, the clothing and the beast to convey that men are naturally savage without laws to control them.

They are on an island after they survive a plane crash. Ralph finds the conch and calls an assembly with it. They vote Ralph as the leader and make the conch have high authority. A littlun says there is a beastie on the island but everybody laughs at him except the people that think it's actually true.

The group goes to the top of the mountain and use Piggy's glasses to start a fire. The fire was a symbol of hope and rescue. The fire was huge and almost burned down the entire island. The fire killed a littlun. All the boys still have their clothing. The clothing symbolizes civilization in this book. Ralph, Jack, and Simon go and explore the island and come back and say they didn't see any beasts.

Jack misses the first pig but is excited. The clothing is the remains of what they once were. The hunting party is starting to slack off and don't want to help with anything. Ralph and Simon build some huts but some fall down. The group sill pretty much respects the conch.

A lot of the littluns are running around nude. They miss their chance to be rescued by a boat because the hunting party is hunting instead of keeping the fire going. Jack tells Ralph he doesn't care because he finally killed a pig. They are becoming more and more savage everyday because they don't have rules.

The conch still has some power left for the most part. The hunting party just ignores Ralph most of the time. Ralph gets fed up and makes three simple rules for the island.

1. Use the Rocks as a lavatory.
2. Keep the smoke and the fire going at all times.
3. Don't make a fire anywhere else beside the mountain.

SamandEric see the beast on the mountain in the morning. Nobody wants to go up to the mountain so Ralph orders that the fire be moved to the beach. Mostly every body is naked. The conch is losing power rapidly. The hunting party wants to hunt down the beast.

The hunting party is going to the other side of the island to hunt the beast. Ralph, Simon, and Sam and Eric tag along this time. Jack leads the way of course. When they reach Castle Rock they see the beast and run back into the jungle. Ralph misses taking baths, brushing his teeth and cutting his hair. Jack and Ralph can't get along with anything any more.

Everybody is really scared of the beast. There was another struggle between Ralph and Jack. The conch is respected by a few people still.

In the fight piggy gets one of his lens broken. They are becoming very violent. Jack kills a sow and leaves its head on a spear for the beast. The Lord of the Flies speaks to Simon. The Lord of the Flies represents the devil. Simon falls down and looses conscious.

Everybody is invited to a feast at Jack's tribe. Ralph and Piggy take baths and get ready to go. Simon finds out what the beast really is but before he can tell anyone, he is mistaken for the beast and killed.

Ralph doesn't even believe that he is the chief anymore. Ralph and Piggy go to Jack's side of the island but the guards won't let them in.

That night Jack's tribe raided Ralph, Piggy, and Sam and Eric of fire. They even stole and broke Piggy's glasses.

They go to Jack's side of the island. They push Piggy off the side of a cliff then push a rock on him. The conch is shattered and all civilization is gone. SamandEric become part of Jack's tribe by force.

Ralph is on the run because Jack's tribe is hunting him down with the intention of killing him. Ralph runs all the way to the other side of the island where he sees a man in a white uniform. They all get rescued except for the ones that died of stupid acts.