Lord of the Flies themes essays

Lord of the Flies themes essays Lord of the Flies is a novel alive with subtle themes and concepts that are relevant and representative of human nature whether it is a group of schoolboys or society as a whole. The author William Golding has illustrated his main themes by using symbols that represent aspects of order and civilization and later in the novel the same symbols represent aspects of chaos and anarchy. The characters in this novel are a group of English schoolboys who are stranded on a tropical utopia. Ralph, who is chosen as the chief, attempts to create a sense of order on the island by establishing rules and regulations. Piggy aids Ralph by being the voice of reason and knowledge. However a split between the boys leads to Jack taking control and creating an immoral and reckless tribe. Towards the end of the book the boys break from the safety of their orderly existence that is based on the hope that they will be rescued. The boys regress from a civilized society to savagery, which is symbolized in the novel by Piggys glasses, the fire and the importance of the conch shell. First, the glasses, worn by Piggy represent intelligence and technology. The boys use his specs-...as burning glasses (Golding 41). They use their intuitiveness and teamwork to make the fire that would later aid in their rescue and are very concerned with starting the fire and keeping it going. However as time moves on the state of Piggys glasses begin to deteriorate due to a clash between Jack and Piggy where Jack smacked Piggys head...and Piggys glasses fly off and tinkled on the rocks (Golding 75). One side of Piggys glasses is broken. The boys are beginning to become more selfish and self interested and as a result piggy is losing the power and status that he had at the beginning of the novel. Furthermore, when Jack and his tribe take control one night and steal Piggys glasses leaving piggy blind it is apparen ...