FREE ESSAY ON MUCH SYMBOLISM

MUCH SYMBOLISM

Nature's Symbolism
Much symbolism is used in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The nature on the island
is used as the primary source of symbolism. There are three main uses of nature's
symbolism: a pink conch shell, a pig's head, and fire. Nature is a symbol that parallels
to the real world. It helps prove the author's theory that Humankind is foolish and evil
in any situation.
The first important part of nature's symbolism is a pink conch shell. At the beginning of
the book, it was found by Ralph (13). The conch shell represents power and authority.
Ralph uses it to call for the boys to come to the meeting (15). In the meetings, whoever
has the shell has the power to speak. The conch shows how people use objects to give
power, like a king and his scepter and crown, or other things which show who has power.
It is also evident that objects don't give power when people choose not to obey it, like
Ralph's conch. 
The pig's head, or Lord of the Flies, is another important use of symbolism through
nature. Jack and his hunters killed a pig and cut off its head (125). To Jack, the head
is a sacrifice for the beast (127). This object demonstrates that people make religions
and rituals to control their world, even though what they think is not true. Lord of the
Flies is a symbol of the Devil, or Satan. When Simon communicated with Lord of the Flies,
he found out what real evil was, which is the evil in the hearts of people. The pig's
head is a symbol of the thing we make up to be the cause for evil, when those things
aren't the real reason. 
Fire is the last symbol of nature. It stands for hope and rescue. When the fire was
burning bright, it was because the boys had hope and were working hard to get rescued.
When the fire burnt out, it was because too many boys, like Jack, lost hope for being
rescued. In the end, the fire that got the attention of naval officers was ironically not
meant for rescue. It was there because Jack was trying to flush Ralph out of the forest
by burning down the island (182). The fire at the end shows us that we sometimes get
things from luck instead of hard work.
Lord of the Flies is filled with symbolism through nature, which makes an important
comment about Humankind. The objects parallel to things in the real world like power,
religion, pride, hope, and authority. They help to show us that what happened in the
story happen anyway, just in different ways. They prove Golding's belief that Humankind
is foolish and evil under any circumstances.