The Lord of the Flies

1
The Lord of the Flies

• Themes and Symbols

2
Themes

• Civilisation and barbarity
• Leadership
• Nature
• Loss of innocence and identity
• Evil

3
Civilisation and barbarity

• The boys try to construct a civilisation on
  the island but it breaks down in blood and
  terror because the boys are suffering from the
  terrible disease of being human.
• William Golding

4
School rules!

• Hands up Ralph mentions taking turns to speak
  as if they are at school.
• Weve got to have rules and obey them. After
  all, were not savages. foreshadows the latter
  parts of the novel.

Where the writer gives a clue or hint about
something that will come later in the story.
5
Assemblies

• The boys initially call the meetings they have
  assemblies another example of the boys using
  their school experiences to bring order to the
  island.

6
The pull of civilisation

• Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to
  throw them. Yet there was a space round Henry,
  perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare
  not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the
  taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child
  was the protection of parents and school and
  policemen and the law. Rogers arm was
  conditioned by a civilisation that knew nothing
  of him and was in ruins.

7
Fading civilisation

• Time starts to slip the first rhythm that they
  became used to was the slow swing from dawn to
  quick dusk. Natural time is replacing man-made
  time.

8
Raging fire!

• The first fire rages out of control and kills a
  small boy. None of the boys will admit this
  they prefer to ignore this event.
• The second fire burns out when Jack takes the
  boys off hunting. He is ignoring the rules and
  doing what he wants.
• The third fire is built on the beach by Ralph and
  Piggy the only boys who continue to stick to
  the rules.

9
Piggys worries

• Piggy worries about what the grown-ups will think
  of the way they are behaving.
• Piggy worries that they are forgetting the rules
  which is better, law and rescue, or hunting
  and breaking things up?

10
Painted savages

• Ralph knows that the tribe will never stop
  these painted savages would go further and
  further.
• By the end of the novel the tribe are hunting
  Ralph as if he were a pig.

11
Leadership

• The boys vote to elect a chief what qualities
  does Ralph have that make him a good candidate?

12
Vote for Ralph

• This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the
  conch. Jack started to protest but the clamour
  changed from the general wish for a chief to an
  election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of
  the boys could have found good reason for this
  what intelligence had been shown was traceable to
  Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack.

13
Vote for Ralph

• But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat
  that marked him out there was his size, and
  attractive appearance and most obscurely, yet
  most powerfully, there was the conch. The being
  that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on
  the platform with the delicate thing balanced on
  his knees, was set apart.

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Ralph v Jack

• What are the qualities that make Ralph a good
  leader?
• Why does Jack not make a good leader?

15
Ralph

• Chosen by election.
• Tries to protect the others.
• Wants them to obey the rules.
• Not always comfortable as leader.
• Has a sense of duty.

16
Jack

• Rejects democracy and rules by fear.
• Makes the boy obey him as chief.
• Is arrogant.
• Behaves like a dictator.
• Abuses his power.

17
Nature

• How does the island change between the opening of
  the novel and the end?

18
The changing island

• The shore was fledged with palm trees.
  coconut trees for food.
• The white surf flinked on a coral reef. reef
  keeps the lagoon safe.
• The irregular arc of coral.
• Blue of all shades and shadowy green and
  purple. calm colours.

19
Not all it seems

• The owner of the voice came backing out of the
  undergrowth so that twigs scratched on a greasy
  wind-breaker. He naked crooks of his knees were
  plump, caught and scratched by thorns.
  foreshadows later in the novel when nature is not
  so kind to the boys.

20
Damage to the island

• The long scar smashed into the jungle the
  plane crash has injured the island.
• Beneath the capering boys a quarter of a square
  mile of forest was savage with smoke and flame.
  the boys first attempt to build a signal fire
  destroy part of the island.

21
Repairing the natural environment

• Undergrowth starts to cover the car made by the
  plane crash.
• A storm drags the wreckage out to sea.
• The wind takes the body of the dead airman off
  the island.
• All evidence of murder is washed away as the tide
  takes the bodies of Piggy and Simon out to sea.

22
Loss of identity and innocence

• Contrast the boys at the start of the novel with
  the boys at the end of the novel.
• How are the boys in Chapter 1 different from the
  boys in Chapter 12?

23
Who are you?

• The small boys are first described as little
  boys, they then become little uns and finally
  littluns. Only a few characters are known by
  their individual names.
• Sam and Eric become Samneric they are now one
  person.
• Finally Jack becomes the Chief and his
  followers are the Tribe.

24
Evil

• Golding thought that all men were capable of
  evil.
• World War Two had just ended what was evil in
  the war?
• Darkness is often a sign of evil.
• Are any of the characters in Lord of the Flies
  evil?

25
Symbols

• The conch
• Piggys glasses
• The signal fire
• The beast
• The Lord of the Flies

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What is a symbol?

• A symbol is an object in the novel which
  represents or stands for something else.
• The heart on the right can symbolise love,
  romance or Valentines Day.

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The conch
The conch is used to summon the boys to meetings.
It is a symbol of Ralphs leadership and also of
democracy. Whoever is holding the conch has the
right to speak taking turns like they would at
school. When the conch is smashed it marks the
end of any civilised behaviour on the island. It
also coincides with the death of Piggy the
character who is most interested in keeping to
the rules.
28
Piggys glasses
Piggys glasses are the source of the power of
fire on the island. The boys use the glasses to
start the first signal fire. When the group
splits up, Jack and his tribe steal Piggys
glasses so they have the power of fire. The
glasses are a symbol of the boys desire to be
rescued and Jacks desire for control.
29
The signal fire
The signal fire is the only way that the boys
have of letting the world know where they are.
Without the fire there is no hope of being
rescued. It is a symbol of the boys connection
with the civilised world.
30
The beast

• The beast is a symbol of fear of the unknown. It
  is the small boys who see the beast first.
  They have nightmares about the beastie out
  there. As they spend more time on the island,
  the beast is seen by more boys and becomes more
  savage. This is a reflection of the boys
  descent into savagery.

31
The Lord of the Flies

• The sows head which Jack puts on a stick becomes
  a physical manifestation of the beast and a
  symbol of the power of evil. It starts out as a
  bloody symbol of Jacks hunting and ends up as a
  rotting, smelly piece of carcass not so much
  scary as disgusting!