Photo montage of the major symbols in The Lord of The Flies

The significant symbols in The Lord of The Flies

By Liang Zhi

In the beginning:

Ralph blowing the conch for the first time

In chapter 1 of Lord of the Flies, Piggy and Ralph found the conch. This picture shows Ralph blowing the conch for the very first time to gather the other boys, symbolising the spark of civilisation among the boys

Piggy voicing out his opinion at the first gathering

This picture shows the first group gathering of the boys. It carries a significant meaning to it, as it shows the process of the boys trying to set up a system ruled through law and order.

Moving on:

Piggy with his glasses

Piggy is the only boy on the island who has glasses on. He displays great intelligence and knowledge, and gave the boys ideas (such as setting up the signal fire). Hence, Piggy’s glasses represent the intelligence and wisdom of humans.

The signal fire started by the boys

The boys in Lord of the Flies set up a signal fire to increase the probability of them being saved. The signal fire symbolises a double-edged sword, as the fire can save the boys from the island, as well as lead the island to destruction, which is foreshadowed when the signal fire went out of control in chapter 2.

Ralph and Piggy racking their brains to build the shelters

This picture illustrates Ralph’s response towards the other boys’ fear towards ‘The Beast’. Ralph, Simon and Piggy built shelters with weak foundations in order to let the other littl'uns feel more protected from ‘The Beast’  at night. The shelters represent the weak protection the boys have against their insecurities and wild imaginations of ‘The Beast’, both physically and mentally.

As the boys started to stray further from civilisation:

Jack with his painted body

As the story progresses, Jack starts to gain more interest in hunting, resulting in him painting his face and body with red, green and white colours. The paint on his body gives Jack a totally different identity and changes his character, from a person bound by civilised ruling to a violent hunter which has strayed away from law and order.

The Lord of The Flies This pictures show the Lord of the Flies, which is the head of a sow Jack offered to ‘The Beast’ as an offering. In Simon’s mind, the sow’s head is a corrupt individual which intends to spark the darkness humans have in their hearts. The Lord of the Flies symbolises corruption and darkness in the hearts of the boys.

The death of Simon

In the later part of the story, Simon found out the truth about the dead parachutist but was mistaken for ‘The Beast’ and was killed by the other boys. As Simon is regarded as the only boy with innate natural goodness, the death of Simon symbolises the loss of natural goodness among the boys

The death of Piggy

Piggy represents intelligence and logical thinking in humans. However, Roger directed a rock at Piggy when he was holding the conch, causing the death of Piggy and the destruction of the conch. This signifies the loss of rationality and human intelligence, as well as law and order among the boys.

***Credits:The photos are snapshots taken from the movies ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1963 film) and ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1990 remake film)

Reflecting on the novel // Fanny

Reflection on how the novel relates to your experiences in real life
By Fanny

“Judging a book by it’s cover”

The discrimination against Piggy due to his unattractive appearance is similar to that in the real world, where children in school are teased due to their social status and their outer appearance. This reveals that humans are superficial beings and do not bother about your innate goodness but build up their opinions on others based on appearance, or as said “judging a book by its cover”.

There was this girl in our class named Amanda, who scored great results but was of a small-build, who was meek. Everyone saw her as the “teacher’s pet” and nobody really wanted to befriend her. Not only that, since the “coolest” person in class bullied her, ordered her around and constantly took her stationary, nobody dared or attempted to befriend her, as they found that bullying her was more fun and if even the “coolest” girl disliked her, they as fellow classmates should bully her to be in favour of that one “cool” girls in class. Just like Amanda, nobody bothered to befriend Piggy, Piggy was so neglected that nobody asked for his real name throughout the story ever since he was introduced to be “Piggy”, hence showing his social insignificance on the island. Even though he was obviously much more intelligent than all the boys on the island, nobody recognized his merits and left him outcasted as soon as he arrived on the island, when Jack showed his dislike for him by telling him to “Shut up, Fatty”, it was from then on that Piggy was entirely left out and bullied. Even though it is clear to those students that all should be treated the same, with the same amount of respect, we tend to go overboard and forget about simple things such as respect for one another.

Civilization is learnt, but not innate

The boys easily give in to their savage desires, where they lack self discipline, only doing what they are supposed to do during an emergency, but then eventually forgetting about the impending danger afterwards. Just like in real life, when I first failed an exam i thought to myself that I had to “do better” and “study harder”. However due to my lack of self discipline, I quickly found joy in other activities and was completely neglecting my studies all over again, thus causing me to fail my exams once again. Just like me, the littluns on the island were only motivated after the meetings Ralph saying that “ “I bet if I blew the conch this minute, they’d come running. Then we’d be, you know, very solemn, and someone would say we ought to build a jet, or a submarine, or a TV set. When the meeting was over they’d work for five minutes, then wander off or go hunting.” Hence, showing that self discipline, an example of civilisation, is learnt and not innate, many of us lacking it.

Peer influence has a great impact on others

As seen in LOTF, where Jack negatively influences the other boys to become savage and join him in not only the hunting of pigs, but also that of the other boys, bringing danger to all the boys on the island. This is reminiscent of  real life, where students are easily influenced their classmates or the people they are close to.It is so easy to succum to peer pressure because everyone wants to fit in and be liked. Especially when it seems like “everyone is doing it”. People give in to peer pressure because they do not want to hurt someone’s feelings or they do not know how to get out of the situation thus they just say “yes”, and follow whatever the others are doing, and in this case the littluns follow Jack in hunting and little follow Ralph in building of huts even though he is the rightful leader.

Initial and Current impressions of LOTF // All group members

How our understanding of the novel has evolved over our study of the book. 

Liang Zhi: The first impression I had of the book, when I heard the book title, was that the book had flies invading some sort of country. Of course that was a very superficial impression of the book. However, as I looked at the book cover and read through the synopsis of the book, I realised that the book was about the innate darkness of humans, that is progressively showcased by a group of young boys trapped on an island without the supervision of adults. This book focuses on the less vibrant and positive side of human beings, describing humans as evil and blood-thirsty creatures who lack empathy and compassion.

Ruan Yang: The first impression I had of the book was that it involved flies and that there was a ruler to them. I have also heard that the book is filled with cannibalism too. However, the actual story plot was totally different from what I thought of the book. It is a story in which a group of boys had to survive on an uninhabited island, and during so time soon revealed the humane darkness in some of the boys, which was displayed through the characters, mainly Jack. Furthermore, I realised that Lord Of The Flies (LOTF) was reflecting the scene of World War II, as the author, William Golding, had experienced, and it could present how the dark side of humans could overpower their civilisation and natural goodness.

Wenwei: My first impression when I read the first few pages of Lord of the Flies was that it was a rather family friendly book, something like the ‘Swiss Family Robinsons’, a dystopian novel about stranded boys on an island. As I read on and studied the plot development, I realised that the novel was an allegory: it told of bloodthirst and innate evil in man, and much of this would not have been gathered should I have read this book like an ordinary storybook or at surface value. I found it interesting as the events of the book reflected the horrors of the second world war through the actions and thoughts of young boys, which shows how William Golding truly felt that wickedness lay in every man, only to be restrained by civilisation. It was also very interesting to see that the only exception to innate evil is Simon, who is depicted as a Christ-like figure, where in the book he is seen to go through similar events as Jesus Christ did. All in all, my first impression really contrasted against my current impression of LOTF; now I think of it as a very clever and dark allegory, and a very thought-provoking one at that.

Fanny: My impression of LOTF was that it was a book about a group of boys working together who would successfully save themselves from a risky situation by working together harmoniously on the island, such as that of an adventure book, since chapter one was about how the boys on the island were organised where everyone seemed to have an assigned task; Ralph being the chosen leader, Piggy being the one who was in charge of ensuring the littluns safety and wellbeing; Jack in charge of gathering food and resources for the boys. To me, it seemed like the start of a tale, where a group of boys are able to live together peacefully, accomplishing new objectives everyday with everyone performing their assigned task well. However over Term 2, i have realised that LOTF wasn't such a peaceful book, and was not promoting the importance of teamwork and kindness. It also dawned upon me that the story would be unlikely to end with “Everyone living happily ever after”. In term 2, I realised that LOTF had some hints that it would be a book about savagery, and the loss of civilisation. The boys began to have differing priorities and had trouble communicating with one another, and were then unable to work harmoniously together. Jack’s behaviour started to become somewhat eccentric,  in the sense that he is became increasingly bloodthirsty. Also, it seemed like many of the boys wanted to be the leader and wanted authority over each other, even using violence to show that they are to be feared, and that they should be respected by others. Hence in conclusion, my understanding of LOTF has changed drastically from being an adventure book, to one that has deeper meaning, a reflection of the dark side of the society we live in today.

Joash: During the first term which our class studied Lord of the Flies, I regarded the book rather dismissively; I saw it merely as a written work meant to excite and entertain, just page upon page of an author in a literary clamour for our attention. Though the author William Golding does a fantastic job doing so, his “sadistic child-torturing fantasies” never struck a chord. I considered the plot of the boys’ division and shameless politicking with distaste, frowned upon how Golding decided to suggest a death even as the book was nascent in its second chapter, and questioned, in perturbed disgust, Golding’s sanity as he described the scene where Simon converses with the head of a pig. Needless to say my initial, and admittedly shallow, analysis of Lord of the Flies was and excruciatingly uncomfortable affair. However, upon discussions conducted in class and the learned guidance of our teacher over the past two terms, I realised that Lord of the Flies was not just 237 lifeless pages of child brutality, but a piece of literature, a medium through which Golding expresses philosophical insights which are not only impressive, but practical for our day and age. I realised that through the praiseworthy eloquence, the book was thick with symbolism and social commentary. This was evident through how it delves into subjects such as the brevity of civilisation and societal justice, innate sin as compared to circumstantial evil, and the sad fate of morality and reason against our innate savagery. It would be an understatement to say that Golding’s work has inspired me immensely and has greatly developed my worldview. I began to see the prowess behind the prose; how the boy’s division was to exhibit the weakness that is civilisation and the result of succumbing to savagery. How the deaths symbolised the failure of our forces which govern our thinking or their demise. How Simon’s conversation with the lord of the flies exposes the indwelling evil within the boys. In summary, my view of Lord of the Flies has been changed immeasurably over the course of the past two terms, from a piece of entertainment to a trove of perceptive revelations to human nature.

Zizai: When I first got the book and took a glimpse at the title, my first thought was : ‘Is this going to be a slaughterfest with a bunch of flies flocking around?’. I had a rather negative first impression, combining the word ‘flies’ with the seemingly gory image on the cover page of the book, which suggested an image of death with the head of a pig and the use of red colour, which symbolises blood, to conclude with a rather sadistical book which had some rather disturbing themes. As I read the early chapters of the book, this impression started to fade away and was replaced with one that suggested that it contains themes such as friendship and adventure. From the way that the boys were stranded in an island, their little castaway adventure seemingly held infinite possibilities for them. It felt like an iteration of the renowned ‘Robinson Crusoe’ where the protagonist made friends, explored the island and subsequently escaped it. However, during our fruitful literature lessons, some insightful analysis by the teacher and classmates allowed me to look at things beyond surface level and spot the underlying themes in the book. The themes of death and twisted madness were replaced with savagery and bloodlust respectively while those of friendship and adventure still existed, albeit falling under a broader category known as civilisation. I found out that this was a book which encompasses and discusses the innate darkness in humans which challenges our ‘taught’ civilisation. and discusses the innate darkness found in humans that takes the form of savagery. It is pitted against civilisation, which is taught and trained, taking the form of Jack and Ralph respectively. Now, after two terms, I view this book as a medium to portray the conflict between savagery and civilisation.

Piggy's Poem // Wenwei

To reflect my understanding of the events of Lord of the Flies from chapters 1 to 4, I wrote through the eyes of the main character, Piggy, and itallics are what others say to him. This is also written in mild Cockney to reflect Piggy's background. 

Savage Innocence

by Wenwei

Piggy

There was that pilot, up in the cabin in front an’ an’

A boy named Ralph swimming an’ we found a conch on the island

Sucks to your ass-mar, sucks to your auntie

So long as they don’t call me what they used to, they used to call me Piggy

An’ Piggy I was and that was better than Fatty.

Tall thin an’ bony an’ red hair under a square cap black

Boy in a floatin’ cloak named Jack

Head of Hunters an’ we don’t want you

It don’t matter I was with Ralph when he found the conch too.

Fire on the mountain Ralph says and for burning use his specs

I can’t see, I can’t see, my specs, give me my specs-

I can see but I don’t see no good fire, no smoke, only flame

Conch in my hand an’ the conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain it became

Flames alive like a creeping jaguar an’ they got their small fire all right

Ralph don’t listen, no one don’t listen an’ a littlun disappears out of sight.

Out hunting Jack was an’ along with him went the fire

He didn’t ought to have let it out, he’d promised not to an’ we missed that ship prior--

Madness; sheer into sharp blue eyes an’ another step Jack took

Fisting my body into knots; so that it shook

In pain an’ much more. All over again my name was Fatty an’ I couldn’t see

Specs back on me nose an’ now I only got one eye (I couldn’t really see)

Just you wait, Jack. Just you wait.