The significant symbols in The Lord of The Flies
By Liang Zhi
In the beginning:
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| 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
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| 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:
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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:
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| 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.
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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.
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| 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
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| 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)
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