In William Golding's best-selling novel, "Lord of the Flies" man's inherent evil and savage nature is revealed through Golding's strident world view, extraordinary use of literary devices, and superb structure. 'Lord of the Flies' was published in 1954 when it quickly became wildly popular. The novel has had a difficult history following its immediate fame. Numerous schools, universities, and institutions have barred the book from being taught for its use of racism, explicit content and vivid imagery. Golding himself is an astounding reflection of the inner turmoil and harshness of his own writing.
William Golding detested the British class system and his book reflected his thoughts. Golding wrote the novel during the second world war. The setting of the story is a comparison to his daily life and thoughts of his fellow Britains. 'Lord of the Flies' is set during a devastating battle and the boys in the plane crash end up on an island during the fighting. They are in a more civilized society than the outside world, however, chaos still takes over the order. Golding thought that Great Britain was beginning to go mental with the rules of their class system, even in a more civilized society than the outside world (5). Golding also was an active participant in the war. He joined the navy a year after the war broke out. His duty was to command a landing craft for rocket firing planes (5). Golding made it out of the war unscathed and thought of the war as drastically better in its order and class than his home of Cornwall, Great Britain. Cornwall was his hometown from his birth in 1911 (5). It was later learned that Golding resented the heaping amounts of money he made from the book because he saw 'Lord of the Flies' as a minor work (5). In his essay 'A Moving Target' in 1982, he described 'Lord of the Flies' as "grief, grief, sheer grief" (6). The word Beelzebub is a Greek word that translates to mean "Lord of the Flies" (6). Beelzebub is the ancient Judeo-Christian term for Satan (6). To better understand the bold and blunt style of writing in the novel, previous critics have related it to his lifelong struggle with alcoholism (5). Golding was "thin-skinned" when it came to criticism of his writing (5). He died at the ripe age of 81, only four years after the publication of his last book 'Fire Down Below' (5).
In 1983 Golding would win a Nobel prize for the body and structure of his 1954 novel (4). The book was praised more highly for its textbook structure than the actual content within (4). 'Lord of the Flies' is written in a third-person omniscient point of view to increase tension and draw the reader into the storyline (2). Syntax is frequent for the use of drawing out long peaceful moments and shortening tense and violent moments (2). The book is also completely devoid of sentiment for the boys (4). It focuses more on the use of literary devices than the reader's feelings towards the characters (4). Chapters 1-4 contain rising tension and in chapter 5 the crisis is reached (2). Following that is the climax, the whole end of the book and finally the falling action, which is just the last few sentences (2). His book is a classic source of how a book should be written and structured.
The novel's themes are heavily weighted throughout the book and practically write the story line. The two main themes of the book are man's inherent savage nature and good vs. evil (1). Golding describes the theme of the novel as "An attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature" (6). Man's inherent savagery is shown mainly through comparison of island life to the chaos of the war raging around the boys. This is portrayed through tiny details as small as the boys playing, for instance,
"Ralph danced out into the hot air of the beach and they returned as a fighter plane with wings swept back and machine gunned Piggy." (1)
This quote supports the savage theme of the book, that even when the boys are having fun, they still crave chaos and destruction (1). Another example of Man's inherent savage nature in the book is the imagery that Golding uses when the boys give into their animalistic nature (4). This happens several times, for example,
"Jack got down on all four's" (4)
"The boys lay panting like dogs" (4)
"Jack became an ape-like thing" (4)
A sub-theme that goes within the theme of good vs. evil is the effect of fear. Sam and Eric's purpose of existence in the book is purely to explore this sub-theme. They have a desire to be good and moral as they were before the island (6). However, mob mentality soon causes them to succumb to the brutal-ness of Jack and his gang, out of fear of experiencing his torture rather than giving it (6). The savage nature of man is also easily seen as the story line continues. The longer the story goes on, the more the boys lose their sanity and eventually give in to their most beastly desires, such as hunting one another. Good vs. evil is also represented in the 'Lord of the Flies' by the choice of the boys to start falling under Jack's evil leadership. One by one, besides Piggy, the boys leave Ralph and his moral goodness for the darker side of themselves. Character development through the story is also essential in the development of the themes. As time passes in the novel, the boys each are set in specific roles. Jack becomes the tyrant, Ralph becomes the leader, Piggy becomes the geek and Simon becomes the seer (4). In the beginning the boys are all the same, but as the story develops, the boys grow deeper into their personalities. Jack was originally put in charge of hunting by Ralph, but this title becomes so immersed and deeply embedded into his soul. He does not just hunt for food, as was the original intention, he also hunts his peers to prove himself alpha, and to scare those opposed into submission (4). The beginning of Jack's downward spiral towards an evil path can be seen in his first pig killing,
"Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands." (4)
This quote also portrays the diction getting darker throughout the scene. This is yet another literary device that Golding has mastered throughout 'Lord of the Flies' with the purpose of the advancement of the main ideas. At one point in the story, the Lord of the Flies tells Simon "Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt and kill!" to which Simon said "Evil isn't a component of nature, but an active element that seeks expression" (6). Evil is not embodied in the society by an external force, it is a creeping obscurity that resides in each person (2). The outlet for the boys aggression and violence at the beginning of the book is savagery, but by the end of the book it is dominance.
Golding's main literary device throughout the novel is symbolism. Everything that is in the 'Lord of the Flies' can be a symbol with the right interpretation. This literary device in particular was used to heighten and support the themes that Golding picked. Golding specifically uses three main outlets for his symbolism, which are: objects, color, and character. At the beginning of the novel a conch shell is used at meetings, so that whoever has the conch shell has the opportunity to speak. As the story continues, the conch shell is seen as order to Ralph, and he clings to it (4). The conch shell starts off very important and respected by the boys, but as time progresses it loses its meaning
and the boys have little regard for it. Eventually, the conch shell holds no authority and Ralph desperately blows it futilely one last time. By the end of the book the conch shell shatters, portraying that all the order once held has been destroyed (1). Another main symbol is Piggy's glasses. The glasses were used to start fires, mainly the signal fire to signal planes and ships. In the beginning of the story, Jack's group of hunters was put in charge of watching the signal fire, but they kept allowing it to snuff out. The glasses symbolize civilization (1). As the fire kept going out, so did the boy's sanity and they embraced their inner animalistic desires (1). When Jack leaves Ralph's authority and creates his own group, he steps on Piggy's glasses and cracks one lens. This is an immediate and accurate portrayal of the split in civilization. At the end of the book, Piggy is killed and his glasses completely shatter, showing the animalistic devastation of the once civilized society (4).
The next strong use of symbolism is seen through color. Pink is the color of the speckled conch shell that represented order. The island is also said to be a peaceful pink during the sunset. Piggy, seeming to be flushed most of the novel, is pink in the face. It can be deduced that pink represents innocence, mainly because that is the essence of Piggy and the island (2). He exists to be a kind friend to Ralph (2). The island was peaceful before the boys let their brutality take over. Golding describes yellow as soft in his story (2). Golding also describes Ralph as the "soft yellow-haired boy" (2). The soft sun over the island radiates a warmth that tends to be included whenever Simon is around as well (2). Ralph and Simon are the wisest of the boys in the group. The conclusion is able to be easily drawn that Golding intended for yellow to portray enlightenment and wisdom (2). Red and black are stereotypically representative of darkness, but in Golding's novel the case is slightly different. Though red and black do show darkness, the colors also lean towards obscurity and animalistic savagery that is unlike other novels (4). The need and desire for death that Jack feels as he kills his first boar are proven to be satisfied when the "hot blood spurted from its neck" (4).
The final main use of Golding's symbolism is through characters and their presentation. Jack is the book's symbol for the theme, man's inherent savage nature. Jack himself is nothing more than an animalistic beast that finally gets uncaged and set free at the end of the novel. Jack finds his identity in his tribe, as his tribe's animalistic tendencies grow, so do his. Jack also represents the boys growing love for power and destruction, as well as the love for power and destruction that is in everyone. Ralph is the symbol for common sense and logic. Ralph is rational and that's why he is the original leader, why he is in control. He finds his identity in his morality and justness, which is what made him so perfect for his starting role, and his ending role. The end of the book is chaos, something Ralph doesn't fit into. The smaller characters also are symbols. Roger represents the desire for violence and torture, Piggy represents intellect and maturity, and Simon represents piety.
Following its publication, 'Lord of the Flies' was barred from being taught in many places worldwide for its excessive use of discrimination, violence, and foul language (4). The novel was under the most duress during 1980-1990 when several school districts around the country refused to teach the book and challenged the novel to their superiors (4). The teachers weren't just troubled with the violence, discrimination, and foul language, but also that the boys in the novel weren't fighting for survival, they were fighting simply to "satiate" the beast within themselves (3).
William Golding may have been an incredibly abrasive man, but his novel was pure genius. The use of literary devices coupled with perfect structure make the novel worthy of being called a classic. The reflection of the book to its time period is truly phenomenal. Though the language is foul and the violence is excessive, the novel would not be 'Lord of the Flies' without Golding's harsh and blunt style and flair. Golding's bitter worldview brings the book to life when added with his supreme writing skills.