Most novels have symbolism to pass a figurative message behind the text. Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, by connecting symbols of evil, good, and society, William Golding shows that ideologies associated with evil take over the ones considered good.
The Beast and the rocks, by representing evil in the novel, lead to the descent of a society and the growth of another. The adventure of the children starts happily: they have built a society and everything seem to go well. A fire incident happens on the mountain. Then, Jack says that “Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well; we were happy. And then […] people started getting frightened” (820). Jack sees that their way of working as group doesn’t function as it should. Evil starts emerging to the surface. A fire has damaged the island, children have nightmares about “the Beast” and some say to have seen it. Then, a dead parachutist arrives on the mountain. Sam and Eric hear “Fifteen yards away from them […] the plopping noise of fabric blown open” (98). The parachutist hanged from the parachute on top of a rock. He symbolizes the horrors of society, because he died in war caused by two ideologies in confrontation. If he ends up dead on this island, it’s because of his society. Following this event, Jack starts using the Beast as a way to gain power. He decides to rule as chief and persuades others to join his tribe by saying that “When [they] kill [they’ll] leave some of the kill for it” (133). In other words, the children join Jack’s tribe because they know that they have a higher chance of protection with him and can have more fun. The Beast exists as a tool of propaganda. Then Simon meats a new form of the Beast. He sees the rotting boar previously killed by the children and imagines it as a Lord of the Flies, that “[hangs] on [its] stick and grinns” (138). The Lord of the Flies symbolizes the devil. Yet this devil doesn’t exist for real, because “In Simon’s right temple, a pulse began to beat on the brain” (138). The diabolic image of the Beast exists only in the children’s mind. Simon realizes the untold truth that evil comes from humans. Rocks symbolize evil and violence in this novel. At the start of the novel, Roger “stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry一threw it to miss. […] Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins” (62). At the beginning of the children’s stay on the island, society still conditions Roger not to make the rocks hit Henry. Ironically, at the same moment, Roger’s society fights in war and commits acts of violence. Roger realizes that no adult live on the island to punish him for his actions. He also understands society commits acts of violence, so he thinks he should have the right to do them as well. Therefore, later in the story, Roger decides to throw a big rock that results in “the conch [exploding] into a thousand white fragments […,] Piggy falling forty feet [… with] His head opened” (181). Roger kills with a rock the conch symbolize evil.
In this book, evil doesn’t just lie passively in this book; it takes every good person and thing, incarnated by Simon and the forest, for none should know the truth on the source of evil. During the children’s stay on the island, the forest never appreciate Jack. When Jack goes there, the forest remains so silent, that “it [is] more oppressive than the heat” (49). He feels that the forest isn’t welcoming, but scary. The only sign of life that he sees, a bird, makes him “[shrink] at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath” (49). Here, Jack hisses like a snake, alluding to the Bible by comparing Jack to the devil. However, Simon, a good and calm character, uses the forest as a sanctuary where he can have his seizures in peace. When he goes in the woods towards the beginning of the novel, “Flower and fruit grew together on the same tree and everywhere was the scent of ripeness and the booming of a million bees at pasture” (56). From Simon’s point of view, the forest lives. Insects fly everywhere around Simon, so the forest lives in harmony. It contains the fruit that feeds the children. Then Simon does a generous action no other bigguns did. He “found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach [… And only] When he had satisfied them he paused” (56). If he didn’t give the young children good fruits, they would have taken the ones on the ground. They would have gotten constant diarrhea and died from dehydration. So by nourishing the littluns, Simon also symbolizes life. Nonetheless, evil takes over good at one point. After meeting the Lord of the Flies and knowing the truth about evil, Simon has to die. When he goes back to where Jack’s tribe had a feast, Simon “[cries] out something about a dead man on a hill [… while Jack’s tribe sings,] ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in’” (152). Simon tries to tell them the truth, but Jack’s tribe doesn’t care, and continues the dance about killing the Beast, except now wanting to kill Simon. Then they kill Simon the innocent child by seeing at him as a “Beast”. Later on Jack tries to eliminate the last two symbols of good: Ralph and the forest. He burns down the forest, causing Ralph to “[run] beneath the trees, with the grumble of the forest explained. They had smoked him out and set the island on fire” (197). Ralph realizes that Jack’s trying to eliminate him, but not just himself. Jack decides to remove the forest, containing the children’s source of food, an essential element for life. Evil has gained so much power that Jack puts his own life in danger to annihilate good. Thus evil destroys every element symbolizing life and good until nothing remains.
To connect the good and evil ideologies present in his novel with the real world, Golding uses symbols of society, such as the conch and clothes. The novel start with Ralph and Piggy finding a conch. The conch symbolizes a democratic society right after its discovery. Ralph gets elected chief because he has the conch, a shell present during all there assemblies, giving the one that holds it the right to speak. But this system proves inefficient. Kids fight for the right to speak. Piggy argues, “‘I got the conch, […] I got a right to speak’ … [and then,] The twins giggled together” (45). Allready children don’t take the rules concerning the conch seriously and people often speak without permission. Ralph’s society has a hard time enforcing laws. Later on, Ralph says, “We have lots of assemblies. Everybody enjoys speaking and sitting together. We decide things. But they don’t get done” (79). Ralph acknowledges here the weakness of his own system. It can’t force the children to do the work, in opposition to an authoritarian society. Some children remove their clothes, a symbol of their past society. Jack, “except for a pair of tattered short held up by his knife-belt […] was naked” (48). He removed all symbol of society, except the bad aspect of it, represented by the knife-belt. He just kept violence from his past life. However, Ralph doesn’t take off his clothes except when swimming. After going for a swim, “To put on a grey shirt once more was strongly pleasing” (14) to Ralph. Ralph finds the comfort of society when having his clothes on, because it’s the last indication of their past lives. Then evil gains power, the children start painting their faces making them look more like a savage tribe than like a developed society. Jack “cleared his throat again. … “I’m not going to play any longer. Not with you[, Ralph]” (127). Jack goes away to make his own tribe, and later on most children join him for protection and fun. The rise of Jack’s tribe alludes to the rise of totalitarian states between the 1920s and the 1940s. Some people joined Staline because he promised equality and no social classes. Some joined Hitler because he promised them things the fragile democracy could not give them. Therefore, a powerful evil regime often gains the position of power compared to a morally good society.
Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the Beast, rocks, the forest, Simon, the conch and clothes as symbols of evil, good and society. The Beast represents evil in the human brain, the rocks symbolize violence. Simon, the morally good character and a symbol of life, and the forest his sanctuary. The conch represents democratic societies and the clothes symbolize the society in general. All those symbols lead to the idea that evil ideologies takeover the good ones. In conclusion, by linking several symbols of good, evil, and society, Golding demonstrates the ease an evil society has to make a good system fall to ruins. Yet good and evil are subjective, so societies are seen differently depending with which lenses you are observing them.