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Marcela K. M. Rocha
Mr. Owain Phillips
English 9A
29 March 2014
Symbolism Within a Society of Savages
"Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity"
(Stephen King). Symbols are not created for the mere purpose of making the writing look good,
it is there to give depth, giving the readers a chance to make their own assumptions. Lord of the
Flies, written by William Golding, is about a group of British boys that get stranded on an island
and when they try to create order, only more chaos arises. Symbolism plays a great role in the
development of the plot line by making the Lord of the Flies, the fire and the conch represent
something less literal.
"A symbol is something that stands for something else. Literary symbolism combines the
literal and the abstract. Some symbols are generic" but others are specific for that piece of
literature, meaning that within the story they can represent something completely different than
imagined (PBS). Like a conch, a simple shell, representing law and order. Only by the context
this theory could arise, not from some physical resemblance or an utter guess. Or fire that in a
general context can represent energy, damnation, a destroyer and an illumination. Where, in Lord
of the Flies, is interpreted as something different concluded from the storyline.
The Lord of the Flies, the beast, enhances the plot to the point of making the boys
hallucinate with fictional monsters. When Simon is talking to the Lord of the Flies, he discovers
that it is "'part of [them]'", and that it is the reason "'things are what they are'" (143). At that
moment the reader becomes aware of the great evil the Lord of the Flies represents, and how the
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decline of their "society" happens because of it, the evil within them. Therefore, if it is inside
them, not only it cannot be hunted down, it cannot be seen, it cannot be given form and never be
defeated.
The fire was what Ralph believed the most important since the beginning, being the only
means for them to get rescued. In their first meeting, Ralph decides to assist in their rescue,
believing that they "'must make smoke on the top of the mountain. We must make a fire'", and
they do, keeping it ablaze at all moments (38). Fire is their technology, but just like the atomic
bombs destroying people outside, if out of control, threatens destruction. Other than that, it is
their only kind of connection to civilization, representing the hope of being rescued.
The conch was what was tying the boys to democracy, showing that they did have good
intentions at the start. Ralph was the one who blew it to call a meeting, and "had sat waiting for
them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees", giving the boys chance to
discuss how they ended up there (22). Representing law and order, the conch helps Ralph get
elected as chief, but also proves that many tools of power are "fake" other than the meaning
people give to them. When it is destroyed, the rules that it represented also shattered, giving Jack
full power to do whatever he thinks right at any given moment.
But could not the beast represent something else? An external savagery that civilization
could save, for instance. Some "habitats" are easier to live in than others, demanding a different
level of savagery to ensure survival. Meaning that less dangerous places would have less
savagery. Essentially like Piggy, who said that the beast was just the fear of the unknown and
that without it they would be civilized again.
Nonetheless, if civilization could really save this external savagery, when the boys return
to civilization, there would not be any more viciousness. Then again, there is: all the wars and
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killing, just a larger scale of violence and savagery. Simon knew something that the others did
not, "something about a dead man on a hill" even though he did not know how he died, the
bombs devastating everywhere, he tried to warn the others "against the abominable noise" of the
feast (152). Or when the United Kingdom decides that it is no longer inevitable to stay neutral
and enter WW2. King George VI broadcasts that they are there to fight "the selfish persuit of
power" and to do so, "use force, or threat of force, against the sovereignty and independence of
other states", showing that even the right-minded British could not keep themselves from going
into war (King George VI, BBC).
A symbol is something visible representing something invisible, giving the reader an
infinity of possibilities to look at. That was what Golding did, like many other authors such as
Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird and George Orwell in Animal Farm, from the three
symbols. Maybe not done on purpose, but Golding was able to give the beast, the fire, and the
conch an importance that in real life would have been taken for granted, and that for the story
would have made an incredible difference if not present.









Works Cited
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"The King Speaks to His Peoples." BBC News. BBC, 09 Mar. 1999. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
"Elements Of The Novel: Symbols." PBS. PBS, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Berkley Group, 1954. Print.