Notes on Lord of the Flies

1
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Themes
• The Need for Social Order
• Power
• Vision
• Fear of the Unknown
• Loss of Identity
• Loss of Innocence

2
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• The Need for Social Order
• The boys are separated from civilization
• They attempt to create their own form of order
  and government
• Without someone to enforce the rules, the boys
  fail to observe their own rules
• The boys eventually abandon the rules of
  civilization
• Without social order, the boys commit acts of
  savagery and murder

3
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Power
• To Ralph, power is democratic
• The conch becomes a symbol of power
• To Jack, power is authoritarian
• Jack treats the members of his choir cruelly
• The littluns begin to exercise power of small
  creatures
• Roger enjoys unrestrained power

4
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Vision
• Mirages impair the boy vision
• Although Piggys vision is poor, he can see most
  clearly what they need to do to survive
• Piggy is blind to the reality that evil exists in
  the boys themselves
• Simon has the clearest vision of the true nature
  of evil on the island
• Only Simon sees the Lord of the Flies
• Only Simon goes to the mountaintop to see the
  beast clearly in the daylight.

5
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Fear of the Unknown
• The boys are afraid because they do not know
  where they are, why their plane crashed, or what
  will happen if they are not rescued.
• The littluns fear the beastie or snake-like thing
  that comes in the dark
• The bigguns fears beasts that are still unknown
• The Beast Snake-like thing the dead
  parachutist The Lord of the Flies Simon - The
  boys themselves

6
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Loss of Identity
• The boys begin to lose their individual
  identities littluns, bigguns, samneric
• The choir becomes hunters
• The mask allows the boys to become someone else
• Jacks followers become a savage tribe
• Ralph has difficulty remember he is the leader
  and why rescue is important
• Percival forgets his own name

7
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• Loss of Innocence
• Ralphs faith in democracy is shattered
• Following the rules offers no protection
• Piggys belief in fairness is proven false
• Violence takes the lives of three boys
• The boys come to accept the notion that the world
  is not completely good

8
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• The Symbol of the Shell
• The shell sybolizes power and order on the island
• The boy holding the shell has the floor to speak
  at assemblies
• When the shell is shattered, any semblance of
  order is gone

9
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• The Characters
• Ralph counsel
• Good-natured, fair, uses common sense
• Jack one who takes over by force
• Uses fear and threats to control the boys
• Simon listener
• Most spiritual character, not afraid to go alone
  into the jungle, understands the reality of the
  beast

10
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• The Characters
• 4. Piggy obvious meaning
• The most intelligent on the island, outcast,
  outsider, his death is foreshadowed by the
  killing of pigs on the island

• 5. Roger Spear
• the cruelest character, uses brute force at
  whim, dislodges the boulder that kills Piggy,
  represents the worst in people when there is no
  society to keep people in check

11
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• For Consideration

Simon as a Christ figure Simon goes alone
into the jungle and confronts evil. Simon comes
down from the mountain bringing news that will
save the boys from their fear. Instead of
listening to Simon, the other boys kill him.
12
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• For Consideration

Lord of the Flies A literal translation of
Beelzebub, a Hebrew name for the devil. The
Lord of the Flies represents the incarnation of
evil itself.
13
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• For Consideration

Natural Goodness of Man Theory Left to
themselves, humans would live good lives, and it
is the influence of civilization that corrupts
people.
14
Notes on Lord of the Flies

• For Consideration

Golding has said that Lord of the Flies is an
attempt to trace the defects of society back to
the defects of human nature. He acknowledges
evil as a force that lurks within every person.