Symbolism in LOTF

Symbolism in

Lord of the Flies

Today's Goals

• Recognize Lord of the Flies as an allegory

• Identify symbolism in Lord of the Flies

• Compete for leaderboard points

• Determine if Quizizz is a good fit for our class

Allegory

An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. 

Nearly every aspect of an [allegorical story] can typically be interpreted as having a secondary, symbolic meaning that fits into the allegory's broader meaning.

Example of Allegory

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is one of literature’s most famous allegories. The surface story is about a group of farm animals who rise up, kick out the humans, and try to run the farm themselves. The hidden story, however, is about the Russian Revolution, and each of the characters represents some figure from that revolution. The pigs represent Communist leaders like Stalin, Lenin, and Trotsky, the dogs represent the KGB, the humans represent capitalists, the horses represent the working class, etc.

Source: www.LiteraryTerms.net (12/03/20)

Lord of the Flies is an Allegory

The boys as a whole can represent humanity as a whole. The island is then the entire world, the boys’ rules become the world’s varying governments, two tribes are two countries, and so on. The boys’ fighting is then equivalent to a war.

Source: www.Shmoop.com (12/03/2020)

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank:

An ________ is a work that conveys a hidden meaning through the use of symbolic characters and events.

Symbols in Lord of the Flies

• The island

• The conch shell

• Piggy's glasses

• Fire

• The "Scar"

• Parachutist

• Masks and face paint

But wait, there are more symbols!

• Simon's Sanctuary

• Ocean

• Jack

• Piggy

• Simon

• Ralph

• And still more...

The Island

• A symbol of paradise

• It is like a Garden of Eden in which the boys can try to create the perfect society from scratch

The Conch Shell

• A symbol of law, order and authority

• It is an actual vessel of political legitimacy and democratic power. When the power of this object is lost, a sense of sadness and impending doom descends on the reader.

  
  

Open Ended

Take a guess! Which Lord of the Flies character or item symbolizes reason, logic and technology?

Piggy's Glasses

• A symbol of reason, logic and technology

• They are used to focus sunlight and start a fire. They are later broken, symbolizing the boys walking away from intellect and common sense.

  
  

Surrounding Ocean

• Symbol of isolation, also subconscious thought

• The sea is what separates the boys from their home.

• Maurice announces that his father claims that "they haven't found all the animals in the sea yet,” making it a source of danger and mystery.

Signal Fire

• Symbol of hope for rescue and an attachment to civilization

• When this burns low or goes out, we realize the boys have lost sight of their desire to be rescued and have accepted their savage lives on the island

Other Fires

• Symbol of careless destruction

• When the boys first try to make a fire, it ends up consuming at least one of the littluns, the boy with the mulberry birthmark on his face.

Open Ended

Take a guess! Which Lord of the Flies character or item symbolizes man's tendency to destroy paradise?

The "Scar"

• Symbol of man's tendency to destroy paradise

• When it crashed, the plan ripped through the forest on the island, leaving an ugly streak of fallen trees and dirt. Even before the boys united and formed a civilization, human contact contaminated and damaged the island.

The Beast

• Symbol of humankind's instinct of savagery and evil, fear and superstition

• The boys are afraid of this creature and try to find and destroy it, but Simon realizes it is not an imaginary beast they have need to fear. 

Open Ended

Take a guess! Which Lord of the Flies character or item symbolizes adult evil?

Parachutist

• This symbolizes adult evil

• This object appears as a sign from the adult world. Above the beauty of the island, adults are waging a violent, savage war. The boys first recognize this object as “the beast” – Golding’s way of reminding us that evil exists in adults and children alike.

Masks and Face Paint

• These symbolize the loss of civilization and savagery within

• Jack is the first to paint his face, but the other boys follow. This symbolizes their transition from civilized youth – choirboys, students, siblings – to savages. The boys more easily abandon their old selves when they realize they can hide behind a mask.

Simon's Sanctuary

• This symbolizes a cathedral

• Simon finds solitude, peace and the truth about the best while at his secret jungle sanctuary. Here the trees form a high, domed roof and candle-like flowers abound. The place was filled with light.

Open Ended

Take a guess! Which Lord of the Flies character or item symbolizes democracy?

Remember, a democracy is "a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state" (Oxford Languages).

Ralph

• This character symbolizes democracy

• Ralph “sought ways to maintain parliamentary procedures, to respect freedom of speech, to rule through persuasion, with the consent of the governed” (Spitz 173). He emerged as a leader at the beginning of the story, indicating that democracy originally inhabited the boys’ civilization.

Jack

• This character symbolizes authoritarian rule

• Jack has been compared to dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. His red hair and black cape give him a “satanic” appearance (Spitz 173). He is not receptive to the input of others and rules by fear.

Simon

• This character is a Christ figure and symbolizes the voice of revelation

• Simon “found for [the littluns] the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to endless outstretched hands” (Golding 55), as Christ fed the hungry masses.

Piggy

• This character symbolizes the voice of reason

• An example of this character being the voice of reason occurs when he says, “The first thing we ought to have made was shelters on the beach… How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?” (Golding 44).

“If Jack was chief, he’d have all hunting and no fire” (Golding 93).

Multiple Choice

The conch shell symbolizes...

• Paradise

• Authority, law and order

• Adult evil

Multiple Choice

The "Scar" symbolizes...

• Man's tendency to destroy paradise

• Authoritarian rule

• Adult evil

Multiple Choice

Masks and face paint symbolize...

• Adult evil

• Loss of civilization, savagery within

• Reason, logic and technology

Multiple Choice

The surrounding ocean symbolizes...

• A cathedral

• Democracy

• Isolation, also subconscious thought

Multiple Choice

Other fires -- not the signal fire -- symbolize...

• Hope for rescue and an attachment to civilization

• Careless destruction

• Instinct of savagery and evil, fear and superstition

Multiple Choice

Ralph symbolizes...

• Democracy

• The voice of reason

• The Christ figure, a voice of revelation

Multiple Choice

Piggy symbolizes...

• The Christ figure, a voice of revelation

• Authoritarian rule

• The voice of reason

Multiple Choice

The island symbolizes...

• A cathedral

• Paradise

• Reason, logic and technology

• Loss of civilization, savagery within

Multiple Choice

Piggy's glasses symbolize...

• Reason, logic and technology

• Hope for rescue and an attachment to civilization

• Careless destruction

• Adult evil

Multiple Choice

The signal fire symbolizes...

• Democracy

• Careless destruction

• The voice of reason

• Hope for rescue and an attachment to civilization

Multiple Choice

The Beast symbolizes...

• Isolation, also subconscious thought

• Law and order

• The instinct of savagery and evil, fear and superstition

• Adult evil

Multiple Choice

The parachutist symbolizes...

• Authoritarian rule

• Adult evil

• Man's tendency to destroy paradise

• A cathedral

Multiple Choice

Simon's Sanctuary symbolizes...

• A cathedral

• The voice of reason

• The Christ figure, a voice of revelation

• Paradise

Multiple Choice

Jack symbolizes...

• Democracy

• Loss of civilization, savagery within

• The instinct of savagery and evil, fear and superstition

• Authoritarian rule

Multiple Choice

Simon symbolizes...

• The Christ figure, a voice of reason

• Democracy

• A cathedral

• Adult evil

Multiple Choice

An ________ is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events.

• Allegory

• Symbol

• Illustration

• Novel

Allegory

An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. 

Nearly every aspect of an [allegorical story] can typically be interpreted as having a secondary, symbolic meaning that fits into the allegory's broader meaning.

Open Ended

Now that you’ve decoded the symbols in Lord of the Flies, use what you have learned to explain in detail the meaning of the quote below:

“If Jack was chief, he’d have all hunting and no fire” (Golding 93).