maurice lord of the flies character analysis

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Maurice is a character in Sir William Golding 's Lord of the Flies .

• 1 Physical Appearance
• 2 Character Overview
• 3 Role in the Book
• 4 Role in the Film

Physical Appearance [ ]

He is mentioned to be second tallest to Jack.

Character Overview [ ]

Maurice is extroverted and has a strong sense of humour. Although his role was not explored too deeply, it appeared that the ideals of his society were still implanted within him. While Maurice was with him at one point, Roger began to throw stones at Henry . Maurice stayed away from this, possibly because his society before crashing on the island enforced harsh punishments. Maurice does represent the savage masses, as, after the hunters kill a pig, Jack smears blood on his face.

Role in the Book [ ]

His first major appearance is when he and Roger walk by Henry, who is playing in the sand. Roger starts to hurl stones in Henry's direction, but Maurice refrains.

Maurice left for Jack's tribe after Jack's fallout with Ralph . Maurice was present in the killing of Simon and in the hunting of Ralph. He was then saved and taken off the island.

Role in the Film [ ]

In the 1963 film, Maurice's name is changed to Morris . However, he still plays the same role in the film as he does in the book.

No character called Maurice or Morris exists in the 1990 film.

• 1 Jack Merridew

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Maurice – ‘broad and grinning all the time’ at the beginning of Lord of the Flies   – is a member of  Jack ’s choir and then his group of hunters. Maurice and Roger destroy the sandcastles that the ‘littluns’ have built, but Maurice stops when Percival gets sand in his eye. Maurice ‘felt the unease of wrong-doing’ and stopped teasing the younger children.

After the first successful hunt, Maurice pretends to be a pig when the other boys pretend to attack him, foreshadowing future events …

Maurice becomes one of the first members of Jack’s ‘savage’ tribe and volunteers to steal fire from Ralph’s camp, attacking Piggy and stealing his spectacles .

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• Lord of the Flies

Read below our complete notes on the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Our notes cover  Lord of the Flies summary, themes, characters, and analysis.

Introduction

Lord of the Flies is written by William Golding who is a Nobel Prize-winning author and is published in 1954.  This novel investigates the darker side of humankind; the viciousness that underlies even the most civilized and cultivated people.

William Golding proposed this novel as a satiric tale of adventure of children, delineating mankind’s inborn evil nature. He presents the audience with a sequence of occasions driving a gathering of little fellows from hope to catastrophe as they endeavor to endure their graceless, segregated condition until saved. It is listed in the Modern Library of 100 Best Novels.

Lord of the Flies is a short story by William Golding about a group of boys who get caught on an island because of the crashing of a plane. Ralph and Piggy are the ones who meet initially.

Then Ralph blows a conch shell that produces a horn-like sound, brings numerous surviving boys young men come running and they all consent to remain together and make Ralph their pioneer. They all stroll around the island gathering food and making a sanctuary when Ralph and Jack get into a dispute about the initiative and the monster they have been scanning for this entire time.

At that point, they split up into two gatherings and have a gigantic battle toward the end that truly executes Piggy in light of a freestone hitting him. At last, all the boys all get saved by an official of the Navy who sees the smoke from the enormous fire on the island.

Setting of the Novel

The setting of the novel is an uninhabited island where a plane carrying a number of children crashes. this novel becomes a representative depiction of the Earth, where Humans develop civilizations, the group of the boys in the leadership of Ralph, which are then destructed by the humans themselves, Jack and his hunters destroy, this results in the creation of new nations, Ralph leads one group while Jack leads the other, then wars take place and it makes the people believe in new religious faiths as the boys on the island start believing in the Lord of the Flies.

Context of the Novel

World War II impacted the subjects and setting of this novel. The war changed the lens through which individuals in general and William Golding specifically saw the world. World War I was for a long time called the War to End All Wars. World War II refuted that thought and made another feeling that individuals are ingrained with warlike traits, power-hungry, and savage. While the setting of the novel is not of World War II, it very well may be seen as Golding’s variant of World War III. Just a couple of brief references to the war outside the young boys on the island show up in the novel, however, references to a nuclear bomb exploding an air terminal and the “Reds” clarify that the war includes atomic weapons and “Reds.”

Lord of the Flies Summary

A boy of twelve-years comes out of the plane on an island. When he comes out of the wrecked plane, he sees another fat boy who is wearing glasses. The former is Ralph while the latter is Piggy. This is Piggy’s nickname and does not like this name but Ralph decides to call him Piggy despite his protests. The readers come to know that the boys have nearly escaped death in a plane crash and the island where they have survived is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.  These boys reveal that they have been flying from their home country because of the fear of atomic war.

They think that the whole world has died in the atomic war and they might have to live on the island without the intervention of the adults. Ralph starts swimming in the water and Piggy tells him about his background that his parents are dead and he lives with his aunt who owns a candy shop. In the meanwhile, Piggy notices a conch shell and retrieves it with the help of Ralph. He tells Ralph that it can be very useful for them while living on the island.

Piggy tells Ralph how to produce sound through the shell and to the surprise of the boys, after two sounds of the conch shell, other survivors start to come towards them. These include Eric and Sam, who are twins, Jack who is the head of a group of boys. The group of Jack is wearing strange caps and cloaks of black color. Jack informs Ralph that he is the leader of this group.

 Jack wants to lead the group for survivors but through the votes, Ralph is elected as chief of the group.  Ralph then decides to take along Jack and Samson to explore the island and find some food. Piggy wants to go with them but Jack humiliates Piggy.

In the evening, there is a meeting of the boys and Ralph tells the boys that they are on an island and there is no human being other than the group. Jack, Ralph and Simon inform them about their exploration of the journey in the morning. Then they establish the rules of the meetings and day to day activities.

They decide that they will have fun until the grown-ups from the outside world to rescue them. In the meeting, a boy of six-years asks them what would the group do against snakes and other such animals. Ralph tells him that snakes are there in Africa and the island is not in Africa so nobody should be concerned about it. But Ralph notices the signs of fear on the faces of other boys, too. Ralph suggests building fire on the top of the mountain so that it could signal to the world and they could be saved from the island. Jack gathers his group to build fire.

The boys gather the wood and about to start the fire but they do not know how to ignite the fire. Piggy suggests that his glasses might be used for starting a fire. The boys lit the fire but it finished soon. They are all sad about it. Anyhow, they start the fire once again. Then they decide to make some shelters for living as well. The boys again see a snake and Piggy notices that one of the boys is missing.

Jack looks to hunt some pigs. The appearance of Jack shows that it has been a long time that the boys are on the island. He gets frightened by the pigs and returns back to the group. Ralph tells Jack that the boys are not working properly and that the boys are spending their time swimming. Jack tells him that he should act as a leader and order all the boys to work harder otherwise they all will end up in death. Ralph tells Jack that he must bring some meat for the boys but Jack tells him that the boys are not good hunters and he himself has to do all the work. He vows again to hunt down a pig.

They both argue about the contribution to the living of the boys when Simon comes and tells them that the little boys are frightened because of the snakes. Ralph advises Jack that he must keep the fire in his view while hunting in the forest. Both of them go and look at the fire whether the fire is strong enough to be seen from a faraway distance or not. They return and look for Simon but he is not found anywhere. Afterwards, both boys go swimming.

Simon goes into the jungle alone and catches some fruits for the little boys and then spends some time in the jungle until the dawn appears.

The boys get adjusted to the way of life on the island. The atmosphere is usually hot in the day and cool in the night but the boys adjust to the weather. The littluns group of the boys who are the youngest search for food throughout the day. They are the ones who suffer a lot from diarrhea. They also are very much afraid of the animals. They believe that some of the boys are eaten by these animals in the darkness of the nights.

Jack is disappointed with his failure as a hunter. He thinks that the animals watch him so that is the reason he is unable to hunt them down. Resultantly, Jack rubs charcoal over his face and makes it is a sort of mask which he thinks would hide him from the animals.

One day, they see a ship passing through the water but it is very distant and they can see the signal of fire in the ship. Ralph tells them that their own fire is weak enough to give the ship the signal. Ralph runs to the mountain but the ship passes without seeing them. Ralph blames all those who are responsible for this weak fire.

In meanwhile, Jack and his hunter group return from the forest and they carry a bid dead big. Piggy is upset because they have lost the opportunity. He blames Jack and both of them argue. Jack punches Piggy during which one of the lenses of Piggy’s glasses breaks down. He then apologizes to Piggy.

Ralph is not happy with the situation going into the forest. Thus he calls for a meeting to make some important decisions. He warns all of the boys that they are not making serious hard work and it can turn out to be disastrous for them. Ralph blames them as they have not built the shelters correctly and also the fire is on a weaker side which can seriously reduce their chances of escape. He also assures the group there are no monsters on the island.

Jack stands up and curses the small boys for being afraid of the animals and he makes them believe that there is no beast on the island. One of the boys tells them that he has been able to see a pig near the shelters. Jack dismissed them but Simon also approves the notion of the small boy that he has also seen the pig near the shelter. Jack taunts Piggy and they both start a fight. Ralph stops them and tells them they must follow the rules. Jack asks him who cares about the rules. Jack vows to kill the beast and breaks the assembly by going for a hunt.

Ralph thinks that if this time Jack does not come for the meeting so their union would be broken and he would become a savage animal. Piggy tells Ralph that he should not step down from the leadership because if Jack becomes the leader he would only hunt and they might not be able to return forever.

That night, there is an aerial war and there are sounds of explosions. This results in a dead pilot who lands on the top of a mountain on the island. The boys on the duty find a dead body in the morning. They awake Ralph and tell him about the beast. The meeting is called once again and they all argue about the existence of the beast.

Ralph wants to spend some time in solitude and he goes into the undiscovered path of the island. He enjoys the mountains and caves in that part of the island. He soon gets frustrated because the firs, he thinks, is not strong to signal to the ship. He goes back to strengthen the fire. He wants the group to be rescued from the island while on the other hand, Jack thinks that they can build a fort on the island and stay there on the island.

The boys search and continue their hunt. Ralph sees his appearance and thinks that he has totally changed and looks very dirty. The boys go to the opposite side of the island. This spot is exactly the opposite of the place where the boys have shelters. The view of the island and the sea is totally different here. Ralph loses hope of return but Simon assures him that he would eventually leave the island and reach their homes.

In the afternoon, they discover the droppings of the pig. Jack asks the boy if they need to continue the search for the beast but if they find the pig it can additionally be hunted down. Ralph is new in hunting and it excites him.

A boar appears and they start to shoot it down. Jack`s left forearm gets wounded. They chant and continue their search but soon they realize that this might prove dangerous for them. Ralph considers that the boys are getting savage and violent.

In the evening, the boys go to the mountain for the fire but Ralph is pessimistic about his return. Jack wants to go to the beach for hunting but Ralph is not interested because he thinks that leaving the small boys with Piggy is not secure and that the light is very dim, too. Ralph senses that Jack hates him and he asks him the reason for hate but Jack has no answer.

Jack again vows that he is going to kill the beast. He then mocks Ralph that he is not accompanying Jack in the hunt. Jack then sees something on the top of the mountain and feels frightened. Ralph agrees to join him. They see an ape sleeping. When the boys get to know this, they are terribly frightened.

In the morning, the boys discuss the event of the night. Jack assures the boys that he can kill the beast with his hunter group. Ralph dismisses the idea because he thinks that it is dangerous to hunt down such a big beast. Jack asks the boys that Ralph considers them coward. Jack also blames that Ralph is not a proper chief because he is very cowardly. Jack asks the boys they must expel Ralph from the leadership of the group but no one agrees with the idea of Jack. Jack then announces that he is going to leave the group of Ralph and he goes away.

Piggy suggests that they should make another area for the fire which could be visible. They then locate a place near the beach for fire. Ralph notices that some of the boys are missing. Simon is also missing but he is gone to an isolated place. Piggy thinks that they can do well without Jack but they need to use their common sense.

On the other side, Jack announces himself as the leader of the hunters. He decides to kill the pig to have a good feast. They find a group of pigs and kill one among them. They leave the head of the pig as a gift for the beast. Simon sees the flies buzzing around the head of the pig from his private place.

Ralph thinks that the boys should be rescued soon otherwise they all will end up dying on the island.

Jack then comes to Ralph and tells the boys to join the group of hunters because they have feast and fun.

  Chapter 9

Simon falls asleep in his private place. When he wakes up he is confused as to what to do. He also catches sight of a beast on the mountain. Simon sees that the beast has a head of man, this causes him to vomit. He then goes to Ralph to tell the boys what he has seen.

Ralph and Piggy play in the lagoon and feel that all the boys have a good time to enjoy the feast of Jack.  They decide to go to the boys and tell them that things are in control and they would be rescued soon.

They reach the place and see that all the boys are enjoying the feast, while Jack is their leader. Jack sees Piggy and Ralph and orders the boys to offer them sow to eat. After the feast, Jack asks the boys to join his tribe and most of the boys go into Jack’s tribe. Ralph gets disappointed with the scene. Ralph tries to convince the boys but Jack starts arguments with him again.

Piggy asks Ralph to leave because things are getting serious in between Ralph and Jack. Ralph tells the boys that rain is around the corner and they are not prepared for the shelter. However, the boys get engaged in the dance party. Simon comes to tell them about the parachutist but the boys are mad at dancing and they chase Simon and beat him to death.

The rain intensifies and the boys are forced to run towards the shelter. Meanwhile, the dead boys of the parachutist fly in the air because of the fast wind. The boys get more terrified. They believe that it is the beast.

Ralph is angry over the death of Simon. Piggy tells him that he participated in the death of Simon because he behaved violently and he died accidently. But Ralph is broken over the death.

They think that all the boys except Sam and Eric have left for Jack’s tribe.

Four of them discuss the events of last night but they try to avoid the subject of Simon’s death. Roger, at the other, tries to enter the camp of Jack. Once he enters the camp, he sees that Jack`s behavior has turned violent and savage.

On the other hand, Ralph and his three companions try to start a fire again but because they are little in number the job seems difficult for them. The night falls and they go to their shelter.

The boys do not sleep well because they are afraid. They hear some sounds and notice that Jack along with his boys is attacking their shelters. They suffer injuries and Piggy tells them the boys came for the glasses of piggy.

The boys gather wounded and injured. They try to start a fire again but they do not have the glasses of Piggy so it is impossible for them. They need the glasses because it is the only hope for fire and their rescue. Piggy decides to go to Jack and appeals to his justice so that he could return glasses. He also wants to tell Jack that he must behave wisely and that he should wear clothes.

They reach Jack’s camp but the guards of Jack’s camp throw stones at them and ask them to leave. Jack appears with his group carrying a large dead pig. Ralph asks him that he must return the glasses of Piggy. Ralph calls him a thief and Jack attacks to stab Ralph but he saves himself.

Both the boys fight. Ralph tells him that fire is their only hope for survival and the glasses should be returned. Jack orders his boys that they should tie Sam and Eric. The boys hold them and tie them up. Ralph and Jack again fight and Ralph calls Jack a swine. Piggy shouts and tells him that he wants to talk to all the boys. He tells the boys whether they want to be like savage Indians or to behave like humans and try to be like Ralph. He adds that they should live in accordance with the rules rather than only kill and feast. He tells them the rules of Ralph are for their rescue. Suddenly, a rock falls from the mountain over Piggy and he is crushed by the rock.

The group is silent but Jack attacks Ralph and he runs away to save himself.

Ralph runs and hides in the jungle. He is very concerned about the barbaric behavior of the boys. He also thinks that the boy might not be able to come into civilization. He decides to fight because he thinks that Jack would not leave him alive.

Suddenly Ralph notices the fire and realizes that Jack has set the jungle on fire to find Ralph. Ralph is worried because he thinks that this is going to destroy all the fruit on the island.  He runs to the beach and notices that the hunters are after him. He is terrified and senses that the hunters are very close to him.

Ralph reaches the beach and falls over with terror. He then sees a naval officer looming over him. He tells him that his ship noticed smoke so they decided to investigate the matter. The boys run and chase Ralph and the officer slowly gets to know the violent nature of the boys. The boys try to tell the officer their names but they no longer remember their addresses. They do not know how many boys are there on the island. The officer scolds them for going away from civilization by behaving savagely.

Ralph realizes that their innocence is dead and there is darkness in their hearts.

Themes in Lord of the Flies

The repercussions of the war.

Lord of the Flies is to some extent a moral story of the Cold War. It is about the negative impacts of war on the life of people and for social connections. This novel is written in the era of the Cold War and it reflects the threat of the atomic war between Britain and “the Reds.” Golding along these lines presents the peaceful strains as coming full circle into a deadly clash in his novel against the perils of ideology, or “cold,” fighting.  

In addition, we may comprehend the contention among the young men on the island is a representation of the contention between the Communist forces and the Western Democratic Powers. Ralph, who stands for a democratic system, has a conflict with Jack, who symbolizes military tyranny, for example, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. J ack is wearing a dark cape with blazing red hair, and this symbolizes his connection to the “Reds” because the main color of the Reds was black and red. As the strain between the young men goes to a wicked head, the readers see the hazardous results of an ideological clash.

The appearance of the maritime official towards the end of the story underscores these metaphorical focuses. The official epitomizes war, and this connects him to the fierce Jack. The official is English and in this manner connected to the popularity based side of the Cold War, which the novel eagerly shields. The ramifications of the official’s quality are provocative: Golding proposes that even a war pursued the sake of development can lessen mankind to a condition of savageness. A definitive scene of the novel, wherein the young men sob with melancholy for the loss of their blamelessness, involves contemporary readers in the young men’s disaster. The young boys show the wartime driving forces of the period.

Man versus Nature

Lord of the Flies presents the subject of man’s optimal relationship with this world. The novel is set in the natural habitat of the island, in which there are no people before the group of the boys, the boys expound various mentalities towards nature that mirror their particular characters and ideological understandings. The boys` connections to the normal world, for the most part, can be categorized as one of three classifications: enslavement of nature, congruity with nature, and subservience to nature.

The primary class which is an oppression of nature is typified by Jack, whose motivation on the island is to track, chase, and murder pigs. He tries to force his human will on the world of nature, enslaving it according to his wants. Jack’s later activities, specifically setting the jungle on fire, mirror his extending scorn for nature and exhibit his violent and savage character.

The subsequent class is harmonious with nature and is typified by Simon. He discovers excellence and harmony in the common habitat as exemplified by his underlying retreat to the place of seclusion in the jungle. For Simon, nature isn’t man’s adversary however it is a part of the experience of man.

The third classification is obedience to nature and it is encapsulated by Ralph. He takes the contrary position from Jack’s stance. In contrast to Simon, Ralph doesn’t discover serene amiability with the world of nature like Jack. He comprehends it as an impediment to human life on the island.

 However, while Jack reacts to this apparent clash by acting damagingly towards animals on the island and vegetation, Ralph reacts by withdrawing from the common world. He doesn’t take an interest in chasing or in Simon’s outings to the woods. He remains on the seashore, the most refined piece of the island. As Jack’s chasing communicates his vicious nature to different readers, Ralph’s craving to remain separate from the world of nature stresses his hesitancy to entice risk and his liking for human advancement.

Savagery as an opposite to Civilization

One of the main themes of Lord of the Flies is the contention between the human motivation towards brutality and the principles of progress which are intended to contain and limit it. All through the novel, the contention is sensationalized by the conflict between Jack and Ralph. These characters portray savagery and civilization, respectively. 

The varying philosophies are communicated by the perspective power of every boy towards power and authority. While Ralph utilizes his position to set up rules, he ensures that the group is going to be beneficial and incorporates the good and moral codes of the English society in the young boys but Jack is keen on picking up control over different young men to satisfy his basic instinctive forces. 

At the point when Jack starts leading the hunters and then the tribe, he asks for the total subservience of all the young boys, who serve him as well as love him as a leader. Jack’s craving for power proposes that viciousness doesn’t look like rebellion to such an extent as an authoritarian arrangement of misuse and unlawful force.

Golding’s focus on the repercussion of brutality can be taken as opposite to the civilization of humans. In the initial parts of the novel, he proposes that one of the significant elements of a society that is civilized and cultures is to give an outlet to the savage driving forces that dwell inside every person. 

Jack’s underlying want to slaughter pigs to exhibit his boldness, for instance, is directed into the chase, which gives required nourishment to the whole gathering. For whatever length of time that he lives inside the standards of human progress, Jack isn’t a risk to different boys of the group. His driving forces are being re-coordinated into a beneficial assignment. When Jack does not acknowledge the legitimacy of society and rejects Ralph’s position brings out the perilous parts of his character. Golding recommends that while brutality is maybe an inevitable certainty of human presence, civilization can relieve its dangers.

The conflict between Jack and Ralph that stands for Savagery and Civilization is imparted through the novel’s significant images. The conch shell is related to Ralph, and The Lord of the Flies is related to Jack. The conch shell is an incredible marker of democratic system on the island, affirming both Ralph’s authority controlled by the political decision and the intensity of collecting the boys into a group. However, as the contention between Jack and Ralph extends, the conch shell loses representative significance. 

Jack proclaims that the conch is good for nothing as an image of power and request, and its decrease in significance flags the decay of human advancement on the island. Simultaneously, The Lord of the Flies, which is a contribution to the legendary brute on the island, is progressively contributed with noteworthiness as an image of the predominance of viciousness on the island, and of Jack’s position over different young men. 

The Lord of the Flies symbolizes the unification of the young men under Jack’s leadership which is advocated through fear and punishment for those who do not approve his orders. The obliteration of the conch shell at the location of Piggy’s killing implies the total destruction of human civilization on the island, while Ralph’s destruction of The Lord of the Flies portrays his own plunge into viciousness and savagery. By the last scene, brutality has totally dislodged human progress as the overarching framework on the island.

Loss of Innocence

The young boys on the island turn from polite and well-mannered boys to savage hunters on the island. During this transformation from good kids to cruel kids, they all lose their innocence of characters and morality which they all are filled with, at the start of the novel.  The naked boys with painted faces representing extreme savagery in the final portion of the novel are not the same boys who can be found in the early part of the novel. 

They now search, torture and hunt not only animals but human beings as well. In any case, Golding doesn’t depict this loss of innocence as something that is done to these boys on the island; rather, it results normally from their expanding receptiveness to the intrinsic insidiousness and viciousness that has consistently existed inside them. Golding infers that civilization can moderate however never clear out the inborn evil that exists inside every individual. 

The den in the jungle in chapter 3 wherein Simon sits in symbolizes this going away of innocence. From the outset, it is a position of common excellence and harmony, however, when Simon returns later in the novel, he finds the grisly sow’s head pierced upon a stake in the clearing. The bleeding offering to the brute has upset the heaven that existed previously which is an incredible image of natural human shrewdness upsetting the innocence of youth.

Lord of the Flies Characters Analysis

He is the hero of the story. He is one of the oldest boys who survive a plane crash to live on the island. He is elected as the leader of the group because of his skills.  He has a good sense of authority. He is described as a handsome boy with a good height.  He is a rational mental aptitude with a calm demeanor but he is unable to meet the intellectual level of Piggy. He tries to stop himself from savage life on the island as the other boys turn into savagery and violence but slowly and gradually he moves into the life of savage brutality. The interesting feature of his personality is that he remains civilized and is focused on the safe return of his group to his native land.

In the initial section of the novel, Ralph can’t comprehend why young boys get inclined to the impulses of brutality. Seeing the hunters reciting and moving is confusing to him. He dislikes all of these activities. As the novel advances, Ralph comes to comprehend that viciousness exists inside all the young men. Ralph stays committed not to let this viciousness overpower him, and just quickly does he consider joining Jack’s clan so as to spare himself. 

When Ralph chases a pig for the first time with Jack he encounters the elation and rush of bloodlust and savagery. At the point when he goes to Jack’s celebratory feast, he gets mad, dances and takes an active part in Simon’s killing along with the other boys. This firsthand information of evil that exists inside him, as inside every single individual, is deplorable for Ralph, and it drives him into depression for a period. But this information empowers him to cast down the Lord of the Flies toward the last part of the novel. Ralph’s story closes semi-disastrously, in spite of the fact that he is safeguarded and comes back to development when he sees the maritime official, he sobs with the weight of his new information about the human limit with regards to violence and savagery.

He is among the survivors of the plane crash. He makes a good bond with Ralph who becomes the leader of the group of boys. He is not able to do physical labor because he suffers from asthma but he is the only boy who has a higher level of intelligence and perception. The group of boys accepts him because he gives them the idea that they can ignite fire with his glasses. He is a true depiction of civilization and wants the boys to behave in a civilized manner. 

He helps Ralph to rescue the boys from the savagery of the island and to return to their respective homes. He is a very sensitive boy. His nickname Piggy makes a strong connection between him and the pigs on the island because the pigs are constantly hunted down by Jack and his team. This foreshadows the death of Piggy as well towards the end of the novel.

Piggy is the main kid who stresses over the principles of English human civilization; in particular what the adults will think when they locate the savage young men. Piggy has confidence in rules, practicality, and request, and as the island slips into ruthless savagery, Piggy’s position goes under risk of extreme savagery.

Piggy’s freedom and keenness keep him from being completely consumed by the gathering, so he isn’t as vulnerable to the crowd mindset that surpasses a significant number of different young men. As Ralph, Piggy can’t maintain a strategic distance from the allurements of brutality on the island. 

The next morning of the party, Ralph and Piggy both confess to taking some part in the assault and murder of Simon. While Piggy attempts to persuade himself that Simon’s death was a mishap, his investment proposes that his readiness to be acknowledged by the gathering drove him to sell out his own ethics and better judgment. 

The death of Piggy recommends that intellectualism is helpless against savagery. The death of Simon can be seen as a mishap or a heightening of crowd attitude, the death of Piggy is the most purposeful and unavoidable event on the island which marks the group of boys completely falling into the clutches of brutality and savagery.

Jack Merridew

He is called by the nickname of Jack. He is the leader of some boys who make choir. He is a dictator and authoritarian. He is brutal and cruel. He is also a sadist. His only work is to kill the pigs by hunting them on the island. He displays a political struggle to become the leader of the group of boys and when he finally announces himself the leader, he starts to show his mercilessness. He loves to punish and it is innate in his nature. He is a presentation of Anarchy. This is clearly shown when he tries to reject the system of order implemented by Ralph.

The egomaniacal and strongly committed Jack is the novel representation of the nature of brutality, savagery, and the craving for power.  From the earliest point of the novel, Jack wants power over every single other thing. He is irate when he loses the political race to Ralph and consistently pushes the limits of his subordinate job in the gathering. 

At an early stage, Jack holds the feeling of good respectability and conducts that society imparted in him because he is the pioneer of the choirboys. On the first occasion when he experiences a pig, he can’t slaughter it. However, Jack before long gets fixated on chasing and gives himself to the undertaking, painting his face like a savage and indulging himself in blood games of killing. The more savage Jack turns into, the more he can control the remainder of the gathering. 

In fact, aside from Ralph, Simon, and Piggy, the gathering to a great extent follows Jack in grasping brutality and viciousness. Jack’s adoration for power and viciousness are personally associated, as both empower him to feel amazing and magnified. Before the last section of the novel, Jack figures out how to utilize the young men’s dread of the brute to control their conduct.

Sam and Eric

Sam and Eric are identical twins. Towards the end of the novel, they remain with Piggy and Ralph. They help both the characters to start the fire so that they could be rescued by someone passing through the island. They are considered as one individual and therefore Golding presents them as Sam’n’eric.

He belongs to a group of hunters. He then becomes a guard at the castle rock when Jack makes his own tribe. He is equal in cruelty with Jack. He is very crude. He usually throws sand at other boys. His savagery turns out in a real essence when he joins the group of hunters. He also murders Piggy towards the end of the novel.

The hunter group when tries to kill the pig, would chant kill the pig and Maurice would become a pig- a feigned pig and the hunter group would pretend to slaughter Maurice. He is an intermediate sort of character who represents the mass that is mindless.

He is the smallest of the boys on the island. He usually murmurs his names and address so that he could give himself comfort that he would return to his home one day. He is a little kid and gets frightened very easily. Throughout the cross of the novel, his fear increases and older boys have to soothe him. He belongs to a domestic aspect of civilization.

Naval Officer

He comes towards the end of the novel. He meets Ralph when Ralph runs away from the boys of Jack to save himself. The novel officer tells him that he saw the smoke coming from the island so he came in to investigate the matter. It is the smoke of the fire which Jack ignites in order to see the location of Ralph. This fire takes the whole jungle. He makes the boys believe that they have come away from civilization and are primitive.

He is the most introspective of all the characters present in the novel. He loves nature which urges him to walk in the forest and enjoy seclusion. Simon stands for the symbolic representation of spirituality in the nature of humans. He is outcast like Piggy and the group of boys considers him an odd boy. 

He is the first boy in the group who sees the beast. But later, he recognizes that the beast is the dead body of the pilot of the plane. He then decides to tell it the boys but the boys in frenzy kill him. He is shown to be a figure of Christianity and his death is portrayed as martyrdom. His spirituality is also portrayed by the fact that his name means a person who has been heard by God. He stands a pivotal character in this Judeo-Christian allegory.

Lord of the Flies Analysis

The allegory of the title.

The novel serves as an allegory for the instinctive nature of humans and society. This novel presents the mythology of Judaism and Christianity to explain the political and sociological perspectives. The title has two implications and both the meanings have religious connotations. 

The first meaning refers to one of the lines of King Lear by Shakespeare, “As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods.” The meaning refers to the Beelzebub whose Greek name is Ba`alzevuv meaning “Lord of the Flies” and it is simply used for Satan. For Golding, the evil powers that constrain the stunning occasions on the island originate from inside the human mind and not from the external impulses. Golding accordingly utilizes a strict reference to delineate a Freudian idea of the Id that drags the humans for survival regardless of ethical and moral implications. For Freud, this Id is usually negative and it drags humans for its goals without considering the circumstances.

Lord of the Flies and Cold War

This novel was published in 1954 in the era of the Cold War.  The novel has a strong base in concerns in sociopolitical aspects of the era. This novel implies the Cold War struggle between liberal democratic countries and the rules system and Communist totalitarian governments. Ralph shows a liberal convention of democracy and before his taking up the total anarchic rule of leadership, Jack, portrays the military autocracy that remains in the communist systems. It is eminent that Golding sets the novel in what gives off an impression of reality of the human future. 

He represents the future which is in danger because of the atomic war threat. Golding’s novel talks about the general fear of the public relating to the race of atom bombs in the Cold War era because this race remained in vogue in the era in which this novel got published. Golding’s negative portrayal of Jack, who speaks to an enemy of majority rule political framework, and his recommendation of the truth of nuclear war, present the novel as a motion of help for the Western situation vulnerable War.

Significance of the Conch

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding utilizes a conch shell to symbolize a civilized and an enlightened society that controls itself through the system of democracy. At first, the young men utilize the conch to build up a community suggestive of their commonplace British order of society. Soon after the conch is found, Ralph utilizes it to bring different young boys on the island and assemble a conference. The shell’s capacity is obvious, and the young boys promptly grasp the possibility of a majority rules system. After investigating the island, Ralph announces the young men will lift their hands in gatherings, as at school, if any of them want to talk. When holding the conch every kid gets the option to communicate his considerations without interference. 

The young boys` underlying energy for the process of democracy procedure permeates the conch with incredible force as a method of correspondence, as the young men singularly concur that the conch symbolizes a commonplace and beneficial perfect.

The conch is an image of free discourse and a common procedure that every kid understands easily. However, the ideas themselves demonstrate progressively hard to stick to in practical speaking, and soon the conch’s capacity finishes as the young men oppose the requirements of the vote based procedure. Ralph is disappointed that the gatherings he utilizes the conch to collect don’t really achieve a lot. 

While the young boys consent to his arrangements for their general public on a fundamental level, the guidelines are difficult to authorize, since there are no ramifications for rebellion. Jack recommends a substitute type of administration and says that they needn’t bother with the conch any longer because they are going to talk. This presents the possibility of despotism or a civilization of humans where residents don’t share power similarly. In contrast to a democratic system which chips away at the premise of deliberate anticipation, authoritarian government, or autocracy, brutally rebuffs insubordination. Thus the conch in the novel portrays the restrictions of authorizing democracy just as the chance vote based system represents.

The Conceptualized meaning of “The Beast”

Golding utilizes the fear of boys from the beast to show that evil emerges from outer powers as opposed to within the human beings. This fearsome brute captures the imaginations of the boys as a snake-type creature.Later, the boys think about an animal that ascents from the ocean or the more indistinct element of an apparition. At the point when they detect the dead paratrooper who has arrived on the mountain, the boys get assured that they have seen the beast and its proofs are there on the mountain. Although a real beast roams around on the island but is not the beast the boys have in their imagination.

Golding outlines the darker side of human instinct and mentions that every individual possesses this dark person inside him. The young boys conceptualize the origin of all their evilness as because of a beast. But in reality, there is no beast on the island, rather it is the persona of the beast which these boys wear and becomes beasts to be brutal and violent.

Golding passes on the identity of the beast through the strict activities of Jack and his hunter group and through the dynamic idea which takes place in the vision of Simon. Simon’s disclosure about the beast happens upon him after he observes the death of the sow and then it’s beheading. Simon can understand the ruthlessness of the demonstration because he observes when this drama takes place. The flies capture the head of the sow to eat it and then duplicate themselves because they do not feel any sympathy towards the dead sow.  

This feeling of empathy is one of the main segregation lines between humans and animals.  Although Jack is a human being yet he lacks this feeling of sympathy for Piggy and other little boys on the island. Like Jack, his hunter group also loses this feeling of sympathy and they only look to kill the pigs and the boys who do not obey the orders of Jack.

At the point when Simon fantasizes that the staked head is addressing him, he believes that threat and danger are there on the island like other boys. The Lord of the Flies affirms that he is the part of every individual and he is close to all of them.

It is to note that the interpretation of the Greek word Beelzebub,  is the lord of Flies and it flies over the excrement and dead bodies.

Jack gives a depth to the identity of the beast when he reveals that the beast is indeed a hunter and he also conceptualizes that he himself is a beast as well because he threatens the boys and stands as a symbol of fear to the boys.  His desire for authority and power makes him do savage acts against his own group. The allegorical demon on his shoulder is his own animalistic instincts hoping to ace different animals.

Golding devolves the character of Jack with Simon’s illusory disclosure to illustrate the darker side of human beings which is the actual beast in the words of the boys of the group.

Some portion of Golding’s purpose is to exhibit that a particular country or state is not characterized by evil.  On the island, this beast in the novel is shown through dead pictures and things that show the power of lust. Preceding the war, a few of the boys, for example, the exploited Piggy, encounter the fierceness of others in the play area, and the irony is that the play area is specific for happiness and joyous activities. 

Inside every society which calls itself civilized, the beast appears in various ways: like military operational areas, like the conditions of madness which conveys negative repercussions. In Lord of the Flies Golding outlines that maliciousness and evil are there in everybody and all over the place.  Mankind’s work lies not in destroying it but to shield it from turning into the predominant power in our lives.

Ending of the Novel

Lord of the Flies closes with maritime officials showing up on the island. His initial perception of the boys is that they are engaged with pointless fooling around. At the point when he gets the details from Ralph what has occurred on the island, he is flabbergasted that children of Civilized British have gone to such a lower degree of humanity. Ralph and the young boys take his scolding and begin to weep that immediately become cries. They are crying over the loathsomeness of their experience and alleviation over coming back to human progress. As the young boys sob, the maritime official just watches out to the ocean to permit them to recover.

The maritime official does not understand the experience of the boys on the island. His not understanding what has occurred on the island reflects his own failure to perceive insidious inside himself and all humanity. At the point when he specifies playing around, the reader is snapped back to the real world. These are kids who ought to be guiltless and ought to mess around. Rather, they have become the truth in every last one of us – not unreasonably of guiltlessness, yet of evil.

Ironically the maritime official while seeming to portray Civilization and rationality of the society symbolizes evil which is inside the civilization as the boys have. He is a warrior who battles wars, which is positively human progress even from a pessimistic standpoint.

Lord of the Flies as an allegory for The Fall of Man from Eden

Lord of the Flies, metaphorically, portrays the subject of the contention between and good and evil. It is contention in which the evil gets its victory in the first phase and afterward, goodness comes to the surface and defeats the evil and sin. The boys in the novel symbolize bad or good characteristics. However, they are simultaneously fit for development. 

From the starting the bad and good are divided. Simon is loaded with human characteristics in addition to his education and spirituality. He brings great natural food for the littluns. He also gives credit to Piggy because he has been participating in every job and the making of fire is only possible because of Piggy. His instinct discloses to him that Ralph would endure towards the end. He is also very clear in his understanding that there is no brute outside and that evil exists in the brain of people.

The moaning of Ralph for losing innocence shows the subject of sin and appeasement. He accepts that he participated in the killing of Simon. He reveals to Piggy that the object which is killed on the mountain is much smaller than the beast so it could not be a beast. He also reveals that the dying object wanted to say something but it could not be heard because of the screams of the boys who were killing him. This shows that the voice of goodness is a distraught cry of frenzy, cruelty and superstition when Jesus is crucified. Later on, the individuals needed to appease their transgression inborn in them so as to be spared.

Simon can also be taken as a symbolic representation of Christ. He actually finds out that the beast is the dead body of the pilot. But he does not get the chance to utter this to the boys because he is brutally slaughtered by the boys who are in a frenzy. Critics are of the opinion that the death of Simon is a sacrifice and he is reference to Jesus.

Notwithstanding to the sacrifice of Simon the appeasement of Ralph for his transgression, there are other elements of Christianity in the novel as well. The most significant is the picture of Eden and its Garden and the dream of the Lord of the Flies. The island has all the highlights of the Eden. Golding in his novel suggests that when a person is encompassed by different sorts of solace and extravagance and without government and parental standards, it will prompt obliteration and defilement. Thus the young boys on the island have started to thwart everything and they even murder their companions.  

They also kill various pigs and put the head of the pig on a stick. The head of the sow on the stick is called the Lord of the Flies and it is a reference to Beelzebub who is also known as Lord of the Flies.

This head of the pig is a sacrifice to the beast by Jack. The metaphorical discussion between Simon, Jesus, and the Lord of the Flies is a reference to conflict of evil and good. The Lord of the Flies lures Simon requesting that he joins the group of Jack. At the point when Simon isn’t enticed, the Lord of the Flies scares him revealing to him that he would be slaughtered by Jack. 

For the Christian allurement and undermining are the two primary ways utilized by powers of evil to abscond goodness towards them. Satan enticed Adam and Eve to bring about the calamity for mankind. The scene that portrays Simon’s encounter with the Lord of the Flies resembles the scene in the Bible where Christ meets the fallen angel in the desert. The righteous people can’t be cheated rather they are killed by the abhorrent powers.

The religious element crafted by Golding, his indulgence of the Biblical subject of the breakdown of mankind, is observed by every critic and research. It can’t be dismissed that Golding’s major focus is the fall of man, and simultaneously, he communicates his anxiety for the conceivable way out of this fallen condition through the improvement of human emotions. That is the reason he does not care to be portrayed as a person who is a pessimist rather he wants to be known as a realist.

More From William Golding

Lord of the Flies

By william golding, lord of the flies character list.

The protagonist of the story, Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the island. He quickly becomes the group's leader. Golding describes Ralph as tall for his age and handsome, and he presides over the other boys with a natural sense of authority. Although he lacks Piggy's overt intelligence, Ralph is calm and rational, with sound judgment and a strong moral sensibility. But he is susceptible to the same instinctive influences that affect the other boys, as demonstrated by his contribution to Simon's death. Nevertheless, Ralph remains the most civilized character throughout the novel. With his strong commitment to justice and equality, Ralph represents the political tradition of liberal democracy.

Although pudgy, awkward, and averse to physical labor because he suffers from asthma, Piggy--who dislikes his nickname--is the intellectual on the island. Though he is an outsider among the other boys, Piggy is eventually accepted by them, albeit grudgingly, when they discover that his glasses can be used to ignite fires. Piggy's intellectual talent endears him to Ralph in particular, who comes to admire and respect him for his clear focus on securing their rescue from the island. Piggy is dedicated to the ideal of civilization and consistently reprimands the other boys for behaving as savages. His continual clashes with the group culminate when Roger murders Piggy by dropping a rock on him, an act that signals the triumph of brute instinct over civilized order. Intellectual, sensitive, and conscientious, Piggy represents culture within the democratic system embodied by Ralph. Piggy's nickname symbolically connects him to the pigs on the island, who quickly become the targets of Jack's and his hunters' bloodlust--an association that foreshadows his murder.

Jack Merridew

The leader of a boys' choir, Jack exemplifies militarism as it borders on authoritarianism. He is cruel and sadistic, preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs. His sadism intensifies throughout the novel, and he eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack feigns an interest in the rules of order established on the island, but only if they allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents anarchy. His rejection of Ralph's imposed order--and the bloody results of this act--indicate the danger inherent in an anarchic system based only on self-interest.

The most introspective character in the novel, Simon has a deep affinity with nature and often walks alone in the jungle. While Piggy represents the cultural and Ralph the political and moral facets of civilization, Simon represents the spiritual side of human nature. Like Piggy, Simon is an outcast: the other boys think of him as odd and perhaps insane. It is Simon who finds the beast. When he attempts to tell the group that it is only a dead pilot, the boys, under the impression that he is the beast, murder him in a panic. Golding frequently suggests that Simon is a Christ-figure whose death is a kind of martyrdom. His name, which means "he whom God has heard," indicates the depth of his spirituality and centrality to the novel's Judeo-Christian allegory.

Sam and Eric

The twins are the only boys who remain with Ralph and Piggy to tend to the fire after the others abandon Ralph for Jack's tribe. The others consider the two boys as a single individual, and Golding preserves this perception by combining their individual names into one ("Samneric"). Here one might find suggestions about individualism and human uniqueness.

One of the hunters and the guard at the castle rock fortress, Roger is Jack's equal in cruelty. Even before the hunters devolve into savagery, Roger is boorish and crude, kicking down sand castles and throwing sand at others. After the other boys lose all idea of civilization, it is Roger who murders Piggy.

During the hunters' "Kill the pig" chant, Maurice, who is one of Jack's hunters, pretends to be a pig while the others pretend to slaughter him. When the hunters kill a pig, Jack smears blood on Maurice's face. Maurice represents the mindless masses.

One of the smallest boys on the island, Percival often attempts to comfort himself by repeating his name and address as a memory of home life. He becomes increasingly hysterical over the course of the novel and requires comforting by the older boys. Percival represents the domestic or familial aspects of civilization; his inability to remember his name and address upon the boys' rescue indicates the erosion of domestic impulse with the overturning of democratic order. Note also that in the literary tradition, Percival was one of the Knights of the Round Table who went in search of the Holy Grail.

A dead pilot whom Simon discovers in the forest. The other boys mistake him as a nefarious supernatural omen, "The Beast." They attempt to appease his spirit with The Lord of the Flies.

The Lord of the Flies

The pig's head that Jack impales on a stick as an offering to "The Beast." The boys call the offering "The Lord of the Flies," which in Judeo-Christian mythology refers to Beelzebub, an incarnation of Satan. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies functions totemically; it represents the savagery and amorality of Jack's tribe.

Naval Officer

The naval officer appears in the final scene of the novel, when Ralph encounters him on the beach. He tells Ralph that his ship decided to inspect the island upon seeing a lot of smoke (the outcome of the forest fire that Jack and his tribe had set in the hopes of driving Ralph out of hiding). His naivete about the boys' violent conflict--he believes they are playing a game--underscores the tragedy of the situation on the island. His status as a soldier reminds the reader that the boys' behavior is just a more primitive form of the aggressive and frequently fatal conflicts that characterize adult civilization.

Lord of the Flies Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Lord of the Flies is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

How do the boys respond to Jack's call for Ralph's removal as chief? How does Jack react? Respond with evidence from the text.

There is a lot of immaturity here. The other boys refuse to vote Ralph out of power. Enraged, Jack has a tantrum and runs away from the group, saying that he is leaving and that anyone who likes is welcome to join him.The boys don't like the open...

What does Ralph recall hearing From Simon and seeing in the sky ?

The boys would see cargo planes in the sky and fishing boats in the sea.

Wooden huts on or near the beach are not called……

I'm not sure what you are looking for here, perhaps "shelters".

Study Guide for Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies study guide contains a biography of William Golding, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Lord of the Flies
• Lord of the Flies Summary
• Lord of the Flies Video
• Character List

Essays for Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

• Two Faces of Man
• The Relationship Between Symbolism and Theme in Lord of the Flies
• A Tainted View of Society
• Death and Social Collapse in Lord of the Flies
• Lumination: The Conquest of Mankind's Darkness

Lesson Plan for Lord of the Flies

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Lord of the Flies
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Lord of the Flies Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Lord of the Flies

• Introduction

Lord of the Flies

Introduction lord of the flies.

The novel , Lord of the Flies was written by a British writer, William Golding , who made a name in fiction writing with unique thematic strands. It was first published in 1954. The novel sheds light on the behavior of the children left stranded on a long island, who start behaving entirely different from what they have been in their schools and under the guidance of a parent or a teacher. The groups are divided as they begin to think differently for survival. They fight for individuality, rationality while continuing their playfulness after they are left with none to guide them. The novel won huge applause around the world for his enticing storytelling techniques also bestowed the writer with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.

Summary of Lord of the Flies

During a war, a British plane involved in evacuating British schoolboys crash lands on a deserted island. It is somewhere located in tropical regions. Two young boys, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch when they stroll on the seashore. Piggy, the fatter than most boys but an intellectual one, tells Ralph, the quiet one, how to blow a horn with it. He teaches him how to use it to establish his authority over the other boys. Ralph becomes the leader of the boys and appoints Jack as in charge of the food hunters with Piggy as his unassuming adviser.

Soon after the boys assemble, Ralph takes Jack and Simon with him to explore other parts of the island for the likely existence of life. When they come back, Ralph plans to light a fire to signal the authorities or rescue them about their presence. The rest of the boys continue to roam around the island to collect woods and use Piggy’s glasses to light a fire. However, instead of keeping it alive, they quickly engage themselves in their plays and soon forget about it except Piggy. It soon dawns upon them that the youngest boy is injured and dead.

As time passes, the boys start making fun of each other as well as enjoying without having any authority of the adults around them. Ralph, as the conscious leader, however, starts complaining about the direction of Piggy that the boys are not paying attention to the fire, nor or they interested in preparing huts for them. On the other hand, Jack, with his hunters, is engaged in catching a pig, though, they fail in their act. Meanwhile, Piggy points Ralph’s attention toward a passing ship that disappears on the horizon and they lament the negligence of the boys toward keeping the fire alive. The hunters, however, do not pay much attention to his complaints despite the fury of Ralph when he points their negligence at the troublemakers with Jack as their leader. In their wild frenzy of having their first catch, they ignore the leader, Ralph, and start dancing around. When Piggy rebukes Jack, he hits him, making his glasses flying away.

As hinted by Piggy earlier, Ralph immediately catches the conch and blows it to declare his authority, yet nobody pays attention, while the “littluns” are feeling neglected, expressing their fear of some ghost or beast lurking somewhere on the island. Despite the other boys’ argument that there is no such thing, the littluns do not feel safe. When the meeting is over, a parachutist from some fighting planes land on the island but is caught in the trees to rot there. When the twins, Sam and Eric, find the man hanging on the trees, they take him as a beast and spread the terror in the camp with the news. Soon the boys form a group to hunt that monster despite a difference between Jack and Ralph, the two leading boys. They, then, inform others about that parachute and the monster that they think it is, develops further differences about the leadership of Ralph. Jack alleges his fear for further removal from the authority, while the majority of the boys veto this move. Despite this defeat, Jack takes the hunters with him to part ways, while Ralph rallies others around him to light the fire, though. Ironically, most of them flee and join Jack in his hunting game.

Soon Jack takes lead and declares himself the leader of his hunters. They hunt a sow and leave its head on a stake. When Simon dreams about it, he thinks it the Lord of the Flies that is speaking to him. He soon becomes unconscious and when comes to senses he leaves for the mountains where he comes across that dead soldier hanging with his parachute. He takes it to the Lord of the Flies and runs away to tell others, creating a mess that all the boys including Ralph and Jack, who were busy enjoying the feast of the sow, consider him a monster and kill him. However, only Piggy and Ralph are conscious of what they have done, while Jack and his hunters soon realize the loss of fire and steal the glasses of Piggy to make their own. When Ralph tries to argue with Jack, he orders his hunters to chase him to kill him. Roger, his main hunter, kills Piggy with a boulder and Ralph flees for his life, seeing the conch also shattered to pieces under the boulder.

Jack, the hunters, and other boys including Ralph chasing the game soon come to an end when British officers appear on the seashore, admonishing the boys for their mess and filthy looks, while Ralph heaves a sigh of relief after seeing an adult who has saved him from the hunters.

Major Themes in Lord of the Flies

• Loss of Innocence: The loss of innocence in the novel is shown from the way the children go astray without adults. The right path is to lead a normal life, take care of the “littluns”, pay homage to the authority, and wait for the elders to come to their rescue. Ralph’s attitude toward the littluns and Samneric is of a leader and an adult having responsibility. However, when Jack parts ways with him and Piggy, it seems that they have lost the innocence, for Jack becoming a hunter is identical to savagery.
• Savageness and Society: Lord of the Flies shows savagery in the society that is part of its members as shown through Jack and hunters. The author believes that innocence is not just an integral part; savagery is also an integral part of human nature and finds ways to come out when the times are appropriate. That is why when Ralph finds an officer on the seashore, he heaves a sigh of relief, thinking that he has saved himself from the savage hunters.
• Vice against Virtue : The novel also shows vice pitted against virtue as Ralph and Piggy represent order and virtue, while Jack and his hunters represent vice or disorder. When Ralph is made to flee from the hunters, it seems that virtue has given way to vice. However, soon the officer appears, which becomes a signal of some authority that does not let virtue face defeat.
• End of Rationalism: Piggy, the supporter of Ralph and his authority, is a lone voice of rationalism who can think with a rational mind and devise ways. However, he is physically inferior to all others except “littluns.” Therefore, Jack is always wary of him that he does not let Jack stand a chance to assume leadership. When he finds Piggy, he orders his associates to roll a boulder on him, killing him on the spot. It shows the end of rationalism, a thematic strand that appears for a short time in the storyline.
• Absence of Social Norms: The pack of children on an isolated island without the presence of an adult having authority presents a real dilemma about the social traditions, norms, and their evolutions. The author proves this thematic idea of how a person. with limited intelligence. copes with the situation of dealing with other persons in the absence of social norms. Piggy is killed on the want of laws and social regulations that emerge from norms; such as the norm of blowing a conch.
• Dehumanization: The novel shows the dark side of human nature that is to live a life of the might is right and dehumanization of nature as shown by the hunting nature of Jack, while the rational side, such as Piggy, soon witnesses his end. The hunting spree of Jack and other boys without thinking an iota about their colleague is a dehumanization of nature.
• The Nature of Evil or Vice: Evil resides in human nature side by side with virtue which comes out when authority is absent. Jack shows this side of nature when he forms his pack of hunters and attacks Piggy, killing him on the spot.
• Community against Individual: community and individual are other minor themes of the novel. The would-be leader, Ralph, is left alone in the end against the whole community of the boys chasing him. It means that an individual is left alone if he does not stand on his guard.
• Progress of Civilization: Lord of the Flies is also a critique on the progress of civilization in that a pack of English boys with rational and leading minds like Piggy and Ralph respectively go to dogs without thinking as Ralph later says what the other people will say to them that British, the crown of the civilized nation, has children as such.
• Absence of Laws: The hunting expedition of Jack, killing of Piggy, and several other such incidents show that the law protects the weak. The absence of the law is similar to giving authority to a tyrant to rule a country or allowing the criminals to roam free without fear of consequences.

 Major Characters in Lord of the Flies

• Ralph: The leader and good-looking but moderately intelligent, Ralph leads the boys with Piggy as his advisor, who advises him to use the conch to establish authority. As such he proves not only the hero but also the protagonist of the novel after assuming leadership. Eventually, he loses the hold on the group to Jack and his hunters who drive almost all the boys to useless hunting, which resultantly leads them to savagery. In the end, he is left alone when Jack murders Piggy and chases Ralph to gain from him his authority, but he saves himself by running to a British officer, who just appears on the scene.
• Piggy: Piggy, though is quite weak, but a rational boy, who advises Ralph to assume the leadership, seeing in him a vision to lead. He takes care of the little boys and suggests lighting up the fire to save them from perishing on the island. However, he soon becomes the target of hunters, while Jack eyes him a likely opponent, not leaving any opportunity to either admonish, tease, or even to kill him, which he does by the end. His murder makes Ralph feel lonely when he wishes the presence of an adult and the British naval officer appears on the scene. His murder is the end of rationalism among the boys.
• Jack Merridew: The antagonist , Jack Merridew, is a powerful leader but has a vicious touch in his nature. He does not exhibit rationality or true leadership. As soon as he sees Piggy, a symbol of rational thinking among them, he becomes his staunch opponent. He forms a choir of the boys and manipulates their thinking to turn them into barbarous killers who start chasing Ralph, their own leader, after having shown their exploits in hunting a sow and dancing around it to celebrate this achievement. By the end, he assumes leadership of the savagery and hunts down Ralph, who runs away in the forest for his life.
• Simon: Simon is attached to nature and shows a spiritual aspect of life. That is why he stays alone and does not join any group, though, he stays with the group. A Christ-like figure, the author presents Simon to show how some people understand the arrival of evil but does not have the ability to confront or express it. Simon is also an example of staying neutral in times when you cannot choose.
• Samneric: They are twins. These two brothers are identical not only in nature but also in their appearances. They follow Ralph loyally but when Piggy is killed, they also lose direction, and soon they seem lost in the maze of the chase of Ralph.
• Maurice: A healthy boy, Maurice, proves a great hunter and starts training other hunters for Jack’s pack. He shows the mob mentality in blindly following the leader.
• Percival: A little boy, Percival, represents innocence, as he always needs some adult to take care of him. He becomes hysterical at times for the loss of his parents and home comfort.
• The Naval Officer: The British officer represents the authority and adulthood which stops chaos and brings order in the chaotic world. His appearance reminds the readers of the civilized western world.
• The Beast: Despite its hazy presence, the beast represents something unknown that is not only causing fear to the boys but also showing them a way to create something out of nothing. Jack uses this invisible beast for his own purpose to make others follow him.

Writing Style of Lord of the Flies ‎

William Golding ’s writing style in Lord of the Flies is pretty simple and straightforward. It carries great alluring subtleties, bordering a multiplicity of meanings for all types of readers. Despite its allegorical nature, the characters and objects along with the description seem quite realistic and direct. Most of the ordinary thematic strands and ideational presentations have brought a type of enticement in his style that is unique in its language and mesmerizing in its narrative .

Analysis of Literary Devices in Lord of the Flies

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the crash landing of a British airplane having school children, who live a messy life on the island, making two groups; one wants to rescue the boys and the other intends to enjoy merrymaking. The rising action is Ralph’s struggle for order, safety, and organized life. The falling action , on the other hand, is his escape to save his life when Jack and his hunters chase him.
• Allegory : Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel that shows it shows that when the civilization or leadership is absent and there is no fear of law and authority, human nature has more inclination to fall prey to vice. Savagery has the power to take over as the beast, despite its absence, takes over the entire group of the boys and terrifies the “littluns.” It could also be an allegory that when a war is taking place between the adults, another war is between innocence and savagery.
• Antagonist : Jack Merridew is the antagonist of the novel, Lord of the Flies, because he stands against the order and civilization that Ralph and his rational friend want to bring. He rather indulges in savagery and killing whatever comes in the way of him and his hunters.
• Allusion : There are various examples of the Biblical allusions given in the novel, Lord of the Flies. Simon alludes to Jesus Christ, while the head of the pig alludes to Satan that makes human being to go astray from the true path. On the other hand, Jack is the representative of Juda and the lone island is an example of paradise.
• Conflict : There are two types of conflicts in the novel, Lord of the Flies. The first one is between man and nature as it goes on between the boys and the situation on the island where they are to live. The second is about man and man and man and self which goes on between Ralph and Jack and Ralph and his thinking.
• Characters: Lord of the Flies presents both static as well as dynamic characters. Ralph is a dynamic character , as he goes through various changes and has several issues to deal with, while Jack Merridew is also a vibrant character on account of his ambitious and unpredictable nature. Piggy, however, is a static character in that he does not witness any change in his thinking from the first day to the last. Simon, too, is a static character.
• Climax : The climax in the novel arrives when Simon sees Lord of the Flies and realizes that it is a beast but then realizes that every boy has a beast in his mind. That is why when he tries to come back and join the boys, they kill him, considering him as prey. However, when Jack engineers the killing of Piggy, this is the anticlimax of Lord of the Flies.
• Foreshadowing : There are several examples of foreshadowing in Lord of the Flies. The first example of foreshadowing in the novel occurs when the boys gather together for voting and it is voiced that there may be a beast. The ensuing argument shows that it would be there soon, even if it does not exist. The second example is of Piggy who continuously refers to his aunt which shows that he always needs somebody to depend on him. The third good example is the discovery of conch and advice of Piggy, which points out that Piggy is the supplier of ideas to Ralph, who is nothing without him.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs when Piggy and Ralph find the conch on the seashore and Piggy thinks that the conch will bring order and authority to Ralph that he will use with his ideas. However, it proves a pipedream for him, for how a simple conch can bring order and authority among the unruly children.
• Imagery : Imagery means to use to present an image that shows the use of sense by the readers or audiences to identity it such as Ralph is shown having landed like a cat, Jake is shown behaving as an ape, while the littluns are shown as inspects. Also, the sea is shown as a creature, while the fire is shown as a jaguar. In fact, Lord of Flies is full of natural imagery as the location and the characters demonstrate it amply.
• Metaphor : Lord of the Flies shows decent use of various metaphors . For example, i. Then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand, and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing. (Chapter-1) ii. He was a shrimp of a boy, about six years old, and one side of his face was blotted bout by a mulberry-colored birthmark. (Chapter-1) iii. On one side the air was cool, but on the other, the fire thrust out a savage arm of heat that crinkled hair on the instant. (Chapter-2)The first metaphor shows the comparison of darkness with the clothing, the second boy with the shrimp, and the third fire with a savage creature.
• Mood : The novel, Lord of the Flies, shows a serious mood of horror and grief. Even though the start is quite interesting and entertaining, it suddenly transforms into somber and then sorrowful when the boys start making groups, hunting and finally killing each other.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, Lord of the Flies, are the conch, glasses of Piggy, and the beast.
• Narrator : The novel, Lord of the Flies, uses the third person as a narrator of the story , which is also called an omniscient narrator. Here the author, William Golding is the narrator of the story.
• Personification : Personification means to attribute human acts and emotions to non-living objects. For example, i. Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers that festooned the dead or dying trees. As they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the root of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened. Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled away through leaves and brushwood, dividing and increasing. (Chapter-2) ii. The flames, as though they were a kind of wildlife, crept as a jaguar creeps on its belly toward a line of birch-like saplings that fledged an outcrop of the pink rock. iii. Then the roof of leaves broke up and they halted, breathing quickly, looking at the few stars that pricked round the head of the mountain. (Chapter-7)These three examples show smoke, flame, and then roof as if they have human emotions.
• Protagonist : Ralph is the protagonist of the novel. He starts the novel and captures the interest of the readers until the last page when he flees for his life. Besides, he is the primary motivator of the order and civilization on the island.
• Paradox : Lord of the Flies shows the use of paradox in the behavior of the boys that fear is not outside but in their minds. Therefore, it is a paradox.
• Theme : A theme is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The novel, Lord of the Flies , not only shows the theme of conflict between vice and virtue, but also various other themes such as loss of innocent, value of the order, and above all the nature of man.
• Setting : The setting of the novel, Lord of the Flies, is the sea and the coastal area as well as the lonely island with thick forest.
• Simile : The novel shows great use of various similes such as; i. A rock, almost detached, standing like a fort , facing them across the green with one bold, pink bastion. (Chapter-1) ii. The breezes that on the lagoon had chased their tails like kittens were finding their way across the platform and into the forest. (Chapter-2) iii. One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel . (Chapter-2)The first simile compares a rock to a fort, the second breezes to kittens, and the third the patch to a squirrel.
• Symbol: Lord of the Flies shows that the symbols of the best, glasses, fire, adults, ocean, and the island.
• Irony : The novel shows irony when the boys are engaged in talking about the beast but only Simon knows it, though, he is unable to express it.

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Lord of the Flies

46 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-7

Chapters 8-9

Chapters 10-11

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Ralph is first described as “fair” (7). However, without grownups or rules, he is suddenly free from the burden of society. He makes fun of Piggy and is delighted there are no grownupsbecause he has “ambitions” (8) and now he can realize them. However, he soon comes to see the value in rules. He blows the conch to call an assembly and begins to set rules: they must keep a fire for rescue; they shouldn’t use the bathroom everywhere; they should build shelters. Cast into a primitive way of live, Ralph decides they do indeed need rules. He represents the civilizing instinct of humans, the need for law and order, and the need for hope.

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Summary and Analysis Chapter 4

The chapter opens with a general description of the island's changes throughout the day and the boys' responses to each day's cyclical progression. The focus narrows to the littluns' subculture and three of the littluns interacting as they play with one of their sandcastles. Then Roger and Maurice emerge from the jungle and deliberately destroy some of the sandcastles on their way to the beach.

Jack gathers the hunters to reveal his new hunting strategy: using colored clay and charcoal to camouflage their faces. Jack commands all his hunters, including Samneric who are on fire-maintenance duty at the time, to join in a hunt.

Ralph spots a ship in the distance and is confident that the ship's crew will spot the boys' smoke signal. But, unknown to Ralph, the fire has gone out, being left unattended. When Simon points out that there is no smoke, he and Ralph and Piggy hurry up the mountainside. By the time all three have reached the dormant fire site, the ship is gone.

Meanwhile, Jack and his hunters are triumphant, marching up to the fire site with the carcass of a pig. Jack and Ralph face off about the desertion of the fire for the sake of the hunt. Jack apologizes but Ralph remains angry. Tensions ease somewhat as the boys eat roast pig. The hunters reenact the kill as a sort of celebratory dance. In response, Ralph announces an assembly on the platform immediately.

As the most fundamental of all cycles, the daily experience of morning's promise followed inevitably by night's menace is a microcosm of larger cycles. Golding 's opening description of the island's daily rhythm is evocative of the many cycles that govern humanity: the life of an individual from birth to death, the development and disintegration of cultures, the rise and fall of great civilizations.

Even among this small group of boys, subcultures have sprung up. The littluns spend their days among themselves, following their own priorities and interests; "their passionately emotional and corporate life was their own." Within the littluns are further distinctions based on size and temperament, either of which can provide an immediate advantage to one littlun over another: "Henry was a bit of a leader this afternoon, because the other two were Percival and Johnny, the smallest boys on the island." Yet Johnny has the upper hand over the sensitive Percival due to his inclination to bully. In addition, while Johnny may be one of the smallest, he is also "well built." With no adults to control their activities, Henry and Johnny join in picking on Percival because they enjoy the thrill of mastery over another creature and because it keeps boredom at bay.

The boys focus on the most entertaining possibilities of the island, such as hunting, playing, and eating, to the detriment of such mundane but necessary tasks as building shelters. They are free to set their own priorities and agenda on an individual basis, allowing some of the boys the chance to develop the application of their own worst impulses. Henry, for example, assumes a dictatorial manner, experimenting further with mastery over other creatures as he traps tiny transparent beach scavengers in his footprints. His experience is a microcosm of another kind: Describing how Henry "became absorbed beyond happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things," Golding alludes not only to Henry and Johnny's persecution of Percival but also to Jack's compulsion to hunt and to the probable cause of the nuclear war that landed the boys on this island.

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English Literature Lord of the Flies, main themes and character analysis

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

27 March 2024

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Study ‘Lord of the Flies’ with our comprehensive material, delving into its overarching themes and intricate character analyses. Uncover the timeless struggle between order and chaos, as depicted through the evocative chant ‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’ (Chapter 9), resonating with the complexities of human nature. Through insightful character examinations, such as Ralph’s leadership underscored by ‘We must establish and adhere to regulations’ (Chapter 2), and engaging exercises, learners will deepen their understanding of this classic literary work."

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Character Analysis

(Click the character infographic to download.)

Poor Percival. We first hear about him when we learn that the littluns are not so much taken care of as downright neglected by the older boys. Percival can't handle it. He crawls into a shelter and "stay[s] there for two days, talking, singing, and crying, till they thought him batty and were faintly amused. Ever since then he had been peaked, red-eyed, and miserable; a littleun who played and cried often" (4.3).

The only thing Percival has is his name and address: "Percival Wemys Madison, of the Vicarage, Harcourt St. Anthony" (5, 12), which he repeats like an "incantation." Unfortunately, this "incantation" is "powerless to help" poor little Percival. The safety nets of normal civilization are completely and utterly useless here on the island. And by the time Percival meets someone who might actually help—the naval officer—he's totally forgotten it. Even weepy little Percival has been transformed by his island adventures. When Ralph weeps for the loss of innocence and the darkness of man's heart—he's weeping for Percival.

What's In a Name

One thing about his name. " Percival " is the name of one of King Arthur's knights. In most of the stories, he's innocent and naïve—so innocent that he gets to complete the quest for the Holy Grail. Can we make that association here, and say that Golding is drawing on the name Percival to make our littlun seem especially innocent and harmless? To heighten the tragic loss of innocence? We wouldn't put it past him.

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Lord of the Flies

William golding, everything you need for every book you read..