Graham's Redraft

Here's my spec study redraft. I need to add more to the bit about Beelzebub, but not really sure what else to write just now....




“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding centers around a conflict between two of the main characters, Jack and Ralph. This essay will look at how the conflict eventually ends in tragedy for most of the people on the island, using the writer’s use of symbolism and the characterisation of the two characters.

Ralph, one of the first characters we meet, is a kind, fair-minded character, who immediately appears to the reader as an ideal leader for the group. “We’re having a meeting. Come and join in.” The fact that he is the one who calls the first group meeting shows that he knows that if they are going to be stuck on the island for a long time, there will need to be some order and authority. “We ought to have more rules.” This shows he is doing all he can to retain peace and keep everything running smoothly. He is also the one who comes up with the idea of building a fire, which does eventually get the boys saved. “There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.”

Jack is quite the opposite of Ralph. He is arrogant and violent and it would seem that Golding has created Jack with the intention of making the reader dislike the character. Golding has done this so that from the start, the reader gets the impression that there will be conflict between these two boys, and takes the side of Ralph. Jack is the leader of anarchy on the island, and the leader of the savage tribe which hunts the pigs. “He swung back his right arm and hurled it with all his strength.” This shows he is really determined to make his first kill. At the first meeting, he wants to be leader, but when Ralph is elected, “the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification.” This suggest he is probably used to being a leader, as he is head boy at his school, and does not like it when someone has more power than him. The fact the he feels power when he has a weapon in his hand shows that he a violent character. “Slammed his knife into the trunk and looked around him challengingly.”

At the start of the novel, Jack and Ralph seem to get along quite well, and work as a team. “Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking.” However, as the story goes on, the difference in personality becomes apparent. The first sign of conflict between the two comes when Ralph and Simon are building shelters at the beach, and Jack is out hunting pigs. Ralph is annoyed that nobody is helping them with the huts and confronts Jack in a very civilised manner. “You wouldn’t mind helping with the shelters, I suppose?” Jack however, replies in a very violent aggressive manner. “Suddenly Jack shouted in rage “Are you accusing me-?”

Golding uses lots of symbolism in the novel, and many of these symbolic objects are related to the conflict. Firstly, the conch is the shell that Ralph uses to call meetings. At these meetings, only the person holding the conch can speak, so it symbolises order, democracy and leadership. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” Jack and Ralph are fighting for leadership in the novel, fighting for control of the conch. We see this at one of the group meetings, when Jack claims that Ralph has insulted one of his hunters, and then holds a vote in an attempt to overthrow Ralph as leader. This attempt fails, when even his choir vote against him. This conflict is the starting point for the chaos which leads to the tragedies.

Piggy’s glasses are used to start the fire. “His specs – use them as burning glasses!” Without these, there would be no fire, meaning no food and no rescue, therefore meaning survival. The fire is what cause the first death on the island; the death of the boy with the birthmark. After the boys split in two, Piggy’s glasses are stolen by Jack’s group so they can use them to light fires. This leads to Piggy’s death when he tries to retrieve them. His glasses therefore symbolise life and death.

The “beast” and the pig’s head – or Lord of the Flies – both symbolise power and the evil that is present in all of us. The Lord Of The Flies refers to Beelzebub, which is another name for the devil. Simon talks with the Pig’s head as if it understands him and talks back to him, and realises that the boys are scared of the beast because it exists in all of them. “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I’m the beast. Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt down and kill! You knew didn’t you? I’m part of you?” This very sinister quote backs up Simon’s thoughts earlier on in the novel that the beast is actually the boys themselves. It also shows just how evil this creature is, as it is taunting Simon in a similar way to which the boys taunt each other.

Possibly one of the main symbols in this novel is the island itself. The island is a microcosm representing the world, and of the good and evil that is produced in the world. Golding has placed these characters on an island because an island is alone and isolated, and the boys have no contact with any adults or anyone outside the island. This also conveys the theme of conflict, by showing that if a large group of people are stranded in the same place, without any way of leaving, there will always be arguments due to personality clashes. At the start of the novel, the island is described as a peaceful, tranquil place, but as the story unfolds, it turns into a very sinister place. This is because of the evil events that have happened on the island since the boy’s arrival; the forest fire, the death of the small boy with the birthmark, the killing of Piggy and the killing of Simon.

Golding uses symbolism and characterisation to great effect in “Lord Of The Flies,” to convey the main theme of conflict and also to show how this conflict ended in tragedy, and even death, for some of the boys on the island.

Graham