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A Brief Look at the Symbolic Web in William Golding’s Novel Lord of the Flies. By (Sony) Ling-Uei Sung-Chu The intangible complexities of human nature are the daring focus of William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. Symbolically throughout the course of his story, Golding delves into the intricate structures of human behavior within a social order by taking us back to our age of innocence. The novel relates the events set in the midst of a world torn by the horrors of World War II, as a group of kids find themselves stranded after their airplane crashes on a desolate island miles away from civilization. Without the guidance of adulthood, the children are forced to survive by creating a rudimentary society based on their primal necessity for survival and pleasure. Several themes are comprised within Golding’s study of man’s behavior patterns. Amongst these fear, the battle between good and evil, human’s lust for power, and the never withering dream keeper, hope, stand as the four pillars to Golding’s analysis of his imaginary island community. From his diverse characters’ demeanors, we can savor and value the distinct differences between each theme conforming to the proposed scenario, which serves to unravel humanity’s forms of conduct. Golding then willingly reveals a chain of consequences arising from the initial state to present the rise and fall of a community affected by the dark side of human affairs. All the main characters are introduced in the opening chapter titled “The Sound of the Shell.” Piggy, Ralph, Jack, Simon, Roger, Sam, Eric, Robert, and the littl’uns, who are the youngest of the group, are convened in a general assembly where rules are established and Ralph is elected as their leader by the great majority. The first figure of authority is established in a democratic manner and “the conch” found on the island’s shores by Ralph and Piggy is utilized by Ralph to institute a sense of order. Not only are the assemblies to be convened at the sound of “the conch”, but also in order for everyone to express their ideas only the person holding “the conch” may speak. Perhaps Piggy is the character that grasps the reader’s attention with greater ease from the beginning. Piggy is viewed as a less than social persona, yet despite this handicap in diplomatic matters, he proves from the start to be the man of ideas by suggesting the use of “the conch” as a tool to call upon and unify the rest of the kids on the island. He is also a clear advocate of a civilized society, as he insisted time and time again to an orderly adult like behavior from his peers. This in turn made him less popular with the majority; nevertheless it did not diminish his forte of intelligence over social and physical skills. “If Piggy is civilization’s voice, then Ralph is its public face” (Olsen, 2000 p. 8). As an above average looking fellow, Ralph provides the essential look and feel of a leader. He is delighted to carry out his duties, and is concern with their rescue from isolation. In the second chapter titled “Fire on the Mountain”, another gathering is called upon and the littl’uns claim to have seen a beast like creature roaming on the island. Little attention is given to their claims and Ralph moves on to other concerns, emphasizing on the need for a fire on high grounds as a means to signal for help. Jack disagrees with Ralph’s ruling and proposes that hunting requires a more immediate attention. While Jack ends up helping with the building of the fire, this opens a door for much defiance on behalf of Jack towards Ralph’s ever slowly degrading government.
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