Lord of the Flies
question
I was really confused about this book. Who exactly was the Lord of the Flies?
Beth
Jul 14, 2015 05:32AM
This book was just hard to understand at times. I have to read it for school but I'm confused about parts of it. I also don't really get who hhe 'beastie' was and why Simom was talking to a pig head. Can anyone help explain?
Bethany, as Monty mentions, this is one book you need to read repeatedly to understand completely.
There are so many layers in Golding's book that you can find new meaning every time you read it.
Golding is a master in metaphors, which means you have to read very attentively.
I've read a large number of Golding’s books and wrote a dissertation on his oevre. But this was ages ago and though LOTF is still one of my favourites I remember more examples from his other works. For instance in The Inheritors, one of the characters falls down a waterfall. With this he refers to the 'fall' of human nature. Actually Fa is a member of the last Neanderthal tribe but when he acts vengefully (so in WG's eyes more in line with human characters), he has an accident and goes over the fall).
In one of his other books he writes of a character called Mr. Pedigree, and calls him a 'filthy, old thing'. Once more this is an oblique reference to human nature and it's actually the human pedigree he refers to as a filthy old thing.
The ‘beast’ in LOTF is actually the corpse of a dead parachutist which the boys in their fright and superstition have mistaken for a monster or 'the beast'.
Simon, who is either an epileptic or suffers from disorientation caused by dehydration of hypoglycemia finds a severed pigs' head, left by Jack as an offering to appease the beast. The pig head is swarming with flies by the time Simon finds it and in his hallucinations he identifies it with the ‘Lord of the Flies’, one of the many representations of Beelzebub or the devil.
Golding takes a very dim view of human nature and this shows clearly in all of his books.
There are so many layers in Golding's book that you can find new meaning every time you read it.
Golding is a master in metaphors, which means you have to read very attentively.
I've read a large number of Golding’s books and wrote a dissertation on his oevre. But this was ages ago and though LOTF is still one of my favourites I remember more examples from his other works. For instance in The Inheritors, one of the characters falls down a waterfall. With this he refers to the 'fall' of human nature. Actually Fa is a member of the last Neanderthal tribe but when he acts vengefully (so in WG's eyes more in line with human characters), he has an accident and goes over the fall).
In one of his other books he writes of a character called Mr. Pedigree, and calls him a 'filthy, old thing'. Once more this is an oblique reference to human nature and it's actually the human pedigree he refers to as a filthy old thing.
The ‘beast’ in LOTF is actually the corpse of a dead parachutist which the boys in their fright and superstition have mistaken for a monster or 'the beast'.
Simon, who is either an epileptic or suffers from disorientation caused by dehydration of hypoglycemia finds a severed pigs' head, left by Jack as an offering to appease the beast. The pig head is swarming with flies by the time Simon finds it and in his hallucinations he identifies it with the ‘Lord of the Flies’, one of the many representations of Beelzebub or the devil.
Golding takes a very dim view of human nature and this shows clearly in all of his books.
Simon was hallucinating, probably from dehydration or hypoglycemia, but it was a mechanism for symbolizing the beast in all of us.
You have to read the book repeatedly, allowing time between readings to absorb it.
The Lord of the Flies isn't a person, it's a symbol for the beast within us all, our fundamental animal nature that is inclined toward "sin," which the Bible tells us we may conquer through the exercise of Free Will.
In The Bible, Devil equates to the Lord of the Flies and Evil as its power over mankind.
Every day in the news we are confronted with the evidence of man's animal nature, e.g., police murdering young black men in the US. The Lord of the Flies represents the force within us that makes us do heinous and unspeakable things.
Jack Merridew acquired power by appealing to the selfish, self-preservation (animal) instincts of the boys, while Ralph and Piggy appealed to the higher, more adult character values of compassion and group responsibility.
You have to read the book repeatedly, allowing time between readings to absorb it.
The Lord of the Flies isn't a person, it's a symbol for the beast within us all, our fundamental animal nature that is inclined toward "sin," which the Bible tells us we may conquer through the exercise of Free Will.
In The Bible, Devil equates to the Lord of the Flies and Evil as its power over mankind.
Every day in the news we are confronted with the evidence of man's animal nature, e.g., police murdering young black men in the US. The Lord of the Flies represents the force within us that makes us do heinous and unspeakable things.
Jack Merridew acquired power by appealing to the selfish, self-preservation (animal) instincts of the boys, while Ralph and Piggy appealed to the higher, more adult character values of compassion and group responsibility.
I read this book back in 10th grade, and we discussed that The Lord of the Flies represents the devil/death.
Golding uses incredible amounts of symbolism in his novels, remember that everything thing has a meaning, whether it's an object or a living thing. The lord of the flies can be open to interpretation but I would say that it is the pigs head with the flies buzzing around it. When it spoke, the pigs head represents the devil and peoples malevolent intent. There is whole biblical thing going on with pigs head I can't remember exactly, you should look up the symbolism behind the pigs head with the flies. All I know is that that is what the lord of flies is.
lmao yet trump won in a landslide in 2024..such a devil (and its not like democrates use there brains at all)
@Monty J Beelzebub means Lord of the Flies ;)
In another words, Jack Merridew correlates more with Donald Trump, Ralph and Piggy with Sanders and Warren. Sorry, Republicans, I had to throw that in.
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Jul 14, 2015 10:13AM · flag