Sucks to your symbolism

Lord of the Flies by William Golding. 
Briefest plot summary ever: A plane of British boys crashes on an island. Anarchy ensues. (For anyone who hasn’t read it, they start off being all civilized and respectful…ish. Order crumbles quickly as everyone except Ralph descends into savagery. The end.)

Let’s talk symbolism. The Conch Chell. Ralph and Piggy (yes, Piggy) find this shell at the beginning of the novel and use it to get all the boys’ attention. From this point forward, it is a symbol of order and civilization. It is also a source of power, but only to those who respect it. While in meetings, the boy holding the conch is the only one allowed to speak. As long at everyone respects the importance and meaning of the conch, then there is still order. This doesn’t last very long and the conch gets broken (along with Piggy) near the end of the novel. Then everyone hunts Ralph. Nice, huh?  The Lord of the Flies. This is a pig head on a stick that Jack (leader of the savages) erects as an offering to the Beast. My friend Seth told me Simon (a boy who gets sacrificed…or murdered…depends on how you look at it) is a parallel to Christ in the novel. If this is the case, then the Lord of the Flies is the Devil. I’m actually pretty sure the Lord of the Flies is a direct translation of the name of a demon in the Bible, which would make Seth kind of right, but I have issues with Simon as Christ that I’ll get to later. The Beast. Picture the smoke monster from Lost, except the beast isn’t actually real. It is basically a parallel to the savagery within each of them. The beast is only as real as each boy makes it by becoming a savage. The Fire. At the beginning of the novel, the boys are constantly burning a signal fire so they can get rescued. Obviously, as they one by one decide it’s more fun to hunt each other, they lose interest in the fire. So, the fire is a symbol of their connection to civilization. However, they get rescued because someone sees a fire Jack and his heathens set to smoke out Ralph. So I’m not sure how this works with the civilization vs. savagery thing. Do I sound bored? Cause I am.

Ok, so Simon as Christ. Granted, he is the only one who figures out what the Beast is. Granted, he is “sacrificed” for his discovery. Well, sort of. He is on his way to tell the boys, who have worked themselves up into some psycho hunting party, what he knows and they kill him in their zest for blood. Creepy, really. Granted, Simon has a conversation with the Lord of the Flies that mirrors Christ’s chat with the devil while he was chillin out in the woods. BUT, there’s no God-like figure in the novel, no supreme being to whom Simon is connected. This doesn’t complete the Jesus-demon-God connection. BUT, Simon never actually gets to tell the boys what he knows. Basically, they kill him too soon for him to be their Jesus. And my last BUT, Simon’s death doesn’t bring the boys salvation. Things actually get way worse before they get better. Therefore, Seth is not so right and I feel like the partial Simon-Christ connection was a waste of my time.

Finally, the descent into savagery. Good vs. Evil. Blah, blah, blah. I’m seriously boring myself here.

So here it is; if you managed to escape high school without ever reading LOTF, then I’m shocked. It might be worth saying that all the events of the book came about because the boys were being transported away from a war zone. So, boo war once again. I wish I could recommend it, I really do. But it is so damn predictable. And it brought a lot of my Children of the Corn issues to the surface. Children are scary and not to be left to their own devices. And, for all its creepiness, it is SOOOO boring. Seriously. Not a fan.

Next up, Rabbit, Run by John Updike!