When Pigs Heads Talk :: essays research papers

What are you doing out here solely al i? Arent you afraid ofme? asks a pigs head on a stick, cover in flies. But its more that,its an entity, which is hidden within the depths of the book,concealed for the reader to discover. The book Lord of the Flies byWilliam Golding contains symbolism all throughout the text, eachsymbol to be interpreted in its own way.The main symbol in Lord of the Flies is quite obviously, the Lordof the Flies, which as aforementioned, is a pigs head on a stick,covered in flies. The symbol represents the evil within the boys thatreside on the island. Each one corrupt in his own, fearing whatresides within them. Jack with his macho attitude, while he is aleader, has actually took part in killing someone, but then again, sohas every boy there. This evil could also be interpreted as a loss ofinnocence, in which the boys spiral from helpless little tykes tovoracious savages, funding only to kill.Another symbol, is just the flies residing upon the sows head. They seem to represent people that cling to evil, as though it wouldtheir only chance of survival. An modelling of that would be a cannibal,whose own desires have led him to feast upon flesh, and then, evenwhen he knows that what he has done is wrong, he continues to do ituntil his disgusting gorging has ended with his fix andpunishment. Oddly enough, the flies are feeding on rotting flesh aswell.Simon, the boy murdered by his peers, can be viewed as aChrist figure. While some may say it is Ralph, Simon seems more likea savior. He comes down from the mountain, bearing news of theboys salvation from the beast that torments him and he is persecutedby them, each one taking part in the frenzy of his death. He alsoseems to be knowledgeable about things the boys cant comprehend. He is always off in his own little world, pondering something thatmost boys wouldnt even consider thinking about.Yet another symbol in Lord of the Flies would the conch, whichRalph clings to so dearly. All of the bo ys see that as the upholding oforder, until Jack claims it not so. With the shattering of the conch,Ralph seems to plummet into a slight depression, wherein he hasnothing to cue of the upright and strict ways of his home. Withoutit he is nearly lost in a sea of his thoughts, buses as an example.