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Symbols In Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

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Symbolism in Lord of the Flies
Symbolism is all around us, even if we don't know about it. Think about how many times you have used the heart emoji or the thumbs down emoji while texting. These two examples stand for something beyond their appearance. The heart emoji stands for love, while the thumbs down emoji is associated with disapproval and dislike. The same way we use those symbols in our everyday lives, Golding uses them in his novel, Lord Of The Flies, to show the transition of the characters from their civilized background, to the rise of destruction, and their descent into savagery. These changes are made evident by symbols, such as the fire going out, the beast and lord of the flies. These three symbols contribute to the novel by …show more content…
It symbolizes the end of structure and civilization, and perhaps the start of a period where destruction, evilness, and chaos become predominant in the minds of the boys. Early on in the book, the fire also symbolizes hope, but hope is “thrown out of the window” when the fire burns out, along with civilization and order. When Jack was asked by Ralph if he let the fire go out, the author stated, “Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him” (Golding 68). This was the first time in which the fire went out and Jack was clearly not bothered about the fact that their only hope of being rescued was lost. The incident of the fire going out represents the ending of the period in the novel where the boys had kept their civil learnings, which they were taught from a young age, and the start of a period full of savagery and chaos. Prior to this event, there had not been any unpleasant incidents in the novel, the characters did have arguments but remained civilized. However, after this event chaos erupted and eventually led to deaths of a number of characters of the book. As soon as the fire went out, simultaneously law and order ceased to exist on the

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