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Symbols In Lord Of The Flies Symbolism Essay

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In the novel the Lord Of The Flies, by William Golding, the author uses symbols or items or ideas that represents something in the book Golding wants to emphasize. Like the conch and Piggy’s glasses both represent the tribe and their state of mind. Another example is the fire, which symbolizes hope of rescue in the book. Golding however also made some symbols change over time to show progress or rather how the tribe went near the savage ways of human nature. The conch for example, started out with beautiful vibrant pinks and whites but by the end of the book it was bleach white and then shattered. Another example is the fire which started as hope for rescue but turned into a symbol of destruction when Jack burned the island to kill Ralph.
The conch was found by the soon to be leader Ralph and his acquaintance Piggy on a lagoon in some ferny weeds. Ralph sees a creamy white and asked piggy “ ‘ what’s that? A stone? No. A shell.” (Golding 15) This shows that the at first the conch was beautiful and …show more content…
Ralph sees a beautiful lagoon to swim in and fruit to eat as stated, “ Out there, and beyond that the open sea was dark blue” (Golding 10). This shows how the island at first is a paradise for the children that survived the crash. This also shows that the island represents the Garden of Eden, which also changed over time, as it too was a paradise. But the paradise soon turns sour as toward the end of the book the island it is being scorched in front of Ralph as he saw “Sun-splashed ground over an are of perhaps fifty yards from where he lay” (Golding 197). The quote shows that the island has turned from paradise into a living nightmare. The Garden of Eden also shared a similar fate when Eve took a bite out of the forbidden fruit and both Adam and Eve where kicked out of the paradise. Unfortunately, this symbol suffered the same fate as the previous two as all three turned for the worse in the

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