Lord of the Flies - From Heaven to Hell

William Golding uses the novel Lord of the Flies to reflect today’s society and the tainting impact man has had on earth. One of the links between the novel and the real world is the decline of a human society from being civilized and well educated to being primitive and war mongering. This reflection of human society has been achieved with symbolism and metaphor but mostly through the degeneration of the setting (the island), from a utopian paradise to being a chaotic hell.

The Lord of the Flies island starts out as a heavenly and fun place to live. Right from the beginning, the island is given enchanting and pleasing attributes, as demonstrates the following citation of while Ralph explored the area in which they landed.

"He picked his way to the seaward edge of the platform and stood looking down into the water. It was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral. A school of tiny, glittering fish flicked hither and thither. Ralph spoke to himself, sounding the bass strings of delight." (Page 12)

Here, the use of imagery and soft-spoken adjectives greatly help in the depiction of the island as a paradise. Alliteration c

. . .
Then he was down, rolling over and over in the warm sand, crouching with arm to ward off, trying to cry for mercy. Until the grown-ups come to fetch us, we’ll have fun. It hits him hardest when he realizes that “There was no Piggy to talk sense. " (Page 168)

This citation not only shows the decline of the society on the island by the transference of Piggy’s specs to Jack’s tribe, but also through the acceptance Ralph shows towards the fact that he is no longer chief of the island, and that Jack has now assumed the position as a tyrant. " (Page 200)

The climax of the hunt for Ralph has also become the breaking point for the shred of remaining sanity and civilization in this scene. ” (Page 35) During the boys’ first assembly, there is another heavenly setting to be found. In their blind lust for blood, the tribe did not realize that they had just set their only source of nourishment aflame.

"He stumbled over a root and the cry that pursued him rose even higher. He saw a shelter burst into flames and the fire flapped at his right shoulder and there was the glitter of water. This discovery and a few similar explorations of the island have led Ralph and the other children to the conclusion that “It’s a good island. ” (Page 196) The hunt for Ralph then becomes progressively more frantic as the fire corners them all closer and closer to the shoreline. Not only have Piggy’s glasses been broken, but also the altercation between Jack and Piggy had sprung from an argument concerning the fire dying out, the first rule that had been officially broken on the island. One of the symbols that show this decline most accurately is Piggy’s glasses. Later on, while Ralph and his remaining followers go to Castle Rock to try to reclaim Piggy’s specs, the conch – a symbol a democracy and civilization – “exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.

Common topics in this essay:
Lord Flies, Castle Rock, Finally Ralph, Jack Piggy, piggys glasses, lord flies, heaven hell, William Golding, bass strings delight, fathom-wide grin skull, sounding bass strings, human society, fathom-wide grin, bass strings, sounding bass, hunt ralph, island jack, island literally,

Approximate Word count = 1185
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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