What Does The Beast Symbolize In Lord Of The Flies

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Symbolism in Lord of the Flies helps convey Golding's ideas about human experience. The novel represents what the world was like during World War II. Golding tells the story of a group of boys that are stranded on an island after their plane crashed. The novel portrays the constant struggle between civilisation and savagery within humans and society. Through the novel William Golding highlights that the boys only look out for themselves, the beast is within us all and in a survival situation there will always be leaders and followers. Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, Golding emphasises that people in a survival situation will only look out for themselves. He suggests because of society we act peacefully and morally, but in reality, …show more content…
In the novel Golding shows how different people feel the influences of the instincts of civilization and savagery to different degrees. When left to fend for themselves, Golding implies that people naturally revert to cruelty and savagery. The idea of innate human evil is central to Lord of the Flies, and finds expression in several important symbols, most notably the Beast and Lord of the Flies. The Beast symbolises human inclination for both violence and survival. At first, the beast is nothing more than a product of the boy's imaginations, but as the novel progresses the beast becomes more evident. Piggy states that the beast is just a fear of the unknown "I know there isn't no beast - not with claws and all that, I mean - but I know there isn't no fear, either." Simon, on the other hand, insists "Maybe it's just us". The beast is the darkness inside each and every one of the boys. The Lord of the Flies later suggests, it is absurd to think that the beast is something "you could hunt or kill". If the beast is inside of us, not only can we never see it, but we can never hunt it, give it a form, or defeat it. The Lord of the Flies is a physical representation of "the Beast" as it is a pigs head impaled on a wooden stake to sacrifice to the beast. It personifies the beast within us due to it being an actual pigs head. Both these symbolise that "The Beast" is …show more content…
From the start of the novel Ralph is presented as a natural leader as he is the one to blow the conch to assemble the boys. Due to Ralph finding the conch and assembling the boys, they automatically designate him as "Chief". Throughout the novel the conch represents authority and law and order as it is used to call for assemblies. Due to the boys only being able to speak if holding the conch, it can represent leadership as whomever holds it is in charge. Rules are only powerful if people agree on them, and that is why Ralph refuses to blow the conch at the end of the novel because he knew that the boys were starting to break down. Ralph knew to assign certain people with certain jobs, and knew that they needed to be rescued as soon as possible. It was evident they needed to have a fire for cooking and to create smoke to use as a signal to get attention of fighter jets overhead and the cruiser ships in the sea. Looking after and maintaining the fire were also leadership opportunities on the island. Those who helped with the fire played a part of their rescue by the navy ship. It’s a sign of hope of rescue for the boys. Not only was the fire important for saving the boys, it also fed them providing them with the basic survival to eat food. Human experiences in Lord of the Flies are communicated throughout the novel through many symbols,
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