Lord of the Flies
Intro:
1) The British kids' plane gets shot down, and stranded on an island without any adults.
2) Ralph and Piggy explore the island.
3) Ralph and Piggy meet the other surviving kids.
4) Ralph and Jack pick on Piggy by laughing at his nickname.
Rising Action:
5) The boys build huts, and Simon is the only one to help Ralph build the last one.
6) Ralph and Piggy explore further up the mountain, while Jack is in charge of keeping the fire burning.
7) Jack gets distracted by his hunting and the fire goes out as a ship passes by.
8) Jack breaks Piggy's specs on one side
9) The rumors of the beast begin
10) Samneric see the beast (dead parachute)
11) Jack and Ralph separate into two groups.
12) Simon talks to the Lord of the Flies.
13) Simon is murdered
14) Ralph and Piggy are attacked by Jack, who steals Piggy's glasses.
15) Samneric get captured
16) Piggy gets killed
Climax:
17) Jack and the other boys hunt for Ralph
Resolution:
18) Ralph runs into a naval officer while fleeing
19) The boys are "saved"
Chapter 1: The Sound of the Shell
Predict: The boys will be stranded, and they will eventually become savages. Except for Piggy: who will remain calm and goodhearted.
Images:
1) The British kids' plane gets shot down, and stranded on an island without any adults.
2) Ralph and Piggy explore the island.
3) Ralph and Piggy meet the other surviving kids.
4) Ralph and Jack pick on Piggy by laughing at his nickname.
Rising Action:
5) The boys build huts, and Simon is the only one to help Ralph build the last one.
6) Ralph and Piggy explore further up the mountain, while Jack is in charge of keeping the fire burning.
7) Jack gets distracted by his hunting and the fire goes out as a ship passes by.
8) Jack breaks Piggy's specs on one side
9) The rumors of the beast begin
10) Samneric see the beast (dead parachute)
11) Jack and Ralph separate into two groups.
12) Simon talks to the Lord of the Flies.
13) Simon is murdered
14) Ralph and Piggy are attacked by Jack, who steals Piggy's glasses.
15) Samneric get captured
16) Piggy gets killed
Climax:
17) Jack and the other boys hunt for Ralph
Resolution:
18) Ralph runs into a naval officer while fleeing
19) The boys are "saved"
Chapter 1: The Sound of the Shell
Predict: The boys will be stranded, and they will eventually become savages. Except for Piggy: who will remain calm and goodhearted.
Images:
Clarify: I had to try to understand that even if Ralph was found missing, his father could not come save him until he was on leave.
Questions: Is Piggy a straight-A student? What grade(s) are Ralph and Piggy in? What do their parents/relatives think?
Connections: Ralph's father is in the navy, and so was William Golding... Did Golding reference himself in the book?
Summary: The boys' plane crashed on an island, and they realized that they were the only people there. No adults were on the plane but the pilot, who did not survive. The boys found a conch and decided that only the one holding the conch could speak during the campfires. Piggy was also ridiculed for his nickname and size.
Chapter 2: Fire on the Mountain
Predict: The boys will further explore the island, and decide to make a new camp. Also, violence will begin to occur.
Images:
Questions: Is Piggy a straight-A student? What grade(s) are Ralph and Piggy in? What do their parents/relatives think?
Connections: Ralph's father is in the navy, and so was William Golding... Did Golding reference himself in the book?
Summary: The boys' plane crashed on an island, and they realized that they were the only people there. No adults were on the plane but the pilot, who did not survive. The boys found a conch and decided that only the one holding the conch could speak during the campfires. Piggy was also ridiculed for his nickname and size.
Chapter 2: Fire on the Mountain
Predict: The boys will further explore the island, and decide to make a new camp. Also, violence will begin to occur.
Images:
Clarify: The boys couldn't keep up with all the surviving kids because the little ones wouldn't sit still.
Questions: What are the odds that a conch shell would be sitting right on the edge of that particular island?
Connections: A government is always the first thing a civilization should have. Without it, the 'civil' part will crumble.
Summary: Ralph makes the rule that no matter what, there must be a fire going, to produce smoke, so they could be saved.
Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach
Predict: Based on the title, I believe that the boys will attempt to build houses on the beach.
Images:
Questions: What are the odds that a conch shell would be sitting right on the edge of that particular island?
Connections: A government is always the first thing a civilization should have. Without it, the 'civil' part will crumble.
Summary: Ralph makes the rule that no matter what, there must be a fire going, to produce smoke, so they could be saved.
Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach
Predict: Based on the title, I believe that the boys will attempt to build houses on the beach.
Images:
Clarify: Ralph and Simon built a hut all by themselves?
Questions: How do two boys build an entire hut by themselves? Isn't that a little difficult?
Connections: I have built scenery for stage crew before, and just making platforms for the walls is very time consuming. So building a hut must take a long time.
Summary: Ralph and Simon build huts for the boys, and Jack, instead of being appreciative, is too concerned trying to kill a pig.
Chapter Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair
Predict: Jack will go wild for the hunt.
Image:
Questions: How do two boys build an entire hut by themselves? Isn't that a little difficult?
Connections: I have built scenery for stage crew before, and just making platforms for the walls is very time consuming. So building a hut must take a long time.
Summary: Ralph and Simon build huts for the boys, and Jack, instead of being appreciative, is too concerned trying to kill a pig.
Chapter Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair
Predict: Jack will go wild for the hunt.
Image:
Clarify: Jack was obsessed with hunting, so the boys missed their chance to get home.
Questions: How could Jack be so selfish? Wouldn't the other boys be mad at Jack?
Connections: If I were Ralph at that point, I would have been furious at Jack.
Summary: Jack gets caught up in his hunting and forgets about the fire. Ralph and Piggy notice a boat cruise right by the island, just as the fire goes out.
Chapter Five: Beast from Water
Predict: I predict that the boys will become frightened of an unknown essence, AKA the beast.
Images:
Questions: How could Jack be so selfish? Wouldn't the other boys be mad at Jack?
Connections: If I were Ralph at that point, I would have been furious at Jack.
Summary: Jack gets caught up in his hunting and forgets about the fire. Ralph and Piggy notice a boat cruise right by the island, just as the fire goes out.
Chapter Five: Beast from Water
Predict: I predict that the boys will become frightened of an unknown essence, AKA the beast.
Images:
Clarify: The bigger kids are starting to worry because of the smaller kids being so scared.
Questions: What is this beast? Is it the Lord of the Flies? Which kid(s) will find it?
Connections: I do believe in ghosts. And the supernatural. I agree with the little kids, that the entity could be a ghost.
Summary: The kids start to worry about a beast being on the island with them. Jack decides to hunt for the beast.
Chapter Six: Beast of Air
Predict: The boys will spot something flying through the air and claim it is the beast.
Image:
Questions: What is this beast? Is it the Lord of the Flies? Which kid(s) will find it?
Connections: I do believe in ghosts. And the supernatural. I agree with the little kids, that the entity could be a ghost.
Summary: The kids start to worry about a beast being on the island with them. Jack decides to hunt for the beast.
Chapter Six: Beast of Air
Predict: The boys will spot something flying through the air and claim it is the beast.
Image:
Clarify: A man was falling from a plane in a parachute, being dragged up the mountain, but the boys thought it was a beast.
Questions: How did the man get dragged UP the mountain? And how did none of the above planes notice the smoke from the island?
Connections: I have seen some unusual things fall from the sky before, and it is pretty creepy. I could see how the kids could make the mis-inference.
Summary: A man from the air battle above the island was shot in mid-air, and was parachuted to the island (dead). The boys mistook the falling man for a beast.
Chapter Seven: Shadows and Tall Trees
Predict: The boys will catch a pig. Also, the boys will look for the beast.
Images:
Questions: How did the man get dragged UP the mountain? And how did none of the above planes notice the smoke from the island?
Connections: I have seen some unusual things fall from the sky before, and it is pretty creepy. I could see how the kids could make the mis-inference.
Summary: A man from the air battle above the island was shot in mid-air, and was parachuted to the island (dead). The boys mistook the falling man for a beast.
Chapter Seven: Shadows and Tall Trees
Predict: The boys will catch a pig. Also, the boys will look for the beast.
Images:
Clarify: Ralph was too frightened to confront the beast.
Questions: Why is Jack such a jerk? Wasn't Jack afraid of the beast too?
Connections: If I were in Ralph's place, I would have gone back to camp too.
Summary: Jack and Ralph almost caught a wild boar. Ralph, Simon, and Roger head back to camp, while Jack goes up to find the beast.
Chapter Eight: Gift for the Darkness
Predict: The boys will leave an offering for the unknown beast.
Image:
Questions: Why is Jack such a jerk? Wasn't Jack afraid of the beast too?
Connections: If I were in Ralph's place, I would have gone back to camp too.
Summary: Jack and Ralph almost caught a wild boar. Ralph, Simon, and Roger head back to camp, while Jack goes up to find the beast.
Chapter Eight: Gift for the Darkness
Predict: The boys will leave an offering for the unknown beast.
Image:
Clarify: Jack leaves Ralph's leadership and starts his own group. And Jack leaves the a pig's head on a stake as an offering for the beast.
Questions: Wouldn't the pig rot on the stake? And wouldn't it stink when it did?
Connections: I might quit trying to lead a group if half of them went with somebody like Jack. I might react like Ralph did.
Summary: Jack shows his jealousy of Ralph's leadership and takes majority of the boys with him to start his own group.
Chapter Nine: A view to a Death
Predict: The Lord of the Flies will show Simon a preview of someone being killed
Image:
Questions: Wouldn't the pig rot on the stake? And wouldn't it stink when it did?
Connections: I might quit trying to lead a group if half of them went with somebody like Jack. I might react like Ralph did.
Summary: Jack shows his jealousy of Ralph's leadership and takes majority of the boys with him to start his own group.
Chapter Nine: A view to a Death
Predict: The Lord of the Flies will show Simon a preview of someone being killed
Image:
Clarify: I had to re-read to understand that they killed poor Simon.
Questions: Did they not know they were killing Simon? Did nobody want to listen to him? Don't the boys feel guilty? If rescued, won't the boys go to jail for murder?
Connections: If I had noticed a child was being killed in front of me by a bunch of teenagers, I would try to stop it. And possibly go after the teens.
Summary: Simon was killed during the boy's chant. During his death, he mentioned a dead man on a mountain.
Chapter Ten: The Shell and the Glasses
Predict: The conch will break, and Piggy's glasses will be stolen.
Image:
Questions: Did they not know they were killing Simon? Did nobody want to listen to him? Don't the boys feel guilty? If rescued, won't the boys go to jail for murder?
Connections: If I had noticed a child was being killed in front of me by a bunch of teenagers, I would try to stop it. And possibly go after the teens.
Summary: Simon was killed during the boy's chant. During his death, he mentioned a dead man on a mountain.
Chapter Ten: The Shell and the Glasses
Predict: The conch will break, and Piggy's glasses will be stolen.
Image:
Clarify: Jack attacked Ralph and Piggy just to steal Piggy's glasses. Even though he knows Piggy can't see without his glasses.
Questions: Doesn't Jack feel guilty? How could anybody morally do that?
Connections: I have glasses too, and it really bugs me when people touch them or take them even momentarily without my permission.
Summary: Ralph and Piggy are ambushed by Jack, and Piggy's glasses get stolen.
Chapter Eleven: Castle Rock
Predict: Piggy will die. And Sam and Eric will be killed.
Images:
Questions: Doesn't Jack feel guilty? How could anybody morally do that?
Connections: I have glasses too, and it really bugs me when people touch them or take them even momentarily without my permission.
Summary: Ralph and Piggy are ambushed by Jack, and Piggy's glasses get stolen.
Chapter Eleven: Castle Rock
Predict: Piggy will die. And Sam and Eric will be killed.
Images:
Clarify: Piggy was hit by a boulder, but he died by falling 40 feet onto a rock below. Jack killed yet another kid.
Questions: How could any kid live with himself knowing that he killed two innocent kids?! How did Jack get leverage underneath the huge boulder?
Connections: There are many tales of kids who turn into savages by being stranded on an island for a few weeks. None so famous as Lord of the Flies, however.
Summary: Jack kills Piggy, and Sam and Eric are captured. Ralph is left all alone,
Chapter Twelve: Cry of the Hunters
Predict: Ralph will be pursued by the hunters, and the boys will be saved.
Image:
Questions: How could any kid live with himself knowing that he killed two innocent kids?! How did Jack get leverage underneath the huge boulder?
Connections: There are many tales of kids who turn into savages by being stranded on an island for a few weeks. None so famous as Lord of the Flies, however.
Summary: Jack kills Piggy, and Sam and Eric are captured. Ralph is left all alone,
Chapter Twelve: Cry of the Hunters
Predict: Ralph will be pursued by the hunters, and the boys will be saved.
Image:
Clarify: Jack's intentions were to kill Ralph. The other boys were alright with it.
Questions: Isn't burning down an entire jungle considered illegal? If the boys weren't saved, what would Jack and his 'hunters' eat the next day?
Connections: Miracles do happen. For example, snow days do exist. (referencing the naval officer saving Ralph's life)
Summary: Ralph was nearly killed by Jack's gang. But while fleeing, he runs into a naval officer who saves him.
Characters:
Ralph: the main Protagonist; round, well described/explained character. Ralph is one of the many boys that become stranded on the island. Ralph sticks to general good morale, and becomes the leader of the boys.
Ralph is a dynamic character because he goes from telling Jack "I was picked as leader" to asking Piggy why he should keep leading, if nobody listened. Ralph shows his Ego multiple times throughout the book. For example, he asks Piggy why he should go on being leader, and proposes that he sees himself doing terribly. He even asks if Jack would be a better leader than him. In the story, Ralph shows several instances in which, he faces internalization. One of the thoughts he argues with is if he was really afraid to search for the beast. Ralph also shows however, his compliance, (mob mentality) when Jack and his group kill Simon. Ralph had almost joined in. He would have killed his friend.
Piggy: a protagonist, round, well described character. Piggy is a very built character, that has asthma, and gets teased constantly, being called "Piggy" (due to his figure). Piggy is a very smart, fast learning kid, who tries to find a scientific solution for everything. He is a static character, however, because his opinion of Jack is unchanging throughout the entire novel. Piggy is said to show his superego: the self-guilt, and conscience to know what he does wrong. He shows this when he worries about the small child that disappears from the group at the very beginning of the book. If his superego was not dominant, Piggy would not have cared about this event.
Simon: A smart boy that generally keeps to himself. Simon is a flat character, because he is never really fully explained. Rather, he is stereotyped as a smart boy who wears glasses. Also, Simon has a link with nature, and this link is shown when he converses with the Lord of the Flies. In the book, Simon shows identification when he changes his thoughts to agree with the Lord of the Flies. Before, he says the head is wrong, but later, he agrees and rushes to tell Ralph.
Jack: A mean, unkindly boy that begins to loathe Ralph the longer he is on the island. Jack picks constantly at Piggy and even attacks him a couple of times in the book. Jack eventually overthrows Ralph's leadership and tries to kill him. Antagonist; round (motives described- hunting/blood). Jack could be referred to as showing his Id: his primal instincts: to hunt for meat. Instead of thinking rationally, all he cares about is hunting and killing. Jack leads a group that gradually causes deindividualization, or people to go along with whatever he says, when he accepts Ralph's former group into his own tribe, and instead of acting like individuals, the remainder just went with the rest of the crowd.
Themes:
One of the themes found in Lord of the Flies is Civilization versus Savagery. This is a HUGE theme of the book. It especially occurs when Ralph and Jack separate into two groups: Ralph leading the remaining civil boys, and Jack leading the savage, bloodthirsty hunters. Also, when the plane initially crashed, the boys tried to take into account all of the names of the survivors, as well as how many of them lived. (represents civilized nature) Whereas in the end of the book, the boys raced after Ralph, trying to kill him, and burned down the entire jungle to find him. Only a savage would burn down a forest to hunt and kill an innocent child.
Another theme is conflicts. The entire book seems to be based on this theme. For example: the main conflict is that the boys get shot down and stranded on an island with no adults. If this conflict did not occur, then the story would not be the same, and may not have even taken place.
A third theme is Absolute Power. Jack shows this theme constantly throughout the story. He does so every time he becomes envious of Ralph's leadership, and is shown again when he rebels. Jack wants total control of the island, and to him, Ralph is in the way.
Motifs:
Conch: The conch in the story appears as a motif. The conch not only appears in nearly every single chapter, but it also represents power. According to the boys' collaborated rule, only the person with the conch may speak. If you don't have the conch, you are not allowed to speak. This helped give the boys some form of law, and initially helped jumpstart their 'government'.
Another motif in the story were the boy's spears. The spears show up constantly. Nearly every time they are mentioned, the boys use them to hunt animals, the beast, attempt intimidation, or even threaten each other. In other words, whenever around these spears, (weapons) the boys did not appear to think rationally as a whole. Also note that Piggy refused to ever carry a spear, showing that he was not violent as the other boys were. Every time the boys were holding/near spears, they got rowdy, surrounded something (and often somebody) and sometimes even stabbed the being in the center. Even if it was just a game. This shows that the spears brought hostility among the boys.
Symbols:
Piggy's Glasses: Piggy's glasses represent the intellect of the entire island. Not only could the boys use the glasses power (in this case, the magnifying lens) to create fire to live, but they also represent the intelligence that Piggy actually had. Glasses in general are a stereotype for intelligence, and it represents even more when you use connections that if intelligence uses your mind, once Piggy fell to the ground and busted his brain, the entire island's reasoning and intelligence faded completely.
Conch: The conch in the story appears as a motif. The conch not only appears in nearly every single chapter, but it also represents power. According to the boys' collaborated rule, only the person with the conch may speak. If you don't have the conch, you are not allowed to speak. This helped give the boys some form of law, and initially helped jumpstart their 'government'.
Lord of the Flies: The Lord of the Flies can be related to the Hebrew language. (Religious) The words "Lord of the Flies" translate into "Beelzebub", meaning satin. This is a very important idea. Not only is the title of the book a symbol for the evil things that occur in the story, but it is also an allusion for the devil himself. Only somebody who has researched, or knows Hebrew would understand this topic entirely. Overall, the name "Lord of the Flies" is actually a symbol for what goes on inside the book.
Fire Signal: The fire signal represents the boys' only means of being saved. For example, Jack and the boys get carried away hunting a pig, and instead of keeping the fire going, they let it burn out. Unfortunately, the moment they let it burn out, Ralph and Piggy notice a ship passing by. They were not saved because the boys did not keep up with the most important thing: the fire signal.
Religious reference: In the story, Simon was a smart, innocent, unique person. The reader could relate Simon to Jesus from the bible. Very very loosely, but in the regards that he can communicate with nature (talking to the Lord of the Flies), he is innocent (never attacked or killed anything, animals included [In other words, he never took place in the hunts]) , and intelligent (goes to his private, thinking place).
Classical Literature Reference: The book can be related to Treasure Island (written by Robert Louis Stevenson) which also takes place on an island in the middle of nowhere. Similar to Lord of the Flies, characters in Treasure Island explore, argue, fight, and die. The difference being the over-sized, angry creatures in Treasure Island are often the ones to kill the survivors. However, the creature sizes in Treasure Island can be called 'supernatural', and so could Simon's run-in with the Lord of the Flies in Golding's book.
Mythology references: Gaia is the ancient Greek goddess of the earth. In the book, Lord of the Flies, the boys get stranded on a totally remote island, enclosing them from the rest of civilization. Gaia is known to rule over closed in areas, and one of her sacred animals is the pig. In the book, Jack and his gang slaughter a pig, and mount its head on a stake as an offering to the beast. But when Simon comes along, the pig's head starts communicating with him. The head warns him that if things don't change, very bad things would happen. The pig's head in the story could b seen as Gaia, speaking to Simon about the crimes the boys had committed. Gaia warned Simon that they had done wrong (since Gaia's sacred animal is the pig, she was warning them that they had better not do it again), and if done again someone would die. The prophecy shown to Simon did come true. Piggy and Simon died as a result.
IDEA DISCLAIMER:
-information about Gaia from
http://books.google.com/books?id=qLWnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=greek+mythology+references+in+Lord+of+the+flies&source=bl&ots=kg1VPIdOak&sig=fSynCEL526PXPUcUEyGJroCD4GQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OJIHU-3OHqemygH15IDYBw&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=greek%20mythology%20references%20in%20Lord%20of%20the%20flies&f=false
Tone:
The tone of the book can be interpreted differently between the readers. To me, Golding's tone seemed to be sharp. Golding's tone is sharp because he shows the opinions and views of multiple characters at once. For example, he shows that Ralph is a concerned leader, who constantly worries about the signal fire; and that Piggy is afraid of Jack, but tries to find an answer for everything. By showing multiple viewpoints, he shows that he has a sharp, or 'knowing', point of view. Another example is at the end of the book, when the naval officer looks at Ralph curiously. He asks if the boys are all alive, and if they are playing, which shows a huge difference from the brutality that takes place earlier in the story: ie: Piggy's death.
Mood:
The story's mood can also be interpreted differently, depending on who is reading the book. My take, is that the mood is meant to be restless. Throughout the entire story, William Golding does an amazing job on keeping the reader intent on the story. Be it through the plane crashing on the island, or the boys hunting Ralph, the reader experiences a feeling of anxiety and restlessness. The book is addicting, and once you open it, you will find yourself always wanting to know what will happen next.
Questions: Isn't burning down an entire jungle considered illegal? If the boys weren't saved, what would Jack and his 'hunters' eat the next day?
Connections: Miracles do happen. For example, snow days do exist. (referencing the naval officer saving Ralph's life)
Summary: Ralph was nearly killed by Jack's gang. But while fleeing, he runs into a naval officer who saves him.
Characters:
Ralph: the main Protagonist; round, well described/explained character. Ralph is one of the many boys that become stranded on the island. Ralph sticks to general good morale, and becomes the leader of the boys.
Ralph is a dynamic character because he goes from telling Jack "I was picked as leader" to asking Piggy why he should keep leading, if nobody listened. Ralph shows his Ego multiple times throughout the book. For example, he asks Piggy why he should go on being leader, and proposes that he sees himself doing terribly. He even asks if Jack would be a better leader than him. In the story, Ralph shows several instances in which, he faces internalization. One of the thoughts he argues with is if he was really afraid to search for the beast. Ralph also shows however, his compliance, (mob mentality) when Jack and his group kill Simon. Ralph had almost joined in. He would have killed his friend.
Piggy: a protagonist, round, well described character. Piggy is a very built character, that has asthma, and gets teased constantly, being called "Piggy" (due to his figure). Piggy is a very smart, fast learning kid, who tries to find a scientific solution for everything. He is a static character, however, because his opinion of Jack is unchanging throughout the entire novel. Piggy is said to show his superego: the self-guilt, and conscience to know what he does wrong. He shows this when he worries about the small child that disappears from the group at the very beginning of the book. If his superego was not dominant, Piggy would not have cared about this event.
Simon: A smart boy that generally keeps to himself. Simon is a flat character, because he is never really fully explained. Rather, he is stereotyped as a smart boy who wears glasses. Also, Simon has a link with nature, and this link is shown when he converses with the Lord of the Flies. In the book, Simon shows identification when he changes his thoughts to agree with the Lord of the Flies. Before, he says the head is wrong, but later, he agrees and rushes to tell Ralph.
Jack: A mean, unkindly boy that begins to loathe Ralph the longer he is on the island. Jack picks constantly at Piggy and even attacks him a couple of times in the book. Jack eventually overthrows Ralph's leadership and tries to kill him. Antagonist; round (motives described- hunting/blood). Jack could be referred to as showing his Id: his primal instincts: to hunt for meat. Instead of thinking rationally, all he cares about is hunting and killing. Jack leads a group that gradually causes deindividualization, or people to go along with whatever he says, when he accepts Ralph's former group into his own tribe, and instead of acting like individuals, the remainder just went with the rest of the crowd.
Themes:
One of the themes found in Lord of the Flies is Civilization versus Savagery. This is a HUGE theme of the book. It especially occurs when Ralph and Jack separate into two groups: Ralph leading the remaining civil boys, and Jack leading the savage, bloodthirsty hunters. Also, when the plane initially crashed, the boys tried to take into account all of the names of the survivors, as well as how many of them lived. (represents civilized nature) Whereas in the end of the book, the boys raced after Ralph, trying to kill him, and burned down the entire jungle to find him. Only a savage would burn down a forest to hunt and kill an innocent child.
Another theme is conflicts. The entire book seems to be based on this theme. For example: the main conflict is that the boys get shot down and stranded on an island with no adults. If this conflict did not occur, then the story would not be the same, and may not have even taken place.
A third theme is Absolute Power. Jack shows this theme constantly throughout the story. He does so every time he becomes envious of Ralph's leadership, and is shown again when he rebels. Jack wants total control of the island, and to him, Ralph is in the way.
Motifs:
Conch: The conch in the story appears as a motif. The conch not only appears in nearly every single chapter, but it also represents power. According to the boys' collaborated rule, only the person with the conch may speak. If you don't have the conch, you are not allowed to speak. This helped give the boys some form of law, and initially helped jumpstart their 'government'.
Another motif in the story were the boy's spears. The spears show up constantly. Nearly every time they are mentioned, the boys use them to hunt animals, the beast, attempt intimidation, or even threaten each other. In other words, whenever around these spears, (weapons) the boys did not appear to think rationally as a whole. Also note that Piggy refused to ever carry a spear, showing that he was not violent as the other boys were. Every time the boys were holding/near spears, they got rowdy, surrounded something (and often somebody) and sometimes even stabbed the being in the center. Even if it was just a game. This shows that the spears brought hostility among the boys.
Symbols:
Piggy's Glasses: Piggy's glasses represent the intellect of the entire island. Not only could the boys use the glasses power (in this case, the magnifying lens) to create fire to live, but they also represent the intelligence that Piggy actually had. Glasses in general are a stereotype for intelligence, and it represents even more when you use connections that if intelligence uses your mind, once Piggy fell to the ground and busted his brain, the entire island's reasoning and intelligence faded completely.
Conch: The conch in the story appears as a motif. The conch not only appears in nearly every single chapter, but it also represents power. According to the boys' collaborated rule, only the person with the conch may speak. If you don't have the conch, you are not allowed to speak. This helped give the boys some form of law, and initially helped jumpstart their 'government'.
Lord of the Flies: The Lord of the Flies can be related to the Hebrew language. (Religious) The words "Lord of the Flies" translate into "Beelzebub", meaning satin. This is a very important idea. Not only is the title of the book a symbol for the evil things that occur in the story, but it is also an allusion for the devil himself. Only somebody who has researched, or knows Hebrew would understand this topic entirely. Overall, the name "Lord of the Flies" is actually a symbol for what goes on inside the book.
Fire Signal: The fire signal represents the boys' only means of being saved. For example, Jack and the boys get carried away hunting a pig, and instead of keeping the fire going, they let it burn out. Unfortunately, the moment they let it burn out, Ralph and Piggy notice a ship passing by. They were not saved because the boys did not keep up with the most important thing: the fire signal.
Religious reference: In the story, Simon was a smart, innocent, unique person. The reader could relate Simon to Jesus from the bible. Very very loosely, but in the regards that he can communicate with nature (talking to the Lord of the Flies), he is innocent (never attacked or killed anything, animals included [In other words, he never took place in the hunts]) , and intelligent (goes to his private, thinking place).
Classical Literature Reference: The book can be related to Treasure Island (written by Robert Louis Stevenson) which also takes place on an island in the middle of nowhere. Similar to Lord of the Flies, characters in Treasure Island explore, argue, fight, and die. The difference being the over-sized, angry creatures in Treasure Island are often the ones to kill the survivors. However, the creature sizes in Treasure Island can be called 'supernatural', and so could Simon's run-in with the Lord of the Flies in Golding's book.
Mythology references: Gaia is the ancient Greek goddess of the earth. In the book, Lord of the Flies, the boys get stranded on a totally remote island, enclosing them from the rest of civilization. Gaia is known to rule over closed in areas, and one of her sacred animals is the pig. In the book, Jack and his gang slaughter a pig, and mount its head on a stake as an offering to the beast. But when Simon comes along, the pig's head starts communicating with him. The head warns him that if things don't change, very bad things would happen. The pig's head in the story could b seen as Gaia, speaking to Simon about the crimes the boys had committed. Gaia warned Simon that they had done wrong (since Gaia's sacred animal is the pig, she was warning them that they had better not do it again), and if done again someone would die. The prophecy shown to Simon did come true. Piggy and Simon died as a result.
IDEA DISCLAIMER:
-information about Gaia from
http://books.google.com/books?id=qLWnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=greek+mythology+references+in+Lord+of+the+flies&source=bl&ots=kg1VPIdOak&sig=fSynCEL526PXPUcUEyGJroCD4GQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OJIHU-3OHqemygH15IDYBw&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=greek%20mythology%20references%20in%20Lord%20of%20the%20flies&f=false
Tone:
The tone of the book can be interpreted differently between the readers. To me, Golding's tone seemed to be sharp. Golding's tone is sharp because he shows the opinions and views of multiple characters at once. For example, he shows that Ralph is a concerned leader, who constantly worries about the signal fire; and that Piggy is afraid of Jack, but tries to find an answer for everything. By showing multiple viewpoints, he shows that he has a sharp, or 'knowing', point of view. Another example is at the end of the book, when the naval officer looks at Ralph curiously. He asks if the boys are all alive, and if they are playing, which shows a huge difference from the brutality that takes place earlier in the story: ie: Piggy's death.
Mood:
The story's mood can also be interpreted differently, depending on who is reading the book. My take, is that the mood is meant to be restless. Throughout the entire story, William Golding does an amazing job on keeping the reader intent on the story. Be it through the plane crashing on the island, or the boys hunting Ralph, the reader experiences a feeling of anxiety and restlessness. The book is addicting, and once you open it, you will find yourself always wanting to know what will happen next.