Lord Of The Flies

Question 1

Civilisation and savagery

Answer 1

• The conflict between Ralph and Jack, represents civilization and savagery.
• While Ralph is interested in establishing rules and getting rescued, Jack is more interested in gaining power over the others and satisfying his most primal impulses.
• At the start, civilisation clearly wins over savagery as the boys copied the political structure back home, followed rules and carried out domestic tasks such as building huts.
• However, as Jack’s thirst for blood become apparent, he becomes obsessed with his savage thoughts and enforces a hive mind on the other boys, leading to the downfall of the boys’ civilisation.
• Jack and the hunters deliberately paint their faces like savages, they become physically dirtier, they make sacrifices to the beast and kill Piggy and Simon.
• Percival acts as a barometer for how civilised or savage the boys are since he can recite his address and phone number at the start, but forgets it at the end.

“Bollocks to the rules!”
“Invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life.”
“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.”
“Roger sharpened the stick at both ends.”
“The compulsion to track down and kill.”
“Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol.”

Question 2

Man’s inherent evil

Answer 2

• The potential for evil is inherent even in small children.
• Human nature, free from the constraints of society, draws people away from reason and toward savagery.
• The fact that the hunters prioritised hunting pigs over preserving the signal fire shows the selfishness in human nature since they lost a chance of being saved just for the joy of the hunt and some meat.
• Jack is initially keen for rules and civility, but as the hold society has on him fades, he becomes obsessed with hunting and empowered by the promise of violence.
• Evil is a part of everyone as even Ralph and Piggy, who both strive to maintain their sense of humanity, ultimately join in on the murder of Simon, momentarily surrendering to the thrill of violence and chaos.
• The boys think the beast is an external threat, when in reality the beast is the evilness inside all of mankind that is hidden by the niceties of society.
• The inherent evil in humans is controlled by rules and jobs as rules deter people from letting their primal instincts take over, and jobs keep people preoccupied and provide a less damaging outlet for their savagery.
• E.g. when Ralph gives Jack the job of leading the hunters, this appeases and distracts Jack’s thirst for power temporarily.
• Roger represents human brutality and bloodlust at their most extreme.

“‘Maybe it’s only us’…Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind’s essential illness.”
“Ralph wept…for the darkness of man’s heart.”
“Roger sharpened the stick at both ends.”
“The terrified squealing became a high pitched scream.”

Question 3

Loss of Innocence

Answer 3

• The boys naturally lose the sense of innocence that they possessed at the beginning of the novel as they progress from enjoying their freedom and longing for rescue to solving conflict through violence and death and having no desire to return to civilisation.
• At first Jack can’t kill the pig, but as the hold society has on him fades he is able to kill the pig and even finds joy in it, showing his loss of innocence. After this the ease in which the boys are able to kill steadily increases.
• The deaths of Piggy and Simon show the ultimate loss of all innocence and display how they have become savage and lack all the conscience that civilisation use to provide them.

“Sharpen the stick at both ends.”
“The unbearable blood.”
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence.”

Question 4

Ralph

Answer 4

• Represents order, democratic leadership, and civilization.
• He is a well-liked leader who is voted in by the public, but turned on and eventually overthrown.
• As the group gradually succumbs to savage instincts over the course of the novel, Ralph’s position declines precipitously while Jack’s rises.
• Ralph’s commitment to civilization and morality is strong, and his main wish is to be rescued and returned to the society of adults.
• Ralph, like Simon, comes to understand that savagery exists within all the boys. He remains determined not to let this savagery overwhelm him like it has with the other boys.
• After he participates in the killing of Simon he realises that evil exists within him too, as within all human beings, and it plunges him into listless despair.

“The fair boy.”
“Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?”
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence.”

Question 5

Jack

Answer 5

• Represents unbridled savagery, military dictatorship and the desire for power - the antithesis of Ralph.
• From the beginning, Jack desires power above all other things and is furious when he loses the election to Ralph. He continually pushes the boundaries of his subordinate role in the group.
• Although he retains his morality at the start—this is shown when he can’t kill the pig—Jack quickly becomes obsessed with hunting and devotes himself to the task, painting his face like a barbarian and giving himself over to bloodlust.
• The more savage Jack becomes, the more he is able to control the rest of the group, who largely follow Jack’s example in embracing savagery.
• By the end of the novel, Jack has learned to use the boys’ fear of the beast to control their behavior and keep in power.
• Like a military dictator, he has no respect for reasoning or spirituality, shown in his scorn for Piggy and Simon.

“I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages.”
“His laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling.”
“Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt!”
“I’m not going to play anymore. Not with you.”

Question 6

Piggy

Answer 6

• Represents scientific and rational intelligence and the working-class.
• Piggy is the brains behind many of Ralph’s successful ideas, such as using the conch to call meetings and building shelters.
• He tries to explain away the boys’ fear instead of letting them go savage and believe in the beast.
• Piggy’s asthma, weight, and poor eyesight make him physically inferior to the others, making him vulnerable to scorn.
• Piggy’s independence and thoughtfulness prevent him from being fully absorbed by the group, and his willingness to be accepted by the group lead him to betray his own morals and better judgment during his participation in Simon’s death.
• He remains the most true and loyal friend throughout the book, which Ralph only realises once Piggy’s died.
• Piggy’s murder is the most intentional and inevitable on the island, and the moment when the group’s last tie to civilization and humanity is severed.

“Give me my specs!”
“Acting like a crowd of kids!”
“What’s grownups going to think?”
“I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws.”
“Ralph wept…for the true, wise friend called Piggy.”

Question 7

Simon

Answer 7

• Represents spirituality and rare natural human goodness.
• When Simon finds out the beast is really a dead parachute, he comes to tell them the truth just like how Jesus came to Earth to tell humans the truth about God.
• Like most good people, he is overpowered by all the bad in society and dies.
• His understanding about the nature of humankind, and the evil that lurks inside of the boys, gives him a maturity.

“Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach.”
“Candle-like buds.”
“Maybe it's only us.”
“You’ll get back all right.”
“Became sculptured marble.”

Question 8

Conch shell

Answer 8

• The conch is a symbol for democracy, power, order and authority. Whoever holds it becomes the only one with the authority to speak.
• As the island civilization erodes and the boys descend into savagery, the conch shell loses its power and influence among them and becomes more delicate.
• As the conch starts to lose it’’s power the group splits into two groups, just as the community would if the government lost control.
• Near the end of the novel, the other boys ignore Ralph and throw stones at him when he attempts to blow the conch in Jack’s camp.
• The boulder that Roger rolls onto Piggy also crushes the conch shell, signifying the demise of the civilized instinct among almost all the boys on the island.

“Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.”
“Exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.”
“A white blob.”

Question 9

Piggy’s glasses

Answer 9

• Symbolises the ability to see and understand things clearly as well as the power of science.
• Important to both Ralph and Jack - Ralph for making the signal fire and Jack for being able to cook meat.
• The cracking of the lens symbolizes the boys losing sight of what they need to do.

Question 10

Signal fire

Answer 10

• Symbolises the boys connection to civilization. It is initially important in the novel, but the boys grow more savage, the fire becomes less important to them.
• Jack and the hunters let the fire go out in order to hunt. Ralph’s effort to keep the fire going are consistent but unsuccessful, in the same way his efforts to restore order are unsuccessful.
• Golding uses the signal fire to also symbolize hope, something which Jack destroys as the novel progresses. At times the signal fire rages out of control, symbolic of the boys themselves.

Question 11

Mask

Answer 11

• Behind the mask Jack feels liberated from the niceties of society, and can finally let his evil human nature take over.
• The mask allows Jack to get in touch with his primitive self so he can finally kill the pig.
• The clay the mask is made from comes from the island, showing that the island is changing him.

“The mask compelled them.”

Question 12

Beast

Answer 12

• The beast represents the inner savagery of the boys and all mankind.
• The boys personify it by calling it a giant snake and mistaking a dead parachutist for it.
• Simon is the only boy who understands that they fear the beast because it exists within each of them.
• As the boys grow more savage, their belief in the beast grows stronger. By the end of the novel, the boys are leaving it sacrifices and treating it as a totemic god.

“Maybe it’s only us.”

Question 13

Lord of the Flies

Answer 13

• Represents the corruption of innocence.
• It transforms from an offering to the devil to the Lord of the Flies.
• In one chapter Simon believes the Lord of the Flies is speaking to him explaining the nature of evil. This is the moment when Simon truly realises that evil comes from within.
• Disturbing and surreal compared to the realism in the rest of the book.
• Gives Simon a premonition of his own death.

“I’m part of you.”
“They’ll do you.”