Literature Analysis #4: Lord of the Flies

1. Lord of the Flies is about a group of adolescent boys forced to live on an uninhabited island because their plane had crashed. At first, they are enjoying life without adults, but conflicts and struggles soon arise.  They have difficulty coming to a consensus about anything, they each seem to have different priorities.  Ralph, one of the older boys and an elected leader, is only focused on survival and escaping alive.  However, Jack, a foil to Ralph, becomes intrigued with this foreign type of living, and loses sight of their objective.  Some of the younger boys claim to have seen a "beast." This beast exists within all the boys, and begins to present itself.  As the novel progresses, Jack and Ralph become increasingly at odds, the children become barbaric, killing eachother, and all civility is lost.   It reaches the point that the boys perform a  manhunt for Ralph. Luckily, a British naval officer has reached their island just before they could kill Ralph, and will rescue them. The boys realize how savage they have become, grow ashamed, and weep.

2. The theme of the novel is civilation vs. savagery. The choice to keep order and follow rules, or act on impulses, and violently, are constantly conflicting within the boys.  The longer the boys were apart from civilization, the harder it became for them to act civil.
"Which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?"

3.       Golding’s tone was serious, but indifferent.  Golding never hinted that he preferred Ralph's or Jack's tactics over one another. one thing and with  He never criticized the boys for their actions, only observed and reported them. 

4. 
Symbols

- The conch: represented order and rules on the island. 

- "The Beast:" represented the savage spirit overtaking the boys.

- the sow: represented the devil

Syntax: Descriptive sentences that gave me a visual of the situation

    - "It was dark; there was taht-- that bloody dance.  There was lightning and thunder and rain. We were scared!"

- "Ralph sat on a fallen trunk, his left side to the sun. On his right were most of the choir; on his left the larger boys who had not known each other before...before him small children squatted in the grass."

- "Then, amid the roar of bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for the fruit they could not reach... passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands."

Diction: colloquial, informal

- "Serves you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!"
- "Ralph--remember what we came for. The fire. My specs."

- "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"

Foreshadowing:
- "We musn't let anything happen to Piggy, must we?"
- "Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us."
- "You'll get back to where you came from."

Indirect/Direct Characterization:
- "Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains. Ralph was a specialist in thought now, and could recognize thought in another."
- "The water rose farther and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble."
- "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."