lord of the flies

I am thinking about looking at 'Lord of the Flies' for this project, it's one of my favourite books, I studied in in English at school and remember loving learning about all the symbols and themes running throughout the book so I think that will be interesting to illustrate. 

I was thinking of doing a book cover and a few illustrations that would run alongside text - similar to the Folio Society books which has about 8 illustrations throughout the books. 

Its a story about a group of boys who get stranded on an island, they start off by finding ways to survive - lighting a fire etc. They realise they need to keep civilised so elect one as the leader but they soon start to drift apart - another boy become leader of a separate group, one believes in civilisation, the other power. The boys become more and more savage, and soon lose sight of leaving the island and start to imagine a beast that lives on the island. They leave sacrifices for this beast, some of the boys lose their life. Their vivid imagination of this beast and 'lord of the flies' is meant to represent the savagery and beastliness coming out within the boys - Golding is trying to show how savagery is innate within every human, more so than civility. 

Themes:

Civilisation vs Savagery

- two competing impulses that exist within all humans - good and evil

- mainly represented through Ralph and Jack, leading characters

- when people are left to own devices they naturally revery to cruelty, savagery, barbarism 

- all the boys hold innate human evil, only one is seen to hold natural innate goodness

Loss of Innocence

- boys begin as well behaved, orderly school boys, end as cruel, bloodthirsty hunters

- civilization can mitigate but never wipe out the innate evil that exists within all human beings

Symbols:

Conch Shell

- symbol of civilisation and order

- boy who holds shell has the right to speak

- vessel of political legitimacy and democratic power

- when conch smashes it symbolises demise of any civilisation left

Piggy's Glasses

- symbolises intelligence and power of science

- is used to make fire

Signal Fire

- connection for boys to civilisation

- fire is kept alive; symbolises that boys want to get rescued, when it is let go out it shows they have lost sight of their desire to go home

Beast

- primal instinct of savagery that exists within all humans

- beast exists in each of them; that is the beast

- boys behaviour is what brings beast into existence