by John Devera

Created on: August 10, 2007

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a brilliant novel exploring the nature of evil. It is so rich with symbolism that there are actually three different directions one could follow in order to discover meaningful symbolism: Political, Psychological and Christian.

Political. The novel begins with the children forming a representational democracy, as close to an Athenian ideal as possible. The president is elected and rules are formed for parliament. The problem is that there is no republic, no constitution, no ethical responsibility in the population, and most importantly, no civic responsibility in the the populace. The democracy degrades into the tribalism we find in Iraq, Sudan, and many third world nations with populations who are inexperienced with a vital self-governing democracy. It's easier. Finally, Jack takes over in a brutal, crushing coup and forms a dictatorship based on the cult of personality, and retains power through the barrel of a gun (though not literally of course).

Psychological. The island reflects the progression of a mind from normalcy to acute psychosis. Jack represents the id, the animalistic pleasure-seeking will to power. Piggie represents the super-ego, the part of the subconscious that struggles to be perfect, good and as much like an ideal as possible. That leaves Ralph as the ego, the conscious part of the mind that weighs the pleasure and the consequence, seeks unity, makes decisions. In the novel, Ralph engages both Jack and Piggie as guides, but he is torn between knowing the right course (Piggie's), and the course he wishes he could follow (Jack's). As the novel progresses, a dead parachutist lands on the island, representing trauma from the outside. This trauma and its related fear is effectively used by the id to dominate the conscious. As the id grows, the superego and ego are diminished. The novel ends after the id has completely crushed the superego and left the ego to rush away into a fantasy world where it is rescued by the ultimate image of a father.

Christian. The island is immediately associated with Eden; although verdant, beautiful and pristine, darkness and violence surround it. Ralph runs on to the beach, naked and unashamed. But the innocent idyll is interrupted. A beast appears. First in dreams, then literally when the dead parachutist falls to the top of the island (a fallen man). The children experience sin directly when they become guilty of involuntary manslaughter with the death of the boy in the forest

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