Lord of Flies di William Golding

Lord of Flies

di William Golding

Lord of the Flies is one of the most fomuose Golding's novels, it was published for the first time in 1954, and the title of the novel is a metaphore of Devil.

The book may early be divided up into three parts: I-chapters 1 through 4, II-chapters 5 through 8 and III-chapters 9 through 12. The first part is characterized by some kind of orderly universe, although the balance is threatened in chapter four where all the rivalries and fears come to surface.

The opening of the book takes us to a remote jungle on a deserted island when a group of 6 English boys aged 5 to about 12 have been marooned from an aeroe that had fled the scene of war during an imaginary third  nuclear world war.

Setting

The setting is strikingly simple, almost as to indicate some tabula rasa kind of existence, or a sociological vacuum where a barren and rather unusual male society has to be founded from the very bottom. Apparently, the setting is a very realistic one, but one soon wonders whether the novel is not an allegory of some sort.

Because of the young boys' thin vestiges of civilization the boys manage to organize some kind of microcosms with rules, rituals, and laws based on a well defined code of justice - almost as in the grown up world of their parents.  Society has been founded on two main functions: keeping a bonfire to attract attention so that they can be saved and the hunting and collecting of food in order to stay alive.

It soon turns out that this society contains miniature prototypes of most human characteristics in the grown-up world. Ralph is elected leader because he found the conch; Piggy is the scorned and bullied intellectual who is not needed nor accepted by anybody else and who becomes the exposed aim of ruthless scorn and ridicule by all other members of society because of his awkward look and behaviour. Jack represents the epitome of the English public school prefect which implies that he is dominant, sure of himself, ambitious and rather authoritarian and brutal, and last but not least anxious to dethrone Ralph as political 1 leader.  Simon is a quiet mystic and religious boy. The little ones represent the anonymous and weak groups of society who have little or no ability to voice their grievances, and whose fear of an unknown threat spills over on the rest of society. They are also isolated from the others and live their own sub-cultural life. Things go fairly well for quite some time.

The order of the little "universe" is shattered by Jack as he '-forgets to keep the fire alive and also Ralph's strong rebuke of him because of this unforgivable crime. There are also numerous examples that Ralph is not mentally composed in times of distress. For instance when he discovers that the ship has not seen any fire, he almost goes mad and talks incoherently.

Increasing violence is also foreshadowed in the half crazed and ritual brutality of the pighunt, not to speak of Roger's and Jack's terrorism against the little ones as they were playing.

At the  first time, when boys lived togheter helping each other, the conch was the symbol of political influence-and authority - and last but not least his faithful ally Piggy who provides him with arguments and solutions to a number of problems. He must be credited though for his constant pressure to keep the fire burning, and his attempts at keeping the assembly system working.

Characters

Ralph

Ralph is probably the most important character in Lord of the Flies. He is twelve years old with blond hair, and is the most charismatic of the group. He is described as being built 'like a boxer,' and is initially chosen as leader due to his many positive qualities. Throughout the book, Ralph strives for social order among the boys; although, he slowly loses his control over the group as the book progresses. Excluding Piggy, Ralph is the most responsible member of the boys, for he is concerned throughout the book with keeping the fire on the mountain going, and building huts for shelter.
 

Jack

Jack is about Ralph's age, but he has a much skinnier build.  Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack is portrayed as being power-hungry, savage-like, and irresponsible according to Ralph and Piggy's standards. At the beginning of the book, he is the leader of his choir group.  He becomes upset when the group votes for Ralph instead of him for leader of the group.  Later in the book, he forms his own tribe of boys, which consist of the choir group, which are called the hunters, and any other boys that wish to join.  The reader becomes aware of the intensity of Jack's savagery when Jack takes part in the killing of Piggy and the hunting down of Ralph.

Piggy

Piggy is a short and overweight boy who has a high intelligence ed to the other boys.  He is burdened throughout the book because of his Asthma and the need for his glasses. Piggy is a very important character in the outcome of the story.  He is sensible, and Ralph and him strive to keep order on the island.  He dislikes any physical work whatsoever because of his weight and his asthma. Lacking some of the social skills that the other boys possess, Piggy becomes an object of ridicule for Jack and the other boys.  Piggy's glasses represent the power of starting fires, and his clear-sighted view of their world.

Simon

Although Simon leaves us about halfway through the book, we get a sense of Simon's prophet-like ure.  He is intelligent and sensible, and he keeps up the hope that the boys will get rescued even when Ralph is doubting it.  Some of the other boys on the island find him odd and think that there's something wrong with him.  He travels to his peaceful spot in the middle of the jungle on the island often, but also helps Ralph with the building of huts and upkeep of the island.  Simon meets the Lord of the Flies, which is represented by the pig skull on the stick in the clearing.  He is the only boy that realizes that there is no real beast on the island, and the only beast is the boys themselves. Simon is killed by the other boys who were caught up in a savage dance.

Roger

A small boy with dirty and shaggy black hair, Roger represents pure evil, more so even than Jack. He has no mercy, and is the first one to intentionally kill another boy on the island when he smashed Piggy with a boulder. He gets sadistic pleasure from torturing a pig and other boys on the island. Roger is one of Jack's most loyal helpers, and gladly carries out his orders.

Sam & Eric

Sam and Eric are two young twins who always travel and do everything together. In Lord of the Flies they represent a unity, and because of this, they become like one person referred to as Samneric. While seemingly loyal to Ralph, they eventually give in to Jack's threats and torture, and join his tribe. This happens when Ralph, Piggy, and them travel to Castle Rock to try and talk to Jack. While Ralph hoped otherwise, the twins in the end disclose Ralph's hiding spot to Jack. The loss of civilization and order caused them to lose any real sense of loyalty to others.

The conch:

This is a very important symbol of authority and stability together with the platform on which they hold their meetings. It is also a symbol of political influence that is granted everybody that holds it. The whole novel revolves around this central symbol, as the intensive power struggle is also a struggle for control of the conch. Jack has a very ambiguous relationship to the conch, because on one hand he revolts against it, and on the other hand he always struggles to take it over, particularly when he has formed his own gang. The fact that it is exploded into tiny pieces at the very moment when Piggy is killed, underscores its importance as a symbol of stability and authority. Both concepts are shattered because of the brutal killing of Piggy.

The fire:

In moral terms, the fire symbol has definitely a positive function as a symbol of hope for the future - and first of all hope for rescue. The different characters and their relationship to fire helps define their moral qualities - and indeed there is a basic difference between characters who take a positive view of the fire, and the others who are labelled as essentially bad persons in the novel. Fire is also a symbol of security.

The sea:

It has a symbolic function as something that stays unchanged and provides comfort in times of distress and which makes one forget bad and painful- experiences

The beast:

Being introduced early in the first part of the novel, it stands for the subjective fear of mankind. But it changes gradually so as to indicate that this fear is not at all mystic or supernatural, but simply the fear that human beings nourish for each other. Simon is the-first one to define this fear, but nobody believes him. Gradually there is a development of this beast symbol into that of a human shape - namely the pilot who has been killed in an air battle and who takes over the function of the beast symbol - this time in human flesh.

Themes

The innocence and the loss of it

Man needs civilization, it is important that he also be aware of his more primitive instincts. Only in this way can reach true maturity. Golding implies that the loss of innocence has little to do with age but is related to a person'' understanding of human nature.

The loss of identity

When civilization slips away and man reverts to his more primitive nature, his identity disintegrates. The boys use masks to cover their identity, and this allows them to kill and later to murder. This loss of a personal name personifies the loss of selfhood and identity.
 

Power

Different types of power, with their uses and abuses, are central to the story. Each kind of power is used by one of the characters. Democratic power is shown when choices and decisions are shared among many. Authoritarian power allows one person to rule by threatening and terrifying others. Spiritual power recognizes internal and external realities and attempts to integrate them. Brute force, the most primitive use of power, is indiscriminate.

Fear of the unknown

Fear of the unknown on the island revolves around the boys' terror of the beast. Fear is allowed to grow because they play with the idea of it. They cannot fully accept the notion of a beast, nor can they let go of it. 

The indifference of nature

In Lord of the Flies nature is shown to be indifferent to humanity's existence. When nature creates a situation which helps or hinders mankind, it is an arbitrary happening. Man may be aware of nature, but nature is unconscious and unaware of mankind.

The need of civilization

The most obvious of the themes is man's need for civilization. Contrary to the belief that man is innocent and society evil, the story the story shows that laws and rules, policemen and schools are necessary to keep the darker side of human nature in line. When these institutions and concepts slip away or are ignored, human beings revert to a more primitive part of their nature.

The beast:

Being introduced early in the first part of the novel, it stands for the subjective fear of mankind. But it changes gradually so as to indicate that this fear is not at all mystic or supernatural, but simply the fear that human beings nourish for each other. Simon is the-first one to define this fear, but nobody believes him. Gradually there is a development of this beast symbol into that of a human shape - namely the pilot who has been killed in an air battle and who takes over the function of the beast symbol - this time in human flesh. This is a rather natural process of change, as it has developed in fact from a human fantasy into a grim and real image of flesh and blood. It has thus changed the boys' fear into a more concrete and well defined one. In fact one may be justified in saying that the beast takes on another shape at a still later stage in the form of Jack. Both Piggy and Ralph come to see him as the human representation of the beast particularly after he has left their group and presides over the new gang of hunters.

 Simon has a mystic experience when he meets the beast now in the shape of The Lord of the Flies.

 This final transformation of the beast symbol into Lord of the Flies is of major importance both because it introduces the last part of the novel that contains the horrendous climax of inhuman and beastly brutality - and also because it indicates a link between the two instruments of evil in this novel Jack and Lord of the Flies.

 The Lord of the Flies himself also - identifies himself with the beast in this encounter with Simon where he says 'I'm the beast'. There is, therefore, every reason to believe that this symbol is a continuation of the beast symbol.

 Another indication of this is that the Lord of the Flies also - like the beast - says that he is within men and consequently cannot be escaped from. As Simon is the only one to know about both the secret of the pilot and of Lord of the Flies he hurries down to the others only to be brutally and ritualistically slain. When he dies, he also takes with him the two secrets about the nature of evil - and thus causing a continuation of fear among the ones who are alive.

 Another reason why we may say that there is a strong connection between the Lord of the Flies and Jack is that Lord of the Flies advocates exactly the same remedy as Jack in society - namely 'lots of fun'. There is also the other obvious link between Jack and Lord of the Flies that the latter was created and ceremoniously baptised by Jack - as a symbol of evil. If Jack and Lord of the Flies are allies, Ralph is indeed their enemy, because in the very last part of the novel he also meets Lord of the Flies and breaks him into pieces.

 Later in the novel we learn that also Ralph was to be transformed into a symbol of evil. Jack's cruelty knows no limitation. The interesting thing about this though is that if Ralph's head had been rammed on a stick - both symbols of evil would have been made out of essentially. innocent creatures - as the sow and Ralph. This may lead us to believe that evil is something that 'instilled into all innocent human beings.

 Rock is another symbol of negative meaning in the novel. It indicates something cold and brutal - although it develops gradually throughout the novel from the episode where Roger does not dare to hit the little ones with stones, and to the abysmal bloodshed of Piggy's brutal death and the attempt to kill Ralph with stones when he flees Jack's gang, and the brutality of Castle Rock . itself where all the evil s were created and put into practise.

 Fortunately though, Jack's evil scheme is never carried out.

Historical -biographical approach

William Golding was born in 1911. His father was a school-master and his mother active in the early women's lib movement.

 His parents raised him to become a scientist, but he changed interest after grammar school and became interested in literature instead. His school experience is reflected in Lord of the Flies in his vivid description of the public school prefect Jack who is extremely ambitious and fond of being in power. In fact Golding implies that the English school system creates bullies like Jack.

 Golding's parents were for a long time bent upon an academic and scientific career for their talented son William. The character of Piggy is a portrait of such a boy who has an unusual intellectual capacity, and who has always lived with grown ups - thus being a loner all his life. This in a way reflects Golding's o-an background as a boy of unusual talents who always stood out among his class mates - thus being rather isolated too. All in all, .boyhood memories play a decisive role in his first novel LOF. Brutality and shrewdness is very much part of Golding's own biographical experience in his boyhood. He describes accurately how young boys that he was familiar with could be guilty of acts of beastlike meanness. Without such experiences, he could not have described this so realistically and vividly. His biographical experience also explains Golding general pessimism and cynicism concerning the character of mankind. He has said many times that the book LOF 'traces the defects of society back to the defects of human nature'. He also says that 'we saw a hell of a lot in the war that can't be accounted for except on the basis of original evil'.

 In fact all of Gelding's books are depressive and pessimistic reading - and this is only a natural result of his own pessimistic outlook on life.

 No Dander however, that he has been branded by his own experience. When the war broke out, he joined the Royal Navy in which he served with distinction. He became a lieutenant and the leader of a rocket launching ship. He participated in a number of combat operations including the invasion of Normandy in 1944. His total life experience has inspired him in his writing. The war setting of LOF indicates an intimate knowledge of human evil. He has said himself that 'not-only Germans or Japanese could be brutal, but everyone This fits very much the development of characters in LOF where all of them are infected by increasing brutality. Golding also suggests a future war - and surrounding the central plot of united gang war on the island is another global war of disastrous consequences. All in all this is a gloomy picture of the future.

 On the basis of reckless political rivalry among the boys, on the island, we get a strong impression that this is Golding's philosophy also when dealing with nations and political parties,; in other words that he sees war as an inevitable consequences of political rivalry and power struggle in all societies.

Literary background.

First of all one may say that this novel is very much in line with the modernist and symbolic tendencies in Britain after the war. It has strong links with Orwell's 'Animal Farm' which also in allegorical and symbolic terms describes a social experiment where a totally new society is created. (1945).

 This technique has also been adopted by Golding in 1954 - although in a slightly different way.
 
 

Historical and ideological background.

The hovel is written in a period of cold war and terror balance. Stalinist Soviet had proven an aggressive partner after WW II. The establishment of NATO and the Warsaw-Pact and the Korean war in 1950-53 indicated a black future for peace, and so did the first American hydrogen bomb in 1952, the communist coup d'etait in Tschechoslovakia (1948) and the East Berlin riots of 1953.

 Communism was generally becoming less and less popular in the West, whereas Capitalism was rapidly winning because of increasing economic wealth and because of the results of the Marshall help for American allies.

Ideological background.

Golding's ideology seems to be that lasting peace is a contradiction, because it requires human virtues that do not exist according to Golding. He thus rejects ideas of equality and peace. In this respect he is very much in keeping with Orwell's ideology in 'Animal Farm'.

New criticism:

What makes art a revelation to the reader?

Revelation is the psychological and intellectual experience you have when you read a book. It cannot easily he explained as it is a personal experience - a private experience.

 The importance of a novel lies in the communication between the reader and his book. This unity is important but hard to explain.

 J Autonomy of work of art?

 LOF could have been written by anybody - and still without losing anything of its value. In fact new critics refuse to take into account even the name let alone the biography of the author.

 Art is something that lives independently from space and time, and has its value only in what can be experienced in the work of art itself. LOF is in other words not to be labelled a 1954 product. Art is independent from and autonomous of time. Only when this has been accepted, you are qualified to study art. This is what makes art unique and timeless. This is what makes Shakespeare equally important today.

Objectivity of interpretation.

In order to accept this we have to try to find an objective analysis of art. Objectivity in this sense is that you can only say about a work of art what you actually can read from the text itself. This can only be done through 'close reading', i.e. reading of the text in such a way that the true or objective meaning of it evolves. This literary approach does not accept far fetched interpretations that cannot be defended in the text itself. For instance if you call something symbolic you must defend how it is symbolic by close observation and reading of the text. I refer you to the last lecture I gave on symbolism in the novel. Which is an illustration of how close reading is applied. Interpretations are indeed valid - but they must be as objective as possible.

 Social references are irrelevant (reactionary).

LOF is not a novel about the building of human societies. It is simply an excellent description of how 8-l0 boys managed to build up their existence on the deserted island. Their failure was strictly due to their own weaknesses and individual fears. The novel gives excellent psychological insight into the minds of these boys. It describes how they have all their own peculiarities and individual oddities as human beings @ or rather as children. There is no indication, @, whatsoever, in the text that the boys represent the grown ups and that they would have behaved in the same way. As a matter of fact all childish features in their behaviour are indications that this book is a book on child psychology and nothing else. It describes how terribly brutal children can be to each other. Golding's own comments on the book that we have quoted above, and which support a view that LOF is readily a book on the vice of the grown up world in general, are of no value to a new critic - because he simply says that nobody is qualified to comment on the work of art except the book itself. He will assert that any attempts to make this a book that deals with human nature in general is wrong because such a view cannot be defended in the text.

Marxist criticism:

Literature is important for society as it takes up important political issues or social-economic issues. Basically one may say that there is a distinction between literature that is important and other bourgeois literature that is of no or little value as it fails to take up the above mentioned subjects and issues.

 In this respect, literature helps us how it works. Generally speaking, literature that deals with social political or economic issues is important to us. Literary criticism, however that words taking up problems like the ones we have mentioned, and rather prefers to; concentrate on individual psychology religion or supernatural or metaphysical subjects are of little or no value to a Marxist critic.
understand society and

 The author's social message as awfully important that is if he has one, and as opposed to the new critics, Marxist critics are very interested in both the social, political references of a book and also in the author himself/herself. Take f.i. the next issue:

How is it possible to reveal the ideological point of view of the artist?

Socialist critics distinguish between interesting authors and others of no value. Take f.i. Knut Hamsun, - a declared Nazi - who has never been accepted by official socialist critics f.i. in Eastern Europe because he did not deal with 'relevant social issues'. Golding's novel is equally hard to accept for a Marxist both because of Golding's ideological point of view and because the book concentrates solely on human individual psychology and talks about the 'evil' of -mankind - a Christian concept that is totally unacceptable for a Marxist. An author like Golding who emphasises the importance of subjective, and metaphysical fear in mankind and who believes that human beings are basically evil, cannot possibly believe in socialism at the same time.

 To what extent is this literature integrated into social/ political and economic spheres of life? To a Marxist critic, however, the power struggle between the boys is interesting because it deals with the problem of political leadership in society. Who is to be leader, and what qualifications are required? The social system on the island is split up into two - on one hand that of a dictatorship in the case of the hunters and on the other hand being a leadership based on democratic consensus represented by Ralph's gang.

 Political leadership in Ralph's gang is based on democratic vote and freedom of speech. The book successfully deals with this conflict between the brutality of dictatorship and the failure of democratic rule founded on intellect and common. sense. Brutality seems to carry the day. The terror of the hunters breaks up the consensus of Ralph's group, and their moral strength is not good enough to resist terrorism.

 To a Marxist both gangs fail in their attempt at social order because they lack an ideological basis for their system of government. A Marxist critic would look upon Lord of the Flies as a testimony of how both dictatorship and bourgeois democracy fail as social systems - simply for lack of a sound ideological basis.

 A Marxist would also probably contain that Lord of the Flies never really deals with the economic sphere of life ~ only with the social and political spheres.

 Does literature point to the basic conflicts of society between the classes? There is no social antagonism that indicates membership of different social classes in this book. Personal antagonism exists on the individual psychological level only, as a result of differences in political ambitious and intellectual capacity. There is in fact no attempt to describe the important . class differences in society, and this would according to a Marxist be a serious weakness of the book.

 A likely Marxist analysis of the book is that it deals with the shortcomings of capitalist or feudal societies, and that it tries to explain evil in men as some thing that develops when there is no class consciousness and ideology to root out antagonism and conflicting interests.
 
 

Structuralist analysis

Contrasts as analysis.

 A structuralist contains that all art is characterises by contrasts that contribute valuable information to an analysis. A structuralist is very interested in the technical aspects of art. If we look at Lord of the Flies from this angle there are important contrasts in the novel.

 Structuralists are particularly interested in binary contrasts i.e. contrasts of two extremes.

 Ralph and Jack form contrasts both psychologically and intellectually Jack being the typical portrait of the brutal dictator who believes that 'the ends justify the means' which is by the way also the political slogan of the Machiavellian system of government whereas Ralph is a very realistic portrait of the democratic leader with no particular intellectual capacity, but who only has the authority of popular vote and a favourable appearance. In the long run Ralph is no match for Jack, and as contrasts they add an important dimension to the analysis of this novel. They are not only contrasts - but also antagonists - that we will come back to later in our analysis. A structuralist analysis will always vary all depending on who we select as subject/ object and opponent.

 Characters as representatives of ideas, human characteristics or ideas. This also varies all according to what analysis we chose. A structuralist will always agree on something, however, and that is that literature is characterised by

the subject - object dimension

conflict (subject - opponent)

desire

communication (giver - receiver)

contrasts

Also they tend to regard characters as representatives of ideas and concepts.
 

The Breadwinner.

Structuralism:

The short story is cleverly built up into two parts in which the first one introduces the conflict and explaining the social background and economic status of the family. Suspense is gradually built up as the boy comes home and tells that he has lost his money. The climax is when he takes a beating from his father because he has lost it.

 At the very end we have the turning of the tables when the boy tells his mother that he has cheated his father and that he has the money and wants to give it to his mother.

 There are two important contrasts in this story - the mother and the father. Mother being responsible and fond of her son, and the father being an irresponsible brute who has an alcoholic problem. The mother is also very protective of her son and does not hesitate to stand up against her brutal husband in an attempt to defend Billy. In a structuralist analysis we may choose two different contrasts - both presenting different ways of looking at the short story.

Marxist analysis

Literature reflects society and its problems. The Breadwinner teaches an important lesson on how people are victimised by social conditions.

 Literary criticism points to an analysis of social and economic problems - in this case the problems of working class people. Unemployment and poverty is very much part of these peoples' lives. They live in a capitalist society where the private businessman - represented by the pub owner saps the working class for money. Social misery among the poor is intensified by the fact that the poor spend whatever money they have in the public house - thus making themselves poorer and poorer. The factory owner exploits child labour by hiring 14 year old kids on a lousy pay.

 Socially speaking, one may say that poverty creates brutality and alcoholism. Unemployment is a problem created by a capitalist society in which profit is ensured at the expense .of full employment. The poor are unable to change their situation because they do .not have economic and political influence. Their economy constantly suffers because they have to pay for food, rent and clothes.

 The situation of women is also more difficult in such a society because they are suffering even more than men because they carry the social and economic responsibility and recklessness from their husbands who 'grow increasingly frustrated and easily fly off the handle and take their anger out on their women and children. Their brutality is a result of their increasing problems. What is the ideology of the author? The author is probably very concerned about the fate of poor people and sympathises with the victims of a capitalist society ridden by mass unemployment. He feels sorry for the boy, and indicates some kind of heroic alliance between the ones who are worst off, namely women and children.

The most obvious of the themes is man's need for civilization. Contrary to the belief that man is innocent and society evil, the story the story shows that laws and rules, policemen and schools are necessary to keep the darker side of human nature in line. When these institutions and concepts slip away or are ignored, human beings revert to a more primitive part of their nature.
 

Symbolism

In Lord of the Flies symbolism plays a major role. I will give you the symbols and what they can represent (if you think deep enough).

Some of the symbols also follow the events throughout the story. A good example of

Goldings description of the theme:

'The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue in the end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in reality enmeshed in the same evil as the symbolic life of the children on the island. The officer, having interruped a man-hunt, prepares to take the children off the island in a cruiser which will presently be hunting its enemy in the same implacable way. And who will rescue the adult and his cruiser?'

--William Golding

My teacher's description of the theme:

The defects or flaws within man cause the deflects or flaws within society.

My description

Man in a civilized society is no better than children running wild outside adult supervision.

Ralph is probably the most important character in Lord of the Flies. He is twelve years old with blond hair, and is the most charismatic of the group. He is described as being built 'like a boxer,' and is initially chosen as leader due to his many positive qualities. Throughout the book, Ralph strives for social order among the boys; although, he slowly loses his control over the group as the book progresses. Excluding Piggy, Ralph is the most responsible member of the boys, for he is concerned throughout the book with keeping the fire on the mountain going, and building huts for shelter.
 

Jack is about Ralph's age, but he has a much skinnier build.  Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack is portrayed as being power-hungry, savage-like, and irresponsible according to Ralph and Piggy's standards. At the beginning of the book, he is the leader of his choir group.  He becomes upset when the group votes for Ralph instead of him for leader of the group.  Later in the book, he forms his own tribe of boys, which consist of the choir group, which are called the hunters, and any other boys that wish to join.  The reader becomes aware of the intensity of Jack's savagery when Jack takes part in the killing of Piggy and the hunting down of Ralph.

Piggy is a short and overweight boy who has a high intelligence ed to the other boys.  He is burdened throughout the book because of his Asthma and the need for his glasses. Although we never become aware of Piggy's real name in Lord of the Flies, Piggy is a very important character in the outcome of the story.  He is sensible, and Ralph and him strive to keep order on the island.  He dislikes any physical work whatsoever because of his weight and his asthma. Lacking some of the social skills that the other boys possess, Piggy becomes an object of ridicule for Jack and the other boys.  Piggy's glasses represent the power of starting fires, and his clear-sighted view of their world.

Although Simon leaves us about halfway through the book, we get a sense of Simon's prophet-like ure.  He is intelligent and sensible, and he keeps up the hope that the boys will get rescued even when Ralph is doubting it.  Some of the other boys on the island find him odd and think that there's something wrong with him.  He travels to his peaceful spot in the middle of the jungle on the island often, but also helps Ralph with the building of huts and upkeep of the island.  Simon meets the Lord of the Flies, which is represented by the pig skull on the stick in the clearing.  He is the only boy that realizes that there is no real beast on the island, and the only beast is the boys themselves. Simon is killed by the other boys who were caught up in a savage dance.

A small boy with dirty and shaggy black hair, Roger represents pure evil, more so even than Jack. He has no mercy, and is the first one to intentionally kill another boy on the island when he smashed Piggy with a boulder. He gets sadistic pleasure from torturing a pig and other boys on the island. Roger is one of Jack's most loyal helpers, and gladly carries out his orders. The is foreshadowing of Roger's evil behavior early in Lord of the Flies, when he is throwing stones at some of the other boys on the island.  Although he does not him them then, it shows that he is capable of doing so when he is motivated by someone such as Jack.

Sam and Eric are two young twins who always travel and do everything together. Without each other, they are incapable of doing very much. In Lord of the Flies they represent a unity, and because of this, they become like one person referred to as Samneric. While seemingly loyal to Ralph, they eventually give in to Jack's threats and torture, and join his tribe. This happens when Ralph, Piggy, and them travel to Castle Rock to try and talk to Jack. While Ralph hoped otherwise, the twins in the end disclose Ralph's hiding spot to Jack. The loss of civilization and order caused them to lose any real sense of loyalty to others.