Lord of the Flies: Themes (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Themes

Exam responses that are led by themes, or the ideas that a writer is exploring in their text, are more likely to reach the highest levels of the mark scheme. Exploring the text thematically, specifically in relation to the question being asked, will help to increase your fluency and assurance in writing about Golding’s novel.

Below are some themes which could be explored in Lord of the Flies. This list is not exhaustive and you are encouraged to identify other ideas within the novel. Below you will find sections on:

• Civilisation versus savagery

• Good versus evil

• Religion

• Power and leadership

Civilisation versus savagery

Perhaps the central concern of Lord of the Flies is a question: is it more natural for human beings to work together and create a community (civilisation), or do people naturally tend towards their individualistic impulses (savagery)? 

Knowledge and evidence:

• Golding creates a setting – a deserted island – which is free of any markers of civilisation:

  • Since there is no existing civilisation on the island, the boys are liberated from the trappings of civilisation:

    • Laws and rules

    • Existing social and ethical codes of conduct

  • Creating a setting which is free of all the obligations and expectations of society (a tabula rasa, or ‘blank-slate’) allows Golding to create a thought-experiment in which the boys can decide whether or not it is best to work together, or act as individuals

  • Golding deliberately chooses boys – children – as his characters since they are the embodiment of innocence:

    • Therefore, if these children choose savagery, it can be assumed that all human beings would also succumb to their base impulses

• Initially, there are boys for whom order and cooperation are important:

  • Ralph, and particularly Piggy, look to establish rules and order from the outset:

    • In Chapter 1, Ralph and Piggy establish meetings

    • These meetings involve rules, including a rule which states that whoever is holding the conch shell must be heard:

      • As such, the conch shell represents democracy and free speech

    • They also initiate a leadership vote (which represents democratic elections)

  • Ralph and Piggy also attempt to create a system of shared responsibilities:

    • They create a rota for tending the signal fire

    • They assign roles to different members of the group, including water collectors, hut builders and hunters

  • This division of labour – and the creation of rules and order – represents government, and also the most basic form of civilisation

• However, Golding suggests that the boys – and perhaps humanity in general – find these responsibilities arduous, and much less attractive than acting on their impulses:

  • Instead of fulfilling their responsibilities and following rules, the boys selfishly prefer to do what they want to:

    • The choir hunt instead of tending the signal fire

    • The other older boys do little work building the huts (except Ralph and Simon)

    • The littluns do no work at all

    • The boys begin to defecate in the stream, thus potentially poisoning the water supply

  • Increasingly, the rules established in Chapter 1 are adhered to less and less:

    • This is shown in Chapter 5 when Jack says “Bollocks to the rules!” 

    • This culminates in Chapter 11 when the conch shell – representing democracy and order – is shattered

• When the boys do not fulfil their assigned responsibilities, or do not follow the rules, it is always for self-gratification:

  • It is more fun hunting than tending the signal fire

  • The littluns just play all day, making sandcastles

  • It is easier not to walk all the way to the designated toilet area than to defecate in the stream

• Golding seems to suggest that it is in human nature to act naturally on our own impulses, above working for the collective good

• For Golding, the issue seems to be that in rejecting collective responsibility humans turn to barbarism

• Over the course of the novel, the boys become increasingly savage:

  • Their hair grows longer

  • They become increasingly naked

  • They begin to paint their faces

  • They commence ritualistic dances and sacrifices

• All of these may be seen as rejections of the customs of civilised society

• However, they also serve to progressively dehumanise the boys:

  • As the veil of society is lifted from the boys, they become more aggressive and violent

  • They become more bestial, which makes them more difficult to distinguish from animals:

    • In the ritual that follows the successful hunt in Chapter 7, a boy named Robert is nearly killed when pretending to be a pig

    • Simon is killed because he is presumed to be a beast

    • During Simon’s murder the boys are described as attacking him with “claws” and “teeth”

• In Lord of the Flies, the Beast is a representation of human evil, but can also be seen as a symbol for human savagery:

  • Simon says that the Beast is just “us”, meaning all people have a capacity for savagery

  • This is proved in the novel when even the most upstanding of characters – Piggy and Ralph – are overcome by their inner savagery when taking part in the murder of Simon

• Golding seems to be suggesting that civilisation exists to suppress “the Beast” in all of humanity

What is Golding’s intention?

• Golding creates a thought-experiment to interrogate whether, if the foundations of civilisation were taken away, human beings would naturally choose savagery over an ordered and rule-bound society:

  • Golding is suggesting that it is a supreme effort for human beings to maintain an ordered, rule-bound society

  • He seems to conclude that even the most innocent in society – children – would ultimately choose savagery over civilisation

• Golding is suggesting that the urge to escape a rule-bound society with codes of conduct is natural:

  • However, he is also suggesting that this freedom from order and control is illusory, and causes people more harm than good

• Golding is perhaps also arguing that humanity needs civilisation to protect ourselves from our natural impulses towards savagery

Good versus evil

In many ways Lord of the Flies is a morality tale exploring the two sides of human nature. Golding is exploring whether evil is inherent in human beings, or whether it is learnt. Ultimately, his view is a pessimistic one: he seems to suggest that all human beings have a natural capacity for evil. 

Knowledge and evidence:

• William Golding is reported to have said that, by writing Lord of the Flies, he aimed to trace society's flaws back to their source in human nature:

  • His view therefore is that evil is not external but inherent in human beings

• The characters in Lord of the Flies represent the full range of the human capacity for good and evil:

  • Roger is presented from very early on as barely able to contain his desire to commit violent acts:

    • He tramples over sandcastles and throws rocks at the littluns as early as Chapter 4

    • Once Jack’s stronghold is established on Castle Rock, Roger becomes torturer-in-chief

    • In Chapter 11 he launches the rock that hits Piggy, leading to his death

    • Sam and Eric describe Roger as “a terror” in Chapter 12

  • Simon, by contrast, represents human goodness:

    • Simon can be viewed as a Christ-like figure, who represents absolute human goodness

    • However, Golding seems to suggest that goodness is not a trait that makes humans popular or attractive

    • Simon is presented as a loner, an outsider

    • His noble actions do not persuade others to follow his lead

• Golding contrasts Simon with Roger by juxtaposing their interactions with the littluns:

  • Roger is presented as first bullying the littluns in Chapter 4

  • Only a few pages earlier, in Chapter 3, Simon is shown helping the littluns gather fruit 

• Ultimately, Simon’s goodness is extinguished by the evil that lurks in all the boys:

  • Even the most morally upstanding characters of Piggy and Ralph take part in Simon’s murder

• It can also be argued that evil – as represented by Jack’s reign of terror and Roger’s threats of violence – wins over good on the island

• For Golding, because humans are more attracted naturally to evil than good, we need society to protect humanity from themselves:

  • Society creates moral and social codes that can combat evil desires

• The moral and ethical codes of English society are something that Ralph, and especially Piggy, seek to maintain:

  • On the island these are the rules and expectations that Piggy and Ralph look to establish among the boys

  • Ralph says in Chapter 1 that “We can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school”

  • Ralph, and especially Piggy, refer to “adults”, “grown-ups” and “school” frequently to maintain a connection to the moral safety net of society

• For Piggy especially these rules represent safety: 

  • Golding is suggesting that these codes of conduct protect humanity from base or primal desires: to overpower others weaker than ourselves

  • Piggy is physically weak, and a lower class than many of the other middle-class boys 

  • If these established codes of conduct were abandoned he could become a victim of physical intimidation, or explicit prejudice

• Ralph and Simon both recognise humanity’s capacity for evil:

  • Indeed, Ralph acknowledges his own part in the murder of Simon, and as such, his own potential for evil

What is Golding’s intention?

• Golding’s pessimistic message about human nature is that evil naturally prevails over good: 

  • Simon’s absolute moral goodness loses out to Jack’s (and particularly Roger’s) tendency towards evil

• He also suggests that evil is inherent, even in children

• Golding suggests that society’s rules and values protect humanity, and especially the weakest in society, from human evil: exploitation, prejudice or violence

Religion

Some people assume that Lord of the Flies is a religious allegory, but this reading is perhaps too simple: instead, Golding seems to explore the complex relationship between human beings’ inner natures and external value systems, such as Christianity. 

Knowledge and evidence:

• There is a lot of Christian imagery in Lord of the Flies, but Golding is not attempting to create a straightforward religious allegory:

  • Instead, he uses religious symbolism to explore ideas about human nature, and human goodness and evil

• The island can be seen to represent the Garden of Eden:

  • The Garden of Eden in the Christian Bible was an untouched paradise which was spoilt when the Devil tempted Eve, the first woman

  • This biblical story represents mankind’s loss of innocence

  • The island the boys land on is also an unspoilt paradise

  • However, Golding seems to suggest that it is “unspoilt” because there are no people there, and when humans come into contact with paradise, they ruin it

  • Unlike in the Bible, the evil is not introduced by an external force (the Devil), but by the evil nature of human beings themselves

  • Unlike in the Bible, Golding’s boys are not totally innocent like Eve, despite the fact they are children

  • Again, this highlights the fact that Golding is suggesting that evil is inherent in human beings, even children

• Another interpretation is that the glade that Simon retreats to is a symbol for the Garden of Eden:

  • In Chapter 3 Simon finds a secluded glade – a clearing in the forest – and sits there a while, soaking in the island’s beauty:

    • Where other boys are fearful of the island, he sees its wonder: butterflies and “bright fantastic birds”

    • The glade represents a spot on the island that is unspoilt by the boys

    • Golding is, therefore, suggesting that it is unspoilt by humanity

  • However, later in the novel, in Chapter 8, Simon returns to the glade and it is no longer the unspoilt paradise it once was:

    • Instead, a sow’s head has been placed on a stick in the middle of the clearing

    • It is no longer a place of peace, but has become a place of anxiety and fear

    • It could be said that the glade has been sullied by human evil

• Either way, both Edens are spoilt by the character of Jack:

  • Jack is the one who places the sacrificial pig’s head on the stick in the glade

  • Jack is continually described as treating the island with contempt:

    • He hacks at its leaves

    • He curses it 

  • By Chapter 12, this contempt has grown, and leads him to burn entire swathes of forest 

  • Jack – the embodiment of human savagery and evil – destroys all that is innocent and good

• Simon himself can be seen to represent Jesus Christ:

  • He is absolutely good:

    • He helps those less fortunate than himself (the littluns)

    • He always fulfils his responsibilities to the group (for example in Chapter 3 he is the only boy helping to build huts)

  • It could be argued that Simon also represents the Christian concept of grace:

    • Divine grace is the influence of God, or Jesus, which inspires good deeds

  • However, again, Golding isn’t creating a religious parallel here

  • Unlike Jesus Christ, Simon’s goodness does not inspire the others to become more virtuous, or to help each other

  • Golding goes as far as to suggest that humanity destroys goodness, even if it is perfectly good

• The sacrificial pig’s head could be seen as representing the Devil:

  • The name “Lord of the Flies” is another name for the Devil

  • This “devil”, like in the Bible, spoils a paradise (here, Simon’s once-peaceful glade)

  • However, unlike in the Bible, the evil here is not external (a real beast, or monster) but internal (the boys’ own evil):

    • The “Lord of the Flies” is a representation of the boys’ own disordered minds

    • The boys create this monster in their own minds, just like they create the beast

• Golding could be suggesting that Jack’s leadership represents a rejection of Christian values:

  • He rejects the moral and social codes that Ralph and Piggy look to establish

  • He demands absolute obedience from his tribe

  • This could be seen as idolatry: his tribe is forced almost to worship Jack as a God

What is Golding’s intention?

• Golding seems to be suggesting that it is in human nature to destroy all that is good

• Golding also seems to suggest that the human capacity for evil overrides existing value systems, like the moral code of Christianity

Power and leadership

 Golding uses the two characters of Ralph and Jack to represent two styles of leadership: Ralph symbolises democracy, while Jack represents authoritarianism. Ultimately, Golding seems to suggest that – although it does more harm than good – people are more attracted to the powerful rule of autocracy.

Knowledge and evidence:

• Golding uses the first few chapters of Lord of the Flies to explore the power struggle between Ralph and Jack:

  • Both feel that they should act as the leader of the boys

  • Both feel a sense of entitlement; they both feel they deserve the role of leader:

    • Ralph feels he deserves it because he is attempting to create a functioning society that benefits all the boys

    • Jack feels he deserves the role because he is the most powerful (he is one of the tallest and oldest of the children), and because he already leads a group (the choir)

• Golding uses the characters of Ralph and Jack to represent different types of leadership:

  • Ralph represents a democratically elected politician:

    • He is elected by a majority of the other boys in Chapter 1

    • He sets up rules and shares out responsibilities

    • He attempts to do what is best for the group

  • Jack, on the other hand, represents an anti-democratic autocrat:

    • He is seen commanding the choir from the outset of the novel:

      • In Chapter 1 Jack is described as “controlling” the choir while marching them along the beach

    • He quickly loses interest in the rules set out by Ralph and Piggy

    • In Chapter 8 he fails to recognise Ralph’s (democratically elected) leadership any longer

• Golding sets the two styles of leadership, and leader, in opposition to one another:

  • Ralph is measured where Jack is impulsive

  • Ralph is rational where Jack is unthinking

  • Ralph focuses on collective responsibility while Jack prioritises personal freedom

• The objects associated with Ralph and Jack also represent these differing styles of leadership:

  • The conch shell represents democracy and free speech: everyone is allowed a voice in Ralph’s system of government

  • Jack’s spear represents authoritarian rule:

    • His rule is not based on shared responsibility and collective decision-making, but on threats, violence and torture

  • Ultimately, a different weapon – a rock – destroys the conch shell:

    • This represents the victory of authoritarianism over democracy

    • It also represents the total rejection of the civilised government Ralph was trying to establish

• Overall, Golding is exploring whether human beings naturally choose community and collective responsibility over self-interest:

  • Ralph’s style of leadership requires hard work from the boys, and doesn’t offer instant rewards:

    • Completing chores and following rules will benefit all the boys eventually, but Golding suggests that human beings prefer instant gratification

  • Jack’s style of leadership offers the boys total freedom from order and a rule-bound, collectivist society:

    • This is ironic, given that Jack’s tribe is not free at all (they have to do exactly what he orders) and any boy who goes against his wishes is punished

What is Golding’s intention?

• Golding argues that – given the choice – human beings will reject altruism over individualism:

  • Creating a functional society requires sacrifice, which is arduous

  • However, the absence of rules and responsibilities creates an environment in which autocrats can thrive

• However, the personal freedom offered by autocrats is illusory:

  • Far from being free of rules and responsibilities, Golding argues that life under autocracy is more harmful than the alternative, democracy