王靜+高柏寒

【Abstract】William Goldings Lord of the Flies is well acknowledged as a philosophical masterpiece about human nature. Through analyzing symbolism， parable， and mysticism employed in the book， this thesis attempts to explore how Golding reveals the viciousness and darkness of humanity.

【Key words】Lord of the Flies； symbolism； parable； mysticism

In traditional perception， “child” is related to innocence， purity， kindness， and naivety. Numerous fairy tales and stories have depicted lots of such angelic images， such as Tom Sawyer and Huck in Mark Twains books. But in William Goldings The Lord of the Flies， he gives the readers frightening， vicious， and depressed pictures of the bloody games of a group of children. It fills panic， sickness， and sadness in the readers hearts with the defects and viciousness of human nature by providing appalling pictures in words. Deeply impressive， this book is a well-woven work of symbolism， parable， and mysticism.

The plot is not complex. During an assumed world war， a group of boys aged 6 to 12 are to be dispersed from England. On the way the plane they board is shot down. But the children survive the air crash while the only adult-the pilot dies. They are stranded on a desert coral island. At the beginning the boys have attempted to wait for the rescue while establishing a civilized and lawful society. But not long after that， the boys split into two groups. The coat of civilization is stripped off and the evils in the nature of the boys grow and bloom. They begin to have conflicts then cruel slaughters to each other. At last a naval officer arrives dramatically and rescues these boys. The book seems to be a simple adventure story of boys. However under the “game” surface， the implications go beyond the degeneration of a few children （Epstein， 1959）—the survival of the children just brings the worst of human nature. The viciousness or darkness of humanity is exposed to people， open-and-shut.

The first feature of this book is the superb use of symbolism. The central symbol “the lord of the flies” is a translation of the Hebrew “Baalzevuv”（Beelzebub in Greek）. It has been suggested that it is a mistranslation of a mistranslated word which gives us this pungent and suggestive name for the devil， a devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay， destruction， demoralization， hysteria and panic （Epstein， 1959）. Besides this， more examples can be found here and there. The conch represents power， civilization and reason. In the novel， when Ralph holds the conch， he is the chief endowed with power. If he blows it， every child should come to assemble to discuss affairs or make decisions. And everyone who holds the conch can have a speak （though Peggy sometimes is interrupted or stops）. When the conch smashes into powder， all of these go too. Ralph loses power and is hunted like a “beast”. The savages （Jack and his followers） take control and chaos and anarchy begin. The word “Beast” appears many times from the beginning to the end. The boys are all in “blind terror” of it. They try to find it and to kill it so eagerly yet dont know what it is. But when Simon and Peggy reveal “the beast” is the devil， the evil nature in themselves， they kill Simon and then Peggy.endprint

The second feature is parable （a short piece of fiction which illustrates a moral or spiritual truth）. The books name Lord of the Flies is the synonym of filthy and viciousness. The theme is described by Gilding as follows：“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 logical or reasonable” （Epstein， 1959）. Those ideas are the thread throughout the whole story.

In the book the boys are put on an untrodden and isolated island. There are beautiful flowers， green grass， all kind of fruits， dense forest and even a lagoon. It is somewhat an Eden. Its curious that all the children are boys， including no girl at all. In the Bible， Eve seduces Adam to eat the Apple. She is often blamed for being the beginner of the degeneration and corruption of the world. Since there is not a single female， Golding deliberately tries to create a pure and untouched kingdom for the boys to fully show themselves on this stage— they cannot be influenced by some bad things outside nor be tempted by any Eve. All things they do are purely out of their own nature.

At the beginning， the boys corporate with each other and seem to be building a fairly good society to live in. However， as time goes on， some boys degenerate. They do not care about the fire used to send signal for rescue. Instead， they leave Ralph and Piggy to join Jack the Hunter. Collecting around Jack， they break the “rules”， smash the conch， kill Simon and Piggy， hunt Ralph and thus change the “society” of humans to a savage tribe of beasts， and destroy the civilized world completely.

The third feature is the mysticism. The dark and dense forest， the dead night， the hanging sow head， the mysterious disappearance of the boy with birthmark on the face…all indicate strong sense of mysticism. When Simon “interview[s]” with the head， the head seems to be saying that “everything [is] a bad business”， “fancy thinking the Beast was something you should hunt and kill”. In a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echo with the parody of laughter “Im part of you”. At the end of the fantastic scene， “Simon was inside the mouth” that signifies Simon has been devoured by the evil force. All this exerts great horror in the readers minds.

There are more things worthy of being discussed， but from the three features mentioned above， it can be concluded that Lord of the Flies is really a tragic and provocative， vivid and enthralling fragment of nightmare of human nature.

References：

[1]Epstein，E.L.1959.“Note for Lord of the Flies”.New York： Capricorn Books，Putmans Sons.181-192.

[2]Golding，W.1987.Lord of the Flies.The Commercial Press.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：王靜（1978-），女，山東濟(jì)南人，碩士研究生，講師，研究方向：英美文學(xué)。endprint