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English Literature: Lord Of The Flies, Golding uses a number of techniques…

- - - - The boys make rules on the island at first which are similar to the rules they followed at school. Piggy collects names, just like a school register and they call their meetings "assemblies". They put their hands up to speak, and use the conch to take turns
        
        Golding uses the conch as a symbol of civilization and authority. Its power gradually decreases which reflects the weakening of civilization on it island. Its destruction represents the victory of barbarity over civilization
        
        The rules of home stop them being too violent at first e.g. Roger doesn't throw stones directly at Henry because of the "taboo of the old life"
      - Ralph wants to have fun on the island but he knows that they need rules to make them act responsibly
        
        Jack says they need rules because they're "not savages". This is ironic because it foreshadows the juxtaposition of his character later on in the book. He also looks forward to punishing anyone who breaks the rules
        
        Piggy is anxious to protect the rules. He gets upset when the other boys don't follow them, calling them "a pack of kids"
    - - The boys increasing violence shows their gradual slip to barbarity:
        
        The littluns start going to the toilet everywhere, even near their shelters. They quickly forget the civilized values they were taught at home
        
        At first, Jack's hunting fits in with civilized behaviour - he provides meat for all the boys. But the "fierce exhilaration" of hunting soon takes over from the sensible behaviour
        
        Jack and the hunters let the fire go out and so miss the chance of rescue - Golding shows that they've forgotten the possibility of returning to civilization in the savage excitement of hunting
        
        Primitive rituals begin to replace useful rules e.g. the boys chant, and make an offering to the beast
        
        The "unease of wrong-doing" that stops them hurting each other gradually wears off, and the boys become more violent. The first violent act is when Jack hits Piggy and breaks his glasses
      - Jack starts a new group to hunt and "have fun" - he's not interested in rescue or what's best for the group
        
        One of the first things they do is viciously kill a sow
        
        Their basic fears and group instincts control them - they kill Simon in a frenzy. Golding describes the "tearing of teeth and claws" as if the boys were animals
        
        Jack starts handing out violent punishments to enforce the rules - the boys are beaten and tortured for no reason
    - - Golding uses the change in appearance to represent the change into savagery:
        
        The boys school uniforms represent discipline. They get dirty and torn as the boys lose their old values
        
        Paining his face frees Jack from civilized rules - it provides a "liberation into savagery". The painted faces of the "savages" are like a new uniform - it makes them "anonymous", so no-one had to take individual responsibility for the violence
        
        Ralphs group try to "smarten up a bit" to confront Jacks "painted" tribe- they represent civilization fighting against Jacks barbarity
        
        The officer who rescues them wears a clean white uniform, but the world he represents is at war, just like the boys. Like Ralph, the reader realises that civilised appearances hide the "darkness of mans hear"
      - Nearly all the boys join Jacks tribe, and even Ralph and Piggy the characters Golding uses to represent civilization, join in with Simon's murder
        
        Golding is implying that savagery is a more basic human instinct than civilization. Our urge to behave morally and look after other people is something we're taught by society - not something we're born with
  - - - "Piggy put on his glasses" - The act of putting on his glasses before he speaks symbolizes Piggy using his intellect to think logically about the boys situation and so they symbolize scientific reasoning and civilization
        
        "His specs - use them as burning glasses" - Here Jack realizes that Piggy's glasses can be used to start the fire which symbolize the science of combustion as well as the intellect needed to utilize such science and the power of fire - a link between the boys and the civilized world
        
        "Piggy's glasses flew off and twinkled on the rocks" - Jack breaks one of the lenses of Piggy;s glasses which symbolizes the savagery and lawlessness attacking order, intellect and civilization
        
        "Piggy took off his damaged glasses and cleaned the remaining lens" - The broken lens symbolizes the decreasing power which Ralph's group hold and the boys weakened ties to civilization as Jack and the hunters gain strength
        
        "From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses" - Jacks tribe now have the power of the glasses which symbolizes savagery winning on the Island and that Ralph's diminished group has lost the power to start fires and get rescued. This shows that civilization is totally lost
    - - "This head is for the beast. It's a gift" - After the boys kill a pig they leave its head as a gift on a stake which shows the savagery in the boys and so the pigs head becomes a symbol of the evil inside humans
        
        "The lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned" - The name the Lord of the Flies is a reference to the Devil which shows its sinful nature and so the pig's head has become a physical symbol of human evil that has been unleashed on the island
        
        "What are you doing out here all alone? ... There isnt anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast" - During an epileptic fit Simon hallucinates that the pig's head is talking to him. This scene is when Golding makes it clear the the pig's head is a symbol of the beast and is also when Simon figures out the beast is what exists inside all of humankind however Simon is the only boy who has come to his senses
        
        "The teeth grinned, the empty sockets seemed to hold his gaze masterfully and without effort" - Ralph suddenly realises the reality of the situation, of why things turned into chaos on the island and lashes out in anger at the pig's head
    - - "He wants to know what you're going to do about the snake-thing" - The young boys have nightmares about this beast that appears to them like a snake, which is symbolic of the serpent in the Garden of Eden that tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge but really the beast is just themselves which becomes more apparent
        
        "Well then - I've been all over this island. By myself. If there were a beast I'd have seen it. Be frightened because your like that - but there is no beast in the forest" - Jack declares the beast doesn't exist because he has explored the forest and ironically it is the primal instinct of hunting in the forest that will bring out the beast in Jack
        
        "What I mean is ... maybe its only us" - Simon recognises that the beast is a symbol of the dark side of human nature but doesn't know how to express such an idea and the boys still think the beast is something they can hunt and kill
        
        "The beast was harmless and horrible" - Simon discovers that the beast which the boys thought they found is in fact a dead human pilot and so he wants to reassure the boys that its not real. The pilot however symbolizes war and the capacity to kill each other pointing to the evil inside everyone
        
        "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!" - This scene is when Simon is mistaken for the beast and is martyred for attempting to bring them the truth about what they believed to be the beast however this murder symbolizes that the true beast is in fact the evil inside humans
    - - "And another thing. We cant have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have hands up like at school...Then I'll give them the conch...can hold it when he's speaking" - The conch symbolizes civilization, adult rules and the democratic process and is used to establish order
        
        "Ralph took the conch from where it lay on the polished seat and held it to his lips ... he showed it to them and they understood" - The conch is such a powerful symbol of law and order that holding the conch up was enough to overrule everything including the tensions between Ralph and Jack
        
        "We dont need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things" - Jack rejects the rules of the meeting and Ralph's legitimacy as leader showing signs of becoming a tyrannical leader and creating the demise of the conch and its power as civilization and democracy
        
        "He laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet...I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you" - Jack calls an assembly to challenge Ralphs rule but fails and leaves the camp rejecting the power of the conch to keep all the boys unified and connected to civilization
        
        "The rock struck Piggy with a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist" - The destruction of the conch symbolizes the end of civilized rules and democracy demonstrated by the chaos of Piggy's murder
    - - "If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire" - The signal fire here represents the boys communication with the outside world, the world of grown-ups and riles, the world that can save them from themselves
        
        "The separate noises of the fire merged into a drumroll that seemed to shake the mountain" - The first time its lit it rages out of control which symbolizes the danger and death which foreshadows how it will later become associated with destruction and savagery
        
        "The wood was not so dry as the fuel they had used on the mountain. Much of it was damply rotten and full of insects" - Piggy suggests moving the fire to the lagoon however it is harder to start and the smoke is harder to see which represents the weakened connection to civilization as the savagery on the island grows
        
        "How can we make a fire?" - This scene changes the fire from a rescue signal to cooking meat for feasting and so no longer symbolizes a communal effort to return to civilization but now something that can be stolen and used by Jack's savage tribe
        
        "They had smoked him out and set the island on fire" - The signal fire that was lit for the purpose of being rescued was now being used for savagery and murder which shows how much evil has taken over the island