Who is God? The answer has been sought for millennia. If one thing is certain, it is that He is the most intelligent and powerful being in the universe. God is a designation used to represent the highest authority over everything. Although many people may not be religious or even believe in God, artists may use a supernatural being allegorically, perhaps God or the Devil, in their works to represent order. In Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding, a group of boys become stranded on a deserted paradise island after their plane is shot down out of the sky. On this island it would appear a higher power is controlling the order. They boys start out civil by creating a political democracy, and are as children without sin. Sin, like adulthood or corruption, then enters into the group and the group is destroyed. The political structure the boys establish when they first meet on the island is also destroyed in the process. The group descends into chaos, with Simon and Piggy as casualties. In the end, Jack, the primary exponent of sin, burns down the island while hunting Ralph, which allows for the boys’ rescue. Despite being rescued, it was clear the boys were changed forever. Likewise, in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606), the country of Scotland is portrayed to be organized under the order of a higher being; a king. When Macbeth, a highly regarded thane, is tempted by a prophecy of being king, he acts on his temptation. Macbeth then becomes king but this damages the political structure because of how Macbeth rules. As Macbeth continues down his path of bloodshed, he disrupts and destroys Scotland’s moral centre but he also destroys the view of how an ideal king would be. In the end, Macbeth and his wife receive just punishments. Both of these texts are allegorical. An allegory is a work, typically art work, used to reveal a hidden
