“What is an adult? A child blown up by age.” (Simone de Beauvoir). Is William Golding saying anything about the adult world in Lord of The Flies?
William Golding says so much about adults it was an adult world he placed the boys in and the boys react in a way that adults very well can react. And In a way the power struggle, mob mentality, fear and violence represented in Lord of The Flies has played out many times over history. William Golding was not just comparing the two worlds they were one and the same represented by boys because really adults can be just as vulnerable and volatile they simply hide behind the idea of maturity which can quickly disintegrate when scared. This of course happened in Lord of The Flies the maturity disintegrated and they descended into savagery. It is simply human nature “I believed that the condition of man was to be morally diseased creation…trace the connection between his diseased nature and the international messes he gets himself into”. (Pg. 253)
The symbolism in Lord of The Flies represents so many different aspects of society. The conch represents democracy and power it being the object that brings them together to vote, assemble and speak freely. As long as the conch exists the island is a place of order and fairness and with the conch comes Ralphs reign as chief. But when the boys begin to ignore the conch does Jack gain more power though he is still not equal to Ralph until the conch is destroyed the conch represented Ralphs authority and with it gone the boys no longer registered him as chief “Suddenly Jack bounded out from the tribe and began screaming wildly… ‘There isn’t a tribe anymore! The conch is gone… I’m chief!” (Pg. 223) This shows how a system of rules and order is needed to control the violent and impulsive aspects of human nature.
The fire is symbol of hope for the human condition. It is something that Ralph, the man of goodwill and Piggy, the man of knowledge and reason both recognise as imperative. This feeling runs so deep that even when he forgets what it’s for, Ralph knows instinctually that the fire is something they must work towards.
Piggy’s glasses symbolise being able to see. He can see things rationally and practically he is the voice of reason and knowledge and this in human society though often ignored is necessary we need reason and knowledge to guide us for without it is like trying to find our way in the dark it is Piggy’s glasses that spark the fire. A symbol of how knowledge and reason is needed for survival it is needed to light the way. It is the key to the boy’s survival.
The beast represents fear and irrationality and the ability for man to trick himself into believing things on hearsay and how their mind tricked them into seeing what they were told by others they should see. He is also the representation of man’s inner nature it takes different forms during the book which just shows the human ability to give shapeless fears a face and therefor make them more killable. And so the beast represents the biggest obstacle to maintaining to fire because really the beast is made by themselves they can never really kill it because it was never really there as stated by Simon the beast is “only us” on many levels. It is the internal savagery that topples the boy’s hope of a happy and orderly society it is the fact that the perceived source of harm and danger is not really any terrifying beast, but simply the boys themselves.

The boys themselves represent humanity and that we so often behave about matters that will better our race. They start off with good intentions, excited by the idea of a beacon but soon their good intentions disappear when their selfishness and laziness emerges and wins over the betterment of their society. Ralph is immensely frustrated by this and cannot understand why the boys do not realise the importance of the fire and how if they don’t keep it going they will die “But nobody else understands about the fire. If somebody threw you a rope when you were drowning. If a doctor said take this cos if you don’t take it you’ll die- you would wouldn’t you?” (Pg. 172) This represents how humanity often doesn’t know of its own condition and therefore cannot grasp the importance of working towards a cure. These are things that hold so much symbolism about society and nature.

The boys themselves represent humans and society in many ways, either individually or in their groups.
Ralph represents the hero the exceptional man and leader yet he is still human he still has the ability to descend into savagery he also feels the need to be accepted by the masses he gets swept up by the boys in their frenzy. Yet this only happens when he is away from Piggy. It seems that Golding is trying to tell us that when man (no matter how decent) and knowledge separate you become nothing more than a savage just following the mob.
Piggy himself represents the world of science, knowledge and reason he has an advanced understanding of rules and order and tries so hard to pull them back on track but like in the real world is often ignored. He never once considers savagery showing how logic and insight is needed for betterment of society that it may even be the cure to the human condition. Piggy’s use of the conch was immense it was the only time he was properly listened to even at the end of the novel at castle rock the boys stopped to listen when Piggy uses the conch. This just shows that democracy is needed for Logic and insight to be heard.
Simon seems to be salvation, and seems to have instinctual knowledge of what is really going on with the beast. He appears to be more of a symbol than a realistic little boy, making observations no child his age is likely to make. At every turn he seems to hint the right direction to the boys. He is not much a representation of a type of person but he is the embodiment of goodness. The boys murder him brutally and mistake him for the beast. It just shows how the beasts the representation of fear and human nature leads them to destroy what is good.
Jack is Ralphs opposite he is the representation of a dictator he is simply craves and desires power he is made up of basic instinct and nothing more he is not so much evil as he is the base of man he is what we are when we strip away the things we’ve developed over the years he is the basic man. He is us Jack is what is in everyone one of us he starts out with good intentions yet his lust for power and blood takes over, he is the first of the savages. Note his ability and obsession with hunting at first he could not kill the pig but as his humanity disappears so does his empathy and with that his conscience leading him to be able to kill as many pigs as he desires and soon he has no heartbreak over the death of humans.

Roger is what Jack is turning into though does not hold a desire for power just blood lust he is a sadistic character and seems to be Simon’s opposite he is the representation of everything the boys are becoming. He is the part of human nature that has been repressed by rules and order but as soon as he sees there no consequences for his action he simply does what he wants he draws pleasure from holding power and inflicting pain a trait held by many in society. Though there is somewhat of a build up to his full blown sadism at first he is throwing stones to not quite hit the littluns but by the end he is pushing an entire bolder onto Piggy. He is the symbolism of man’s true evil the ability to kill not for survival but in pure cold blood.
The majority of the boys on the island are made to be like faceless sheep they are very easily persuaded into a mob mentality and go with what appears to be more popular at the time whether it be Ralph or Jack they are persuaded not by logic but by each other this represents the masses in society they do as we do go with whatever sounds good.
Lord of The Flies represents a cold hard truth of what we have the ability to become. The majority of characters come in pairs of opposites Ralph and Jack, Simon and Roger all this conflict is what happens within us if given the opportunity to start a world of our own free from convention would even adults do the right thing? Will we do what is needed to make a good and decent society or will we descend like the boys into savagery? every part of the symbolism, personalities and traits are combined to represent human nature as a whole every part good and bad it shows us for what we are it shows that the adult world and a child placed in the adult world react the same because if given the opportunity human nature wins out and takes over and we can become nothing more than big children irrational, violent and selfish.