The Lord of the Flies
"You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? Why things are what they are?" - pg. 130
The Lord of the Flies is very symbolic. it is a pigs head stuck on the end of a pointed stick. Jack beheaded the sow after chasing it and killing it. He claims it is a 'gift for the beast' and leaves it to decay in the paradise like clearing. It is symbolic of the savage ways of the boys. It represents the extents the boys are willing to go to feel like they dominated or conquered over a living thing. The Lord of the flies is also a physical symbol. Over time it decays more and more, attracting flies to the rotting flesh. This can represent two things. The first is, the head represents the island, and as the boys (the flies) cause more damage to the island, it deteriorates and becomes destroyed. Another example the pig head can be is fear, and the flies can be the boys again. The boys swarm towards the fear, and attract more fearful followers. Fear is contagious, so it is being fed off of each other.
"The so-called Lord of the Flies is created when Jack and his hunters perform one of their most brutal acts of savagery: the murder of the nursing sow." - Society vs. Savagery: Symbolism in Golding's Lord of the Flies by Rachel Breneman
Rachel Breneman makes an interesting point. "The words "Lord of the Flies" are a direct translation of the Greek word "Beelzebub," which, in the Bible, is another name for Satan himself. Therefore, the Lord of the Flies is symbolic of pure evil. In fact, according to Spitz, "[the Lord of the Flies] is the personification of evil. He is the beast that is part of man. Having rejected God, man can only look to himself. Having rejected reason and consent, what remains within himself is only savagery and force" (Spitz)" This goes into the idea of the beast being thought of as a horrible man-slaying creature, when in actuality, the beast was a man. The boys make a sacrifice to themselves.
"“The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won’t tell…the skull lay in two pieces, its grin now six feet across…then he backed away, keeping his face to the skull, that lay grinning at the sky,” - pg. 169