FREE ESSAY ON WILLIAM GOLDING'S LORD OF THE FLIES

WILLIAM GOLDING'S LORD OF THE FLIES

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a sordid tale about a group of kids who are
stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. The story is set during the
Atomic War and plenty of references are made to the fact. However, the real key to the
story lies in the role of Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. Beelzebub has a central role in
the story as he represents the Beast, or evil, that dwells within all humans. The Beast
cannot be hunted and since it dwells within all humans, humans are all guilty because
mankind is sick.
The destruction of mankind is a point that Golding makes apparent often in this novel. He
establishes early on that Beelzebub is a force within all humans that drives them to
destroy and maim. In the story the central emblem of the story lies in the dead airman.
The boys mistake him for Beelzebub and basically begin to worship him. In fact, the most
effective portrayal of Beelzebub appears early in the novel in the form of the dead
airman. The parachute carries him through the night to the top of the mountain, where his
body is entangled in the trees. It is in the way in which he is hung that makes it appear
as if he was sitting on a throne of some sort. Sam n Eric first come upon it and are
scared to death at the mere sight of it. However, when the whole group returns to the
site the horrific monstrosity bewilders them. In this quote from the book it clearly
states the group's actions. " Behind them the sliver of moon had drawn clear the horizon.
Before them something like a great ape was sitting asleep with its head between his
knees. Then, the wind roared in the forest, there was confusion in the darkness and the
creation lifted its head, holding toward them a ruin of a face. " The experience alone
accelerates the deterioration of the already weak civilization of the group. The
experience brings young Jack to committing himself fully to the newfound dark religion.
(Johnston, 126)
Beelzebub was the cause for accelerating the destruction of the boys. He was not the
outright cause. The Atomic War generated the novel; it was the sole reason that brought
the boys to live on the island in the first place. It is in this sense that the boys only
duplicated the adult society that had been crashing down around them while they were part
of the civilized world. Golding uses the dead airman to continue the war on throughout
the novel. With each new day the boys become more and more savage. One by one the boys
lose sanity. Beelzebub is slowly entering the boys, and through the use of Jack as a
minister of evil, delivering the boys to insanity and corruption. (Gindin, 160)
Golding however does offer mankind hope through the character of Simon. Simon is the one
character in the story that knew how to deal with Beelzebub. The day before Simon dies he
learns that Beelzebub dwells within and cannot be hunted by humans. Simon finds that the
evil Beelzebub represents is inside people and ineradicable. Simon is the only character
in the novel to come to terms with the darkness and impending doom of the group's
situation. Simon looks darkness in the face and, with great courage, comes to terms with
the ignoble nature of mankind. Beelzebub has blinded every other member of the group.
Piggy, for instance, pins all blame on Jack. Piggy misses the point because Jack is only
the minister for a greater evil. Jack is to blame only in the sense that he lives in all
of us, that we are all guilty because mankind is sick. Still, Simon is the one exception
to this general condemnation. Simon is the one spiritually sound person on the island.
Simon is an epileptic and it is sickness that makes him a saint. Simon is not interested
in leadership and prefers to keep to himself. Rather than involve himself in the
promotion of the self, Simon concentrates on the nature of reality. He is one of the
meek, of the poor in spirit, who are promised the kingdom of heaven, not the
congratulations and rewards of earthly fortune. 
After the group removes Simon the decline in morality is greatly accelerated. Golding
does not immediately symbolize this acceleration though. He allows it to flow from a
series of events instead. First, the "littluns" complain of seeing an imaginary beast;
the fear that has manifested itself out of their own imaginations. Beelzebub finds an
outlet through the dead airman. The hunters, who revert to the most primitive form of
expiation, plant the head of a dead pig on a stick as a blood sacrifice to Beelzebub.
Simon comes upon the head, and his confrontation with it is dramatically heralded by the
disappearance of the butterflies. (Dick, 38) Simon has a vision in which the head speaks
to him. During this vision the pig's head tells Simon that Beelzebub cannot be hunted
because it lives within all of humans. Simon is overwhelmed by the experience and faints.
Simon comes out of the vision with a newfound knowledge and understanding. He knows what
Beelzebub is and he knows how to conquer it. However before Simon can ever reach the
others Beelzebub has already spread its darkness over Jack and the others. In a barbaric
ritual Simon is slain in a fit of bloodthirsty rage by basically every member of the
group. With Simon out of the picture the boys are hurdled into a whirlwind of destruction
and mayhem. 
Ralph and Piggy are now the only mainstays of any sense of justice left on the island.
Jack and the others slowly begin to become more sinister with each passing day. Ralph and
Piggy represent the last remnants of humanity on the island. Jack has converted most of
the boys into his dark hunters. Each day they go out in search of fresh prey and each
night they pay homage to the Lord of the Flies. Beelzebub now with his full influence
over Jack and the hunters is rapidly racing for the goal of boys destruction. What
started out as a civilized group of school children has now turned into a barbaric cult
of violence and rage. Roger manages to kill Piggy by rolling a rock and crushing the poor
boy to his death. Afterwards in a show of true evil the boys cannibalize Piggy's remains.
Ralph is the sole remainder of humanity left on the island. Jack and Roger set the island
on fire in order to snuff Ralph out of hiding so they can butcher him as they did Piggy.
Ralph flees the jungle to the beach where on approaching he is greeted by a naval officer
with a ship in the distance. 
In that moment Ralph realizes the sheer monstrosity of what he has just witnessed. Jack
and the other boys to are slammed head on by the presence of civilization. Beelzebub's
tight reign over them had ended but at what cost? Through the influence Beelzebub the
boys had murdered 3 of their comrades and practically destroyed the island. Golding uses
this to make a direct reference to the Atomic War that was going on around them. As
stated earlier, the boys had duplicated the war on the island. Much like the outside
world, all humanity was lost. The boys were sick with power and evil, much like the world
outside the island. War had corrupted their very souls and they had become savages in
order to appease the devil that dwelled within.
As humans we cannot escape evil. Beelzebub dwells within every human soul and it cannot
be hunted or driven away. Mankind is sick and guilty for giving into these sins. However,
mankind is not lost. Through the use of reason and civilized means we can escape the
grasp of Beelzebub and its dark reign of anarchy. Beelzebub served as a means of
destruction in the story. He accelerated the boys fall of grace. Although the boys failed
that does not condemn mankind. Hope is offered through the story in the form of a young,
epileptic name Simon. Simon stood for the weak that fought with the nature of reason
rather than with a bloodthirsty rage. Mankind needs only to look at Simon's example as a
guide of how to do it. Reason and virtue will always conquer over rage and violence. Wars
are not the answers to every global conflict. Every war we have, we have to pass on to
our children. In the end mankind is saved by the nature of reason not the use of war.
Bibliography
Bibliography
McCarron, Kevin. William Golding.
Northcote House Publishers Ltd. 1994. 1-5.
Bloom, Harold. " Introduction. "
Modern Critical Interpretations: William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1999. 1.
Rosenfield, Claire. " Men of a Smaller Growth "
Modern Critical Interpretations: William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1999. 10.
Johnston, Arnold. " Lord of the Flies: Fable, Myth, and Fiction "
Modern Critical Interpretations: William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1999. 126.
Dick, Bernard F. " Golding's use of Beezlebub. "
Bloom's Notes: William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1996. 38-39.
Golding, William. " William Golding on the Purpose of Lord of the Flies. "
Bloom's Notes: William Golding's Lord of the Flies. 
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1996. 34-35.
Gindin, James. " The Fictional Explosion."
Bloom's Notes: William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. 1996. 160.