Aim: How does the symbolism depicted in Lord of the Flies contribute to Golding’s comment on the human condition?
Do Now:
We had to discuss any part of chapter 9 with our groups, which we read for homework, and then share with the class.
My group chose to discuss Simon’s death and the possible symbolism behind it, because we felt that that was the most impactful part of the chapter. We all felt that it represented how the group had completed their descent into savagery. However, we disagreed on what the body with the parachute flying away meant.
> I said that it represented the fact that there is no more need for an outside representation of the beast- throughout the story we have seen that the beast is what is inside of all the boys, but it was always represented by some outside presence. However, now that the boys have finished their descent into savagery, they no longer need an outside representation of the beast because the beast is no longer what they could potentially become, but what they are. Ironic because they murdered Simon because they thought that he was really the beast.
> Thomas argued that it stood for something more literal. He said that the guy was hung with his own parachute, so him flying away represented the last hope of rescue leaving the boys (their descent into savagery is what “hung them” and doomed them to spend the rest of their lives on the island.
Then all of the groups shared their ideas.
The answers were varied, including;
This chapter was the culmination of the boys slowly changing, losing their sense of civilization. They no longer listen to the conch and the log that Jack sits on represents him being the new king.
Ralph is basically the brain of the group and represents rationality, while Jack represents instincts. Ralph and Piggy join Jack and help kill Simon, showing how these boys have lost all sense of rationality and now completely rely on instincts.
Rather than Ralph representing rationality, the true representation is Simon and his death marks the end of rationality on the island.
Simon’s murder represents the moral corruption of the boys, while the fact that Simon’s body was swept away by the tides and that the parachutist's body left represents how justice is blind and how even if the boys eventually do comprehend their crimes, all of the evidence is gone.
The author used weather in accordance with the events in the story, the chapter started with a storm approaching which foreshadowed what would happen, the raindrops begin to fall when the chanting begins, and Simon’s body is swept away during a downpour, at the climax of bad things happening.
The storm also symbolized chaos, and that they’ve really descended into savagery, committing a crime so heinous that there is no longer a point of return.
Here is a clip from the Lord of the Flies movie to help visualize the scene
Pair Share
Next we were told to look at 3 images: an American flag, a swastika, and the yin & yang symbol, and told to discuss what they meant to the general public with a neighbor.
I talked to Emily, and we agreed that the American flag meant patriotism, but also made people think of cowboys, beer, and country music. We said that though the swastika was also a Buddhist symbol, it also reminded us of violence, death, hatred, and the Nazis, while the yin & yang symbol meant balance, unity, and harmony.
> When the other groups shared, their responses were very similar to ours, but one pointed out that though any swastika may remind Americans of the Nazis, this particular swastika wasn’t even of that variety. The Nazi one is tilted, while the one we were shown was not, meaning that though it reminded us of those atrocities, it would remind other people of the same peace, camness, and mutual respect that we thought of when looking at the yin & yang.
Ms Peterson then expanded upon this. She said that most of these images can be flipped- while the American flag is positive to Americcans, it can mean something much different to someone from a country that was invaded by the US. The swastika is offensive to us, while it means something completely different to people from other places. Out of these three images, only the yin & yang is universal and always symbolizes balance.
This site goes a bit more in depth on how the American flag and swastika are subjective symbols.
Classwork
We did a quick review of symbolism.
Symbolism: the conscious and artful use of symbols, objects, actions, or characters meant to be taken both literally and a representative of some higher, more complex, and abstract significance that lies beyond ordinary meaning.
Ex: A rose is a rose but can also mean beauty, love, or purity.
We then did a read aloud of pgs 152-154 of Lord Of The Flies (218 in the digital version).
Here are screenshots of the section Ms.Peterson read:
This is the end of chapter 9, the section in which Simon gets murdered. During the read-aloud she invited us to chant and stomp alongside her whenever she said “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Though nobody chanted, by the end a large part of the class was stomping and clapping.
However, this too was part of the lesson.
Why did so many start stomping and clapping by the end? Because of mob mentality, she said.
Then Ms.Peterson asked the class; how quickly do people end up following orders or go into a mob mentality?
Elliot said that it depends on the situation, the discipline of the people involved, and/or who’s leading. He says that if times are alright it’ll take a bit of time before people fall into a mob mentality because they will fight for themselves.
Johnathan said that it depends on the age of the people involved and who they are, but our class is old enough to know better and to follow rules so it would not descend into a mob mentality for a while.
Ms.Peterson then pointed back to our stomping and asked us, what changed?
Someone said that it was to eliminate the awkwardness of her saying it by herself.
Personally, though I understood what she was saying, I thought this was a bad example because she explicitly told us that we could chant and stomp along. Had we done so on our own, it would have been a better example. However, there is some merit to it in that few stomped in the beginning in comparison to at the end, showing that people joined in with the crowd once they knew it was “acceptable.” One person ends up doing something, and then if nobody gets in trouble, everyone joins.
Mob mentality: driven by fear and peer pressure (the latter especially, in the case of teenagers).
We were told to look back at the description in the last paragraph, at how gentle nature is with Simon's body, and asked about what this scene reminded us of.
Johnathan said that it reminded him of the bible, as Jesus was murdered and then viewed as a symbol. Simon is a Christ-like figure and even is described as almost having a halo at the end, who is murdered and used as a symbol to show the end of the boys’ rationality.
At this point I remembered the other religious allegories of Lord of the Flies that we discussed in previous lessons, including the fact that “Lord of the Flies” is a name for the Devil in Hebrew.
Here, we returned to the aim: How does the symbolism depicted in Lord of the Flies contribute to Golding’s comment on the human condition?
The Human condition: the root of what it means to be human, how we are human and how we are as individuals, how we interact with each other.
We were told to discuss in groups about how the symbolism in this chapter applies to the human condition.
My group said that this chapter shows that the human condition is inherently bad, with how Simon is brutally murdered.
>When we shared, someone said that when the kids left Ralph to join Jack it shows how it is human nature to cling onto hope whether they believe it or not.
>Ms.Peterson said that human nature is both good and bad. Simon represents the good part- he ran all the way down the mountain to tell the boys that the beast was not real. He was there to enlighten them (again, the religious allegory, he represents Jesus). My group didn’t recognize this while we were discussing- does this mean that we’re a bunch of folks that view the glass as half empty (that’s an allegory ;)), or is it because this group emphasizes the bad over the good? The group murdering him represents the bad part of human nature, the instincts that triumph over rationality and kindness. A couple lessons back, Ms.Peterson mentioned that Lord of the Flies is the opposite of other novels set on a deserted island like Treasure Island in that it says that if left alone, humans will turn to cruelty rather than kindness. Which book is right, then? And the real question is- do they recognize that it is Simon? Or do they really think that they killed the beast? What will they do when they realize the truth?
We quickly touched on symbols vs motifs, in that symbols can change while motifs stay the same no matter how many times they are repeated.
Reflection
Today’s lesson reminded me of skills important to literary analysis, such as recognizing symbols and the difference between symbols and motifs, but most importantly made me reflect on Lord of the Flies and how the ideas that it presents are not limited to the boys on the island.
It really hit me when Ms.Peterson reviewed the ideas of mob mentality, how the boys seemed so obvious in their brutality in the book and yet the very same thing appears much more subtly in our everyday lives. That’s why we learned about mob mentality, the subjectiveness of symbols, and about human nature- so that we can recognize these ideas, not only in English class, but in our own lives.
I’ll use this lesson by being more conscious of what I do in the future and why I choose to do it. Am I doing something because I want to, or because everyone else is doing the same? Why am I waiting for someone to show me that something is acceptable before I can do it, and why am I doing something that isn’t acceptable just because everyone else did?
It made me reflect on some past experiences, too. I started thinking about the school trash cans. We were told during the first week that the trash cans in the halls are the only places where we can throw out food. And yet, does anyone actually listen? The trash cans in each classroom are filled with food because once one person stopped caring, everyone began to think that it was acceptable.
As for the subjectiveness of symbols, the lesson made me think about the time that I read through Naruto in 6th grade, in which a character named Neji took off his headband and revealed a swastika on his forehead. At the time I was a little disturbed, but then I later learned that the swastika is also a Buddhist symbol, and that the author of the series, being from Japan, is more familiar with that version than the one we recognize in the West. However, Neji has a different mark in the show- because the people who adapted the original series recognized that the symbol has different connotations around the world, some of which are unacceptable for a heroic character like Neji. Reflecting on these past experiences proves to me that these ideas are applicable in the real world, and that I need to be more aware of them as I go about my life.
Returning back to the aim, the symbolism depicted in Lord of the Flies contributes to Golding’s comment on the human condition by painting a brutal picture of an everyday occurrence. By doing this, Golding ensures that we recognize these ideas and remember them, so that we can improve ourselves by being Simon, not Ralph or Piggy or Jack. The human condition is both good and bad, but we can choose to be good if we recognize the bad in ourselves and make reforms. If we resist the clutches of mob mentality, and if we think about things from others perspectives, and not just our own. That is what I learned today.
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