Lit Analysis ?'s. Lord of the Flies

1. During the beginning of WWI a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of school children. At first the children are over joyed by their separation from civilization and order. They build a small society, (or a 7th and 8th graders equivalent of one). As their time on the island rolls on they begin to speculate of a ''monster'' that lurks in the surrounding woods. Their paranoia soon engulfs the clan and the turn on each other. Just as all hell is about to break loose, they are rescued by a passing navy vessel. 

2. The theme of Lord of the Flies tackles the all to present human emotion of fear and paranoia. Both play an extreme roll in someone's ability to survive. In times of extreme isolation any little bump in the night can send a person into a downward spiral. Its about not letting your fear swallow and consume what makes you human to begin with. Your sense of reason, ability to discern reality from the imagination, and problem solving. 

3. William Golding wrote in a dark underlying tone. On the surface it might seem like just another adventure/cast away story. But if you read deeper into it there is a very present sense of darkness. They boys on the island begin to worship a pigs head on a spear. They call it ''lord of the flies'' because of all the flies the severed head attracted. However ''lord of the flies'' translated into latin (Beelzebub) means Satan or Prince of demons. If that right there isn't a red flag, I'm not sure what is. The boys also speak of a monster they believe exists in the surrounding forrest. Their fear of this monster leads them to kill one of their own because they mistook him for it. 

4. There were a lot of metaphors and similes in the story. I already mentioned the pigs head on the spear as a metaphor for the devil. The island itself was a representation of hell. Last but not least, the sailor who rescues them in the final chapter was described dressed in all white and standing on the beach as the morning sun finally brought light to the island. That could be symbolic of a salvation of sorts. With the sailor being God or an angle. The characterization of the characters (that sounds a little redundant) was fairly cryptic at times. One character was described as fat and wore glasses. His real name was never said. The rest of the children called him Piggy. This lends credence the tone being very dark and uncaring at times.