Theme of Knowledge in Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis Essay

In 1954, William Golding wrote a novel called Lord of the Flies. This is a story with many layers, also known as an allegory. Golding created a book that on the surface,  seemed like a story about a group of boys on an island, but if you look a little deeper you can see a book about knowledge, power, and survival, and how it can tear people apart. A main theme that Golding places an emphasis on is knowledge being key to survival.  He shows that when 

people stop relying on knowledge to make decisions, it leads to chaos, savagery and war. These ideas are seen throughout the novel through the use of symbolism and characterization.

At the very beginning of the novel, we can see that the boys are very easily distracted. With all the chaos and excitement on the island, they often forget to focus and use their brains. When the boys first arrive on the island, they use their knowledge of the real world and make a signal fire to alert ships that may be passing by. However, in chapter 4, the group of boys that are supposed to watch the fire let it out. They instead are hunting and chanting with Jack. They completely forget about the signal fire and lose their only chance at survival and rescue. Through symbolism, Golding shows how the fire indicates survival and when Jack and his hunters let it out it shows that they are losing their chances of survival and rescue. Throughout the novel this continues, the hunters stop using their brains, and it is what leads to the downfall of their civilization. 

In the previous paragraph, we saw that the boys lost focus on reality very easily, from hunting the beast to making sand castles and playing by the water. As we move through the novel these distractions turn from harmless to savage. In chapter 9, while the boys are having a feast, they start chanting in a circle about killing the beast. While we know there is no beast, the boys, other than Simon, do not. All of the boys completely stop using their brains, and when they see a creature emerge from the forest, they assume it is the beast, when it is actually Simon. They murder what they thought was the beast and celebrate, while Simons body is swept away by the current. If the boys had actually been using knowledge like Piggy and Samneric were, they would have realized that the “beast”was actually just Simon. It shows that when the boys stop using their brains, they turn to savagery. Golding uses characterization to show how Jack, Roger and Ralph all succumb to savagery and stop using knowledge to make decisions. 

As we move towards the end of the novel, we see savagery escalate and full on war break out.  Every single boy on the island forgets about rescue, survival and civilized life.  In chapter 12, a war breaks out between Ralph and everyone else. While Ralph is running for his life and trying to escape Jack, the other boys start trying to kill Ralph a different way; fire. They set the whole forest on fire, trying to murder him. The boys have completely been overtaken by savagery and war mentality. They have lost all knowledge and are only focused on hunting and killing Ralph. Golding uses the symbol of fire, the thing that was supposed to save them, to show how the boys have lost all signs of civilized life. 

As we can see, knowledge is a key part to survival, and without it humanity will start to decline. Without knowledge, chaos, savagery and war will emerge. Golding shows throughout this book that he has very negative feelings towards war. He uses symbolism and characterization to prove his point. You might have wondered why he used children instead of adults as main characters, or why he made it so clear that all adults were gone. He uses these children to show that he feels war is juvenile and is, in a way, making fun of the people who choose to engage in war. He also shows his feelings towards war by killing off the voices of intelligence and innocence. Golding created a timeless message that war and savagery is something no one should ever participate in, and showed how it can tear apart a society.