Theme Of Survival In Lord Of The Flies (Essay Sample)

“Simon discovers the pig’s head and decides it is the Lord of the Flies because flies surround its decaying, bloody head” William Golding, Lord of the Flies.

Book covers have a way of telling people what the book is about and some themes that are in the book. All book covers have a story behind them. They provide a visualisation for the reader and what they are going to read.

The reason why I have chosen this book cover for the Lord of the Flies is because it creates an interesting look that defines the book. Having the pig’s head in colour and the blood dripping as black helps to illustrate what the author, William Golding, was trying to create. It also depicts a scene to draw attention to the title of the book. The combination of this title along with the image of a pig’s head highlights the book’s central theme for the beast which represents evil.

I think this book cover appeals to the modern readers because it draws your attention to the horror of the pig’s head and leaves you asking what the story of the book is.

I strongly believe that in Lord of the Flies there is a strong characteristic trait of evil that exists in all of the characters. Even though Piggy shows innocence through the whole book, he still does not stop the boys from killing Simon. This supports my belief that everyone has evil hidden within them.

The first few chapters of the book contribute to the theme of survival. In the beginning, when the school boys of various ages find themselves stranded on an island, they all listen and respect each other. However, as time goes on, the boys start to turn on each other and begin to show traits of savagery and cruelty towards each other.

“We did everything adults would do” William Golding, Lord of the Flies.

As goes went on and realisation and hunger set in, the boy’s innocence was lost. The boys fought with each other and Jack tried to take over being the leader. The boys set off following Jack down the beach to hunt for food. On their way up to the top of the hill, the boy’s kept thinking about the earlier stories of the beast, when they were attacked by a wild boar. Jack kills the boar with his spear and the hunters celebrate the kill with the group on top of the hill. The boys celebrated, when they realise that they can use Piggy’s glasses to start a fire and cook the pig. They also spear’s the pigs head and left it as a peace offering to the beast.

The next day Simon ventures into the island as he normally does and stumbles across the pig’s head on the spear with flies gathering around it. He calls it the “Lord of the Flies” and imagines the pig is the beast talking to him and faints. After a few minutes he wakes up and continues to walk around the island. As he is walking around, he comes across a dead pilot which he realises is what everyone thought was the beast and rushes back to the beach where the boy’s are celebrating around the fire.

The boys were startled by a noise coming from the forest and thought it was the beast coming to get them. One of them yelled out “The Beast!” and they all attack the beast in the dark with their spears in hand. Once they finish spearing the beast, silence fell and then they realise that there was no beast. It was Simon that they have just killed.

The intended meaning of the authors book, is that there is evil in every one of us and it takes very little for it to come out. Piggy was the most innocent character through the book, but even he eventually caved in to the evil inside of him.