Biblical Allusions in Lord of the Flies free essay sample

Did your parents ever tell you about the first time that you disobeyed them? Mine have. I was next to a hot wood stove at my grandparent’s house, and my parents told me not to touch it because it was hot. But, of course, I just had to touch it now that I was told not to. I wasn’t egged on by my sister or my cousins; I touched that stove of my own accord. And of course, it all went down from there. My inward desire to be stubborn and selfish was expressed though disobeying my parents- In the end, I got burned. Similarly, in Sir William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, biblical allusions are used to give additional meaning and depth to the book and to show the ways in which humans transfer their inner evil into outward behavior. Evil doesn’t begin from the outside world; instead it begins in the core of human beings. We will write a custom essay sample on Biblical Allusions in Lord of the Flies or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The novel Lord of the Flies shows the breakdown of society without authority, a code of conduct, and failure to maintain morality. Although the story seems straightforward at first- just some boys on an island- the true meaning can be hidden from the reader using biblical allusions. These biblical allusions are not a central theme as Lord of the Flies is not specifically religious. There is no direct mention of the Bible; however, certain characters and symbols directly connect to it. Golding uses these allusions to form a more complex story with additional layers. Interestingly, Golding hardly believed in God. After his traumatic experiences in World War II, he tried â€Å"to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. † There is little more innocent than a group of young boys singing in a church choir. However, the boy’s innocence is presented as deceptive. In a letter to a friend sent privately, Golding says that â€Å"one of our faults is to believe that evil is somewhere else†. He believed that people mistake the origin of evil as being external, yet the boy’s evil was internal despite attaching it to their characteristically Satan-like surroundings. Jack’s behavior in the book is not the cause of evil, merely a symptom of the greed, selfishness, and power to rule that lies within everyone. The title of the book alone, Lord of the Flies, is the literal translation of ‘Baal-Zebub’, the Canaanite god of evil. In other words, ‘Lord of the Flies’ means the devil, the antithesis of God. Therefore, before even opening the book, the reader can forge a clear link with religion. This suggests a possible interpretation for the book: that religion is a direct contrast to evil. The Lord of the Flies is also one of the most important and poignant images in the book. The severed head of the sow murdered by Jack is described as  being â€Å"dim-eyed, grinning faintly, blood blackening between [it’s] teeth†, â€Å"an obscure thing† covered with a â€Å"black blob of flies. † This vivid description of its outer ugliness represents evil in its purest form. Furthermore, the alliteration of the letter ‘b’ is harsh and guttural, which reflects the inner ugliness it possesses. The Lord of the Flies brings out the inner beast in most of them, causing the situation in this passage to juxtapose good and evil. In the first chapter of Lord of the Flies, Golding gives clues to his readers that the context of the novel is going to contain biblical allusions, as the life of some of his characters were deeply Christian before they were even stranded. Jack, one of the main boys on the island, says that â€Å"[He] ought to be a chief, because [he was] chapter chorister and head boy. He could] sing C sharp. † Choirboys are a typical image of naivety, innocence and youth, and are most often pictured as singing from hymnals during religious ceremonies. However this religious background does not stop Jack and his fellow hunters from later committing severe and serious crimes on the island. Another biblical allusion occurs â€Å"when [the boys were] coming down (and) [Piggy] looked through one of [the] windows. [He] saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it. † The boys had literally fallen because of their plane crash. But this fall from the sky symbolically represents their fall from the state of innocence. The end of innocence in the novel takes place just after the first chapter. Startlingly quickly, the boys feel comfortable in the jungle hunting down wild pigs. After Jack fails to kill the piglet at first, he states that â€Å"next time there would be no mercy. † This almost immediate regression to violence and revenge proves that humans transfer their inner evil into outward behavior. The symbol of salvation is represented by the conch on the island. It also stands for power, as the boys decide to â€Å"let [Ralph] be chief with the trumpet-thing. Whoever is holding the conch has the power to be the only boy allowed to speak, which is similar to the power of a church bell ringing to bring people together for a service or an extremely important announcement. Later in the novel, salvation is associated with fire, as â€Å"life became a race with the fire. †¦ To keep a clean flag of flame flying on the mountain was the immediate end and no one looked further. † Keeping the fire burning symbolizes the boy’s humanity, so that when it is extinguished it can no longer be contained and the evil emerges from within the boys. Fire is associated with hope, warmth and friendship but it is the cause of conflict, destruction and death in the novel. By the end of the second chapter, fire has already taken its first victim – the little boy with the mulberry mark on his skin- who disappears during the huge fire recklessly set up by others. Even though we are not told what has happened to him, his fate is obvious when Piggy asks the boys the rhetorical question, â€Å"that little ‘un that had a mark on his face–where is–he now? † The ‘beast’ personifies the developing evil in Lord of the Flies. In the beginning of the book the beast takes the shape of a â€Å"snake-thing† which is the very shape that Satan takes when trying to persuade Eve to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge in the book of Genesis. When Eve disobeys God, she breaks his law and is expelled from Eden. The boys also start to break rules they have been taught in their previous lives and similarly ruin their own Eden-like island. The attitude of the boys towards the beast was expressed when  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The eyes that looked so intently at [Ralph] were without humor. † This shows their fear of evil in contrast to Ralph who was ‘laughing’ at the idea of a ‘beastie. The term ‘beast’ is also used for the embodiment of evil in the book of Revelation- which tells of the end of the world, or in this case, the end of the book. The link with the Apocalypse is even more apparent from the expressions â€Å"beast from the sea† and â€Å"beast from the Earth†, and those used as chapter names such as â€Å"Beast from Water† and â€Å"Beast from Air. † In Revelations 13: 5, the beast from the sea is given authority to rule over the Earth, and the people of Earth marvel at the beasts abilities and worship him asking â€Å"who is like the beast? Who can make war against him? This directly relates to the boys, as Jack tells them to â€Å"forget the beast† and to â€Å"leave some of the kill for it. Then it [wouldn’t] bother [them], maybe. † In Revelation 13, the beast from the sea suffers from what appears to be a mortal wound, and another beast, the beast of the earth, takes his place and exercises the same authority as the previous beast on his behalf. This beast forces those without the seal of God on their foreheads to worship both the new beast and the image of the old beast and wear his mark on either their foreheads or right hands. This is paralleled in Lord of the Flies as the pilot floating off of the mountain and into the ocean. This leaves Jack to symbolically ‘fill the place’ of the beast, in that he causes the boys to fear and respect him. He then forces the boys to accept him as chief and has them paint their faces, proving to him their loyalty. Furthermore, the beast is shown leading the whole world with the exception of those whose names are written in the Book of Life, and making war against the saints. This allusion places Jack in the place of the beast while Ralph, Piggy, and Simon’s names are â€Å"written in the Book of Life†, as they refuse to submit to Jack. Ironically, most of them die, despite their names being in the Book of Life. Finally, at the end of Lord of the Flies, a naval officer arrives on the island, bringing the boys into some sense of order and relieves some tension for the reader. This can be alluded to Revelation 21:4, where ‘[God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. † The island itself seems to be an allusion to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are placed in a Garden that is a perfect haven, complete with the necessities required to survive. However Adam and Eve foolishly take the advice of the serpent and eat the fruit from a tree in order to gain the knowledge of good and evil, even though God specifically told them not to do so. In essence, this is what happens on the island. The island itself is complete with food and water. Survival is possible, yet the inner devil is unleashed in the boys and instead they take on savage and immoral roles. At first it was a haven yet it was corrupted by evil. The ‘Lord of the Flies’ may also allude to the serpent from the Garden of Eden and this allusion seems as equally suited as that of the Devil. At the end of the book, the boy’s inner evil is reverted back to the innocence they possessed at the beginning, and this is shown by the return of fire on the island. The British Naval officer who is the boy’s savior represents the messiah as they have come to save the boys. However the officer is a gun-carrying savior, as he â€Å"held a sub-machine gun. † They dislike the blood and filth of the boys and are embarrassed by Ralph’s open display of tears, even though Ralph’s grief is absolutely human. A clear connection to the Bible can be found in the character of Simon, whose name is of biblical origin – as two apostles bore this name. Continually, his role is that of a Christ figure, as his help to the weaker makes him seem saintly and Jesus-like. Golding himself states that he â€Å"intended a Christ figure in the novel, because Christ figures occur in humanity, really, but [he] couldn’t have the full picture, or as near as a full picture of human potentiality, unless one was potentially a Christ figure. † Simon’s physical appearance signifies innocence, as â€Å"he was a small, skinny boy, his chin pointed, and his eyes so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked. The coarse mop of black hair was long and swung down, almost concealing a low, broad forehead. He wore the remains of shorts and his feet were bare like Jack’s. † Furthermore, Simon asks questions that nobody on the island can answer: â€Å"what is dirtiest among us? What else can be done? † His tone here is reminiscent of Christ’s when â€Å"Jesus asked them in Matthew 9:4, Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? † Simon persistently wants to prove that there is no other evil but that inside the boys. Like Moses, Simon climbs down the mountain to reveal the truth. Traditionally prophets raise awareness of human sins and foretell the future, which Simon accomplishes. Simon’s death resembles Christ’s – in an act of swift fear and general ignorance. In both cases, the masses are not convinced by the supposed prophet/savior, as â€Å"Simon’s effort fell about him in ruins. † Simon’s death is an imitation of Christ’s because the wisdom that Simon wants to share with the other boys- that the Beast lives inside us- is disturbing and leaves no space for a possibility of repentance and salvation. Simon’s character in the story tells us that there is at least one good man ready to follow Christ’s footsteps. This alone is encouraging, for when society on the island breaks down, Simon remains moral and righteous and he takes it upon himself to seek the truth. When he does discover the true nature of the beast he is killed for it. Simon is the only one of the boys who resists the temptation of evil and is the only one brave enough to confront the beast. The conversation between Simon and the beast certainly echoes that of Jesus and the devil in Luke 4. The devil tried to tempt Jesus with food and power for 40 days and nights in the desert, but fails. Simon does not succumb to this trickery either. The immense power and evil of the head echoes not only the evil within the pig’s head that has spread but also the evil within the boys that they are now consumed by; it has taken them over as night does the day. The evil of the head is so intense that it causes Simon to faint when he sees the â€Å"blackness within, the blackness that spread,† which is paralleled to Christ’s death and resurrection, as if he had merely fainted. He is also physically transformed into the Jesus-like figure of Christ walking with the cross to his death, when â€Å"the usual brightness was gone from his eyes and he walked with a sort of glum determination like an old man. Ultimately, Simon was killed by his friends just as Christ was, for being thought of as the beast. In the Bible, the Pharisees, or Jewish leaders of the time, claimed that Jesus was performing his miracles through the Devil, and similarly the boys claimed Simon was the beast. Golding turned to the Bible when he car ried out his profound literary analysis of the source of evil in human nature, and utilized biblical allusions to function as a subtle motif in the Lord of the Flies. This added thematic resonance to the main ideas. The conclusion drawn that themes and ideas in the novel are obviously biblical, but such similarities are not carried out in all chapters. It’s used to emphasize the central issues and may be the key to interpretation. Therefore, in Sir William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, biblical allusions are used to give additional meaning and depth to the book and to show the ways in which humans transfer their inner evil into outward behavior. Thank you.