WJEC GCSE English Literature Lord of the Flies Character and Theme Notes
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
Complete notes on characters and themes with description and quotes. Also, symbolism notes to use in essays. This was the key revision I used to gain an A* in this exam.
Civilisation and Barbarity
Chapter 1:
Piggy mentions an “atom bomb” and says that the adults are “all dead”. The outside world is
war-torn and violent.
Chapter 3:
Jack justifies his desire to hunt by saying it’s for everyone’s benefit: “we want meat”. Later
on, he no longer tries to justify it, he just does it because he wants to. This shows the
changing balance between civilisation and savagery.
Chapter 4:
They re-enact the hunt, and Maurice pretends to be a pig. The line between violence
towards animals and towards humans is becoming blurred.
The fire symbolises civilisation and hunting symbolises savagery.
Chapter 5:
The shelters represent civilisation: all the boys helped build the first one and its sturdy, but
the one which only Ralph and Simon built is “tottery”. Without all the boys working together
and agreeing, society doesn’t work.
Only Ralph, Piggy and Simon are left, there’s a clear separation between the boys who value
civilisation and logic, and those who have let their fear turn them into savages.
Chapter 7:
Ralph’s involvement in the hunt and the re-enactment is a further step towards savagery
and a hint that Jack’s violent leadership will soon replace Ralph’s civilised morals.
Chapter 10:
Ralph gradually forgets what the fire is for. This shows that he’s losing his grip on civilised
values.
Ralph is surprised that Jack’s group didn’t take the conch. He hasn’t realised that the conch
and all it stands for is of no interest to Jack.
Chapter 12:
The officer’s gun and the warship are reminders that there’s a savage war going on in the
outside, grown-up world.
Ralph:
Ralph represents law and order. He takes charge of the boys and gives them jobs to make
the island a better place to live. He says they’ll use the conch to take it in turns to speak.
Ralph clings to the hope of rescue and returning to civilisation.
Golding uses the conflict between Ralph and Jack to represent the conflict between
civilisation and barbarity on the island. Ralph and Jack’s rocky relationship creates a feeling
of tension for the reader as only one of them can win.
Piggy:
As the boys become more savage, they find it easier to kill the pigs. This symbolism the boys’
rejection of civilisation, the thing Piggy values most. By the time they kill Piggy, they’re
completely savage.
Piggy tries to maintain rules and to impose the civilised society he craves on the other boys.
Piggy and the conch are destroyed together, symbolising the end of civilisation on the island.
Jack gloats that “The conch is gone!”.
, Piggy’s logic stops him from seeing how far from civilisation the others have slipped, e.g. he
still trusts the power of the conch to make others respect him at Castle Rock.
Jack:
Jack doesn’t see the value in building shelters or keeping the fire going. He’s rejecting
civilisation.
Jack’s growing obsession with hunting represents how the group lose their sense of
civilisation and become more barbaric.
Simon:
Ralph represents civilisation and Jack represents savagery but Simon’s separate, he doesn’t
seem to be affected by the pull of barbarity.
Simon’s murder is the point of no return. The boys can’t go back to being civilised.
Roger:
Roger becomes more savage than any of the other characters, he shows just how far it’s
possible to get from civilisation.
The Littluns:
Percival forgetting his name is a clear sign that the boys have moved from civilisation to
barbarity.
Some people think that the littluns represent the general public. They don’t think for
themselves, they just follow the strongest leader, first Ralph, then Jack.
Other characters:
The officer sees the boys from an outsider’s point of view: “little boys”. His viewpoint
emphasises how savage the boys have become.
He has his hand on his revolver which shows that the outside world is actually just s war-torn
and uncivilised as the island.
At first the boys cling to rules from their old life:
- The boys make rules on the island which are similar to the rules they followed at school.
Piggy collects names like a register, they call their meetings “assemblies”, they put their
hands up to speak and use the conch to take turns.
- Golding uses the conch as a symbol of civilisation and authority. Its power gradually
decreases, which reflects the weakening of civilisation on the island. Its destruction
represents the victory of barbarity over civilisation.
- The rules of home top them being too violent at first, e.g. Roger doesn’t throw stones
directly at Henry because of the “taboo of the old life”.
The boys react to rules in different ways at first:
- Ralph wants to have fun on the island, but he knows that they need rules to make them act
responsibly.
- Jack says they need rules because they’re “not savages”. It’s ironic due to his behaviour later
on in the book. He also looks forward to punishing anyone who breaks the rules.
- Piggy is anxious to protect the rules. He gets upset when the other boys don’t follow them,
calling them “a pack of kids”
Civilised rules begin to fade:
- The boys’ increasing violence shows their gradual slip from civilisation to barbarity.
- The littluns start going to the toilet everywhere, even near their shelters. They quickly forget
the civilised values they were taught at home.
, - At first, Jack’s hunting fits in with civilised behaviour as he provides meat for the boys. But
the “fierce exhilaration” of hunting soon takes over from sensible behaviour.
- Jack and the hunters let the fire go out and miss the chance of rescue. Golding shows that
they’ve forgotten the possibility of returning to civilisation in the savage excitement of
hunting.
- Primitive rituals begin to replace useful rules e.g. the boys chant and make an offering to the
beast.
- The “unease of wrong-doing” that stops them hurting each other gradually wears off, and
the boys become more violent. The first violent act is when Jack hits Piggy and breaks his
glasses.
The new society that develops is selfish and violent:
- Jack starts a new group to hunt and “have fun”, he’s not interested in rescue or what’s best
for the group.
- One of the first things they do is viciously kill a sow.
- Their basic fears and group instincts control them: they kill Simon in a frenzy. Golding
describes the “tearing of teeth and claws” as if the boys are animals.
- Jack starts handing out violent punishments to enforce his rules: boys are beaten and
tortured for no reason.
Appearances change and behaviour becomes more savage:
- Golding uses the change in the boy’s appearances to represent the change in the boys’
appearances to represent the change in the group from civilisation to savagery.
- The boys’ school uniforms represent discipline. They get dirty and torn as the boys lose their
old values.
- Painting his face frees Jack from civilised rules: it provides a “liberation into savagery”. The
painted faces of the “savages” are like a new uniform, it makes them “anonymous” so no-
one has to take individual responsibility for the violence.
- Ralph’s group try to “smarten up a bit” to confront Jack’s “painted” tribe, they represent
civilisation fighting against Jack’s barbarity.
- The officer who rescues them wears a clean white uniform but the world he represents is at
war, just like the boys. Like Ralph, the reader realises that civilised appearances hide the
“darkness of man’s heart”.
The boys follow their natural instincts:
- Nearly all the boys join Jack’s tribe, and even Ralph and Piggy, the characters Golding uses to
represent civilisation, join in with Simon’s murder.
- Golding is implying that savagery is a more basic human instinct than civilisation. Our urge to
behave morally and look after other people is something we’re taught by society, not
something we’re born with.
“that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away” – Golding uses a lot of symbolism in the
novel to show how civilisation is weakening.
Civilisation
, Ralph and Jack looked at each other while society paused about them. The shameful knowledge grew
in them and they did not know how to begin confession.
- When the story begins, Jack and Ralph are so civilized that they don't even know how to
start a fire without a match.
There was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which [Roger] dare not throw.
Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. (4.14)
- "The old life" is civilization. Roger is losing it, but he isn't quite gone. Civilization and all its
rules are still holding him back—for now.
Piggy was […] so full of pride in his contribution to the good of society […] that he helped to fetch
wood. (8.118)
- He's basically the only person who seems to care about the "good of society," so naturally he
ends up dead. Without people who care about the common good, you don't have much of a
civilization.
[The boys] found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They
were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable.
(9.86)
- The boys see themselves as a fence—but this isn't the white picket fence of civilization; it's a
fence of their naked bodies, getting ready to reenact their savage pig hunt—before they rip
Simon to bits with their bare hands.
"I just take the conch to say this. I can't see no more and I got to get my glasses back. Awful things
has been done on this island. I voted for you for chief. He's the only one who ever got anything done.
So now you speak, Ralph, and tell us what. Or else—"
- Piggy broke off, sniveling. Ralph took back the conch as he sat down.
"Just an ordinary fire. You'd think we could do that, wouldn't you? Just a smoke signal so we can be
rescued. Are we savages or what?" (11.19-21)
- Piggy sees losing his glasses as the end of civilization; Ralph sees it as not being able to keep
a signal fire going. Either way, they're really hanging on by a thread here.
Samneric protested out of the heart of civilization, "Oh, I say!—honestly!" (11.175)
- Sam and Eric maybe be surrounded by painted boys, but there's still a little piece of
civilization left—the part that protests when rules of a silly game get broken.
"Which is better—to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?"
A great clamor rose among the savages. Piggy shouted again. (11.202-3)
- Well, when you put it like that, civilization actually sounds kind of boring—like staying in and
doing your homework when everyone else is going to an awesome party at the beach.
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white
fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through
the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went […]. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his
back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red.
Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed. (11.209)
- There goes Piggy—and there goes the conch—and there goes civilization. It's a good thing
the naval officer shows up when he does, or this story might have had a very different
ending.
On the beach behind him was a cutter, her bows hauled up and held by two ratings. In the stern-
sheets another rating held a sub-machine gun. (12.211)
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