Concetti Chiave
- The novel explores the breakdown of civilization and the rise of savagery among a group of boys stranded on an island after a plane crash.
- Three main characters, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, embody different aspects of human nature: reason, violence, and rationalism respectively.
- The boys initially establish a society with laws, but it quickly collapses under the pressures of aggression and superstition.
- Symbolic objects in the story include the conch for democracy, fire representing both destruction and rescue, and Piggy's glasses as a symbol of power.
- The narrative concludes with the intervention of an adult, a British naval officer, highlighting the return to order and civilization.
Golding, William - Lord of the flies
The novel, by Golding, tells the story of a group of boys, who have been left on a island in the Pacific or Indian Ocean after a plane crash. On the island the boys are confronted with the task of survival. There are 3 main characters: Piggy, Jack and Ralph. First they set up a rational society, so they estabilish laws under the leadership of Ralph. Almost immediatly the society disintegrates under two pressures: aggression and superstition.
The boys, under Jack's influence, turn to a savage existence based on hunting pigs and fear of a beast. After killing a sow, Jack cuts its head off and puts it on a stake, transforming it into a god: Lord of the Flies. Simon later finds out that the beast is the corpse of the pilot, so Simon was killed ad the result of a ritualistic dance. Then Piggy is killed too and it is from that point on that all social rules are disregarded, infact Ralph is hunted down by those who oppose social norms. In the end the adult world intervenes in the person of a British naval officer.All the boys in the novel exist as individuals and as symbol of human nature: Ralph stands for reason, democracy, he fails because the situation cannot be solved by rational approach. Jack, the antagonist of Ralph, stands for violence and instinct. He is the aggressive force of evil and imposes a sens of disciplines on the others, unlike Ralph: this stands for the win of dictatorship. Piggy is the voice of rationalism, insted Simon stands for intelligence.
Some objects too are charged with symbolic meaning: the fire is the simble of destruction but also rescue, a white shining conch stands for democracy, the skull of a pig stends for sacrifical victims and for the emblem of the forces of the evil, Piggy's glasses symbolise power, because whoever has the glasses can control the fire.
Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è il significato simbolico dei personaggi principali nel romanzo "Lord of the Flies"?
- Come si sviluppa la società dei ragazzi sull'isola e quali sono le cause della sua disintegrazione?
- Quali oggetti nel romanzo hanno un significato simbolico e cosa rappresentano?
Nel romanzo, Ralph rappresenta la ragione e la democrazia, Jack simboleggia la violenza e l'istinto, mentre Piggy è la voce del razionalismo e Simon rappresenta l'intelligenza.
I ragazzi inizialmente stabiliscono una società razionale sotto la guida di Ralph, ma la società si disintegra rapidamente a causa dell'aggressione e della superstizione, portando a una vita selvaggia sotto l'influenza di Jack.
Nel romanzo, il fuoco simboleggia sia la distruzione che il salvataggio, la conchiglia bianca rappresenta la democrazia, il teschio di maiale è l'emblema delle forze del male, e gli occhiali di Piggy simboleggiano il potere, poiché chi li possiede può controllare il fuoco.
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