Secondary 4 Literature Prelim 2017 Paper 1 Novel and Unseen LOTF Symbols Question! Secondary 4 Literature Prelim 2017 Paper 1 Novel and Unseen

Discuss the importance of any two of these symbols from the novel: The conch Piggy’s glasses Fire The pig’s head on a stick / Lord of the Flies

Taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the question Drawing connections to offer stronger insights and comment on how Golding effectively ties separate ideas together to convey his message/themes so powerfully

Smart choice of symbols: conch and pig’s head The conch: Symbol of civilization and order, leadership and authority The pig’s head: Symbol of Man’s evil, savage nature Connectionas one symbol diminishes in its importance and relevance to the boys, the other rises in its influence and power representing how the boys have abandoned the civilized values that the conch represented for the new order of savagery that the pig’s head, seen as an offering to the new ‘religion’ of Jack’s tribe, symbolizes.

Picking precise evidence for analysis “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” “the skull lay in two pieces, its grin now six feet across“ Connectionboth symbols were destroyed, but the pig’s skull seemed to have power even after it was split into two, while the conch “ceased to exist”, completely obliterated It is evident that the condition of the two symbols are meant to represent how savagery and evil have triumphed over civilisation

Analysing further, making more connections "skull that gleamed as white as ever the conch had done.“ Golding invites readers to draw a connection between the 2 symbols by saying the skull “gleamed as white as ever the conch had done”. The colour white links the two now, making readers compare the two symbols. Is the similarity meant to suggest that civilization is not that different from savagery? We may draw further connections to the white uniform of the naval officer. Isn’t he the adult representative of civilization, and a savior of the boys? Yet, why does Golding call attention to his revolver and the sub-machine gun on his ship? These are instruments of killing and destruction…Why does the naval officer turn away embarrassed from the crying boys, finding comfort in the sight of his war cruiser in the distance? Does Golding mean to suggest that savagery and the “darkness of man’s heart” is hiding in plain sight? That the savior needs saving himself, and that the Lord of the Flies continues to grin smugly, knowing that his reign is as strong as ever…

Smart choice of symbols: Piggy’s glasses and Fire Piggy’s glasses represent intellect and knowledge - Piggy, their owner, is the most intelligent boy on the island - the boys use the glasses to start fires, symbolizing Man’s ability to use intellect to harness the forces of Nature The condition of Piggy’s glasses also reflect the boys’ ability to reason and to see things with clarity and good judgement. As the boys descend further into savagery, they become more irrational and give in to fear, no longer able to exercise good judgement. Golding appears to use Piggy’s glasses as an indicator of the deteriorating condition of the boys – Piggy is constantly having to clean his spectacles and one lens is broken when Jack punches him. Piggy’s vision continues to deteriorate as the novel progresses and the boys become increasingly violent and Jack ascends as Chief. Later when his spectacles are stolen by Jack, Piggy is left virtually blind.

Smart choice of symbols: Piggy’s glasses and Fire Fire is an element of Nature that the boys, and Man, try to control and put to good use. At first, the fire is started as a signal fire, to alert passing ships so they can be rescued and return to civilization. Early on in Chapter 2, fire’s potential for destruction is revealed, as the boys nearly burn down the forest and a boy goes missing, presumably killed in the fire. The boys, who were excited by the sight of the fire, lost control of it, alluding perhaps to Man’s own destructive uses of technology, most notably in the creation of weapons of mass destruction like nuclear weapons. The story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods comes to mind…

Smart choice of symbols: Piggy’s glasses and Fire Soon, the fire has another purpose – when Jack and his hunters successfully kill pigs, the fire is used to cook the pigs. In Chapter 4, when Jack lets the fire go out because he led his hunters away to kill a pig instead of tending to the fire, he has an argument with Ralph, which creates deep divisions within the tribe, and drives a wedge between Ralph and Jack that will have dire repercussions later in the novel. Tending to the fire is no longer as important to the boys as hunting and eating meat, signifying that returning to civilization is no longer an attractive prospect to the boys. The fire is now valued by the hunters because it is vital in their process of hunting and killing and cooking and eating.

Smart choice of symbols: Piggy’s glasses and Fire Fire takes on yet another purpose when Jack uses fire to smoke Ralph out so he can be killed. From being a tool that was supposed to get them rescued and united them with a common purpose, it became an instrument of murder in Jack’s hands. The great irony though is when the fire attracted the warship that ‘rescued’ the boys.

Connecting Piggy’s glasses and Fire? Piggy’s glasses are an invention by Man, an example of Man’s technological prowess and intellect Fire is an element of Nature that can be used for various purposes to achieve different ends, and is an example of how Man can put the world’s resources and their intellect to good use, or to cause destruction. One is a tool created by Man, and the other a force of Nature that Man attempts to control. Both are indicators of Man’s nature and intentions, as events of the novel show that the intended use of both is subverted, and shows how savagery begins to engulf the boys and lead them almost to self-destruction.