Like many excellent works, William Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies can be read on
many different levels. It is possible to read the book literally, as a mere story about
boys marooned on an island. It is also possible to read the book as an indictment of the
nature of man - as being pure evil without society's boundaries. A further analysis of
The Lord of The Flies reveals something else - the novel has many references to religious
persecution throughout history. Golding uses many religious elements along with
metaphors representing the death of Jesus, the torture of Jews in the Holocaust, and the
ascent and reign of Hitler in Nazi Germany to present an underlying theme of religious
persecution that proves his grim outlook on the nature of man.
Golding's use of religious elements allows for the plausibility of the religious
persecution theme. The island the boys find themselves on is pristine and untouched -
like the Garden of Eden - until they arrive. However, once the boys arrived, they left a
scar on the island, in much the same way Adam and Eve left a scar in the Garden of Eden.
Another religious element Golding uses is in the title of the book. 'Lord of the Flies'
translates into 'Beelzebub' in Greek - a name for the Devil. This suggests the entire
book is about the epitome of religious evil - the Devil himself. A final religious
element is well hidden. The "stick sharpened at both ends" exists not only in Golding's
description of the killing of the sow, but also in the Bible in the story of David and
Goliath. After David kills Goliath, the giant's head is cut off and placed on a "stick
sharpened at both ends" and is used to frighten enemies. The similar usage of the stick
in this novel (in which the beast's head is used to frighten the enemies of Jack's clan),
alludes to the fact that the book has a religious undertone. The combination of these
religious elements makes it easier for the reader to think of clues found later in the
book as descriptions of religious events.
If it is accepted that religion is a part of this book, it becomes possible to see the
killing of Simon as metaphorical of the killing of Jesus. Both Jesus and Simon spent
their final night on top of mountains (Jesus on top of the Mount of Olives) and see
visions of man's sin. Also, both Jesus and Simon were philosophers and lovers of beauty,
able to see good even when all seemed bad. Like Jesus, Simon was able to take himself
away from evil, he "turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led
him...he came to a place where more sunshine fell." Finally, both were persecuted for
their beliefs. Simon and Jesus tried to tell everyone else about their sin and their
capacity to be redeemed. Instead, both were killed because of the sin of others; Jesus
died for the sins of the Israelites and Simon died because the other children recognized
him as the symbol for their sin - the beast. The similarities between Jesus and Simon
are too numerous to be coincidental, Golding's Simon is the Bible's Jesus.
In much the same way Simon's death represents the death of Jesus, Piggy's death is a
metaphor for the Holocaust. Golding was a Jewish man living in Britain during World War
II. He was deeply troubled by the images he saw of the Holocaust and he portrayed that
masterfully in this novel. Piggy was different from all the other boys as the Jews were
different from the Germans. Piggy was referred to only by his derisive nickname, much in
the same way as Jews were stripped of their names and called 'Jew bastard' or 'kike.'
Piggy represented most of the intelligence of the boys' society and the Jews have been
regarded as one of the most intelligent groups in the time of Nazi Germany. Both the
Jews in WWII and Piggy were constantly ridiculed by a powerful group - the Jews by
Hitler's men, and Piggy by Jack's men. Also, just as the Germans followed Hitler's men's
actions, the boys followed the actions of Jack's men. Finally, both the Jews' and
Piggy's differences were the ultimate cause of their murders by the others. This
preliminary evidence points towards a relationship between Piggy and the Jews of the
Holocaust, but a Hitler-character from the book must be identified as well.
Golding chose Jack to represent Hitler. Jack was a boy who wanted power and didn't care
how he got it; he used propaganda to turn Ralph into someone who sympathized with Piggy's
"stupid" views of keeping the fire alive. Hitler was a man who wanted power and also
didn't care how he got it. He too used propaganda to turn the former leadership of
Germany into a group of people who sympathized with the "evil" Jews. Both Hitler and
Jack took advantage of stereotypes to assume power and dictatorship. Jack and Hitler
spoke of bettering their societies by cleansing them of unpopular beliefs. Jack promised
to rid the boys of Ralph's petty fire concerns and Hitler promised to rid the Germans of
the Jews unfair banking 'schemes.' Also, both Hitler and Jack had right hand men who
were in charge of the extermination of enemies. Roger was Jack's chief executioner and
Adolf Eichmann had the job of ridding Germany of the Jews. Also, neither Jack nor Hitler
had full control of their seconds in charge. Roger was the only one to ever speak
against Jack when he said, "that's not the way," in reference to the capture of Sam and
Eric while some historians have implicated Eichmann in a plot to kill Hitler. The final
hint that Jack is Hitler is shown by the fact that Ralph was suddenly rescued on the
verge of death and the Jews that were rescued from the concentration camps were close to
death as well. The combination of the comparison of Hitler to Jack and Piggy to the Jews
shows the reader that Golding had definite intentions of referring to the Holocaust in
his book.
The theme of religious persecution now seems quite strong. Did Golding intend for the
reader to discount the theme of man's inner-self being evil in order to accept the
religious persecution theme? This is not the case. The two themes, must be taken
together to depict Golding's grim indictment of man's nature. He shows that when "the
Lord of the Flies" - be it the Devil or man's evil nature - is allowed to take over,
disaster occurs. In Jesus's time, the Devil was allowed to take over, resulting in the
death of G-d. In the holocaust, man's inner beast was allowed to take over, resulting in
the extermination of six million Jews. Golding's point is that at every point in time
when society deteriorates, men show their true, beastly selves - even in the case of
young boys marooned on an island. Golding did not create the story of The Lord of the
Flies, it was created for him by history. Golding does not include the religious
persecution theme so people feel warned of what is to come, but rather he wants people
to be reminded of what has come to pass. If people forget the true nature of man, the
story of the young boys on the island shows it will only happen again. By including a
nuclear war in the story, Golding alludes that the next time society deteriorates, may be
the last.
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