Lord of the Flies(Analytical Notes)

Pre-reading (simply inspecting the book cover, the book title, & the

book chapters)

The Title= Beezlebub (Satan) is the “Lord of The Flies”

Flies symbolism= Annoyance of Death, decomposition, Satan, pests

12 Chapters= Twelve Disciples?, a cycle of completion?

Shapes= Circle (symbolic of God’s infinite love for mankind)

Shapes=Triangle (symbolic of trinities/ holy or unholy)

Shapes= Semi-circle (symbolic of broken circle/God disconnected

from mankind)

Shapes= Pyramid (symbolic of power/harmony)

Chapter #1 The Sound of the Shell

An island, trapped boys, a plane crash, an atomic war has occurred

Conch Shell symbolism= baptism, divination, love, civilization, and

order

The lagoon/jungle= Garden of Eden

Piggy= spectacles (intelligence, visionary) God figure???

Piggy= Crown of Thorns?(thorns in legs), Glasses at age of 3 (3

nails) sacrificial Christ figure???

The Scar on the Island= image of Hell?, image of sacrifice?

Ralph= name symbolism= to give counsel (to lead) Christ figure???

1

Jack= name symbolism= one who supplants (to take over) antichrist

figure???

Roger= name symbolism= great spear (warrior with horns, fangs)

devil figure???

Palm trees symbolism= roots of God???

Ralph undresses (juxtaposition)= the jungle “slides over his

skin”=devolved or converted into a “serpent”???

Ralph’s “golden body”= connected to God/Christ?

Conch shell=calls civilization to order (horn of God)???

Pig symbolism= great mother, abundance/(juxtaposition) filthiness,

disease, and sin

Ralph blowing the conch= the horn signaling the beginning of

Armageddon (Book of Revelations)??? / (juxtaposition) could

symbolize God calling his children

Jack’s choir=black cloaks, silver/gold crosses (prophets of evil)???

Jack Merridew= red hair (demon)?, blue eyes (frozen or dead soul)?

Choir resembles black birds=foreshadowing death?

Circle of Boys= Piggy on outside. (circle symbolism= man’s

connection to God)

The three boys= Ralph, Jack, and Simon (some form of the

trinity)???

2

Climbing the mountain = Mount Sinai/Moses??? (needs to be a

burning bush/flame?) (something must represent the Ten

Commandments/Laws?)

Three boys (Ralph, Jack, Simon) push massive rock down the cliff

(foreshadowing evil???) (representation of Moses destroying the Ten

Commandments???)

Butterfly symbolism= rebirth, hope and possibly evolution

Waters of the Lagoon= peacock feathers= the all-seeing eye of God

Candle Bushes=burning bush/God?

Jack=knife (demon’s claws/pitchfork?)

Jack=stabs tree=foreshadows destruction of (Tree of Life/Garden of

Eden)?

Lagoon’s Coral Reef= (circular reef= a guardian/protects against

murderers & thieves, also against natural disasters (war?) (Circular

reef= God’s protection???)

Chapter #2 Fire on the Mountain

“Snake thing/ beastie”=lives in the dark (Satan?)

“Dad’s ship is coming”= Ralph’s message (Christ’s message of

“being saved” by God???)

Children following Jack= Turning their backs on God???

Ralph starting the fire= Flame of God/Hope???

The boys lack of faith= (worried about rescue) foreshadowing

damnation???

3

Jack= keeper of the flames (demon)???

The mountainside burning= Hell (but is it self-made???)

Mulberry Birthmark(one of the boys)= Mulberry parable/Bible (If you

have faith, you will be able to do anything that seems impossible)

***The boy never appears throughout the book= a lack of

faith/stranded in hell???

Piggy= the voice of reason (science/evolution) glasses, fire, shelter,

compassion for others (God figure)???

Chapter #3 Huts on the Beach

Jack’s peeling skin= reptilian/ serpentine, spear (pitchfork/fangs)

hunts by scent/nose (primordial/savage/demon)???

Jack’s eyes= opaque and mad= demonic attachment???

Jack face paint= split personality/ good & evil/man & beast???

Communication breakdown= civilization/ threat of war/division of

tribe???

Jack= hunting/other side of mountain/ hell/night/=

demon/vampire???

Simon= black hair, dark skin (evil???/foreshadowing death???)

Simon= jungle/wandering off the path (lost???)

Candlebushes= night/blooming (stars/ heaven????)

Simon= providing fruit for the littluns (guardian angel of

God/savior???) (mother figure???)

4

Ralph’s followers= jungle/ paradise/ unburned side of island

(Garden of Eden)???

Jack’s followers= burned/rocky/smoky side of island (hell)???

Civilization of boys= total separation mirrors (atom bomb/ war/

anarchy)???

Anarchy= Lack of structure/ government ( atom bomb survivors)???

The atom= complete & total separation= bomb/ society???

“Angry red sun”= God enraged at the destruction of the boys???

Biguns= government/gods ???

Littluns= Citizens???

Chapter #4 Painted Faces and Long Hair

Maurice=kicks sand in Percival’s eye (demon/part of unholy

trinity)???

Roger=tries to kill Henry with stones/first attempted murder on

island (Roger=Cain & Henry=Abel)???, (demon/part of unholy

trinity), (Satan himself)???

Henry=protected from stones (circle/halo/God)???

Henry= name symbolism (enclosure or power)

Jack= Reflection in water= non-existent/disturbed

(vampire/demon)???

Ralph= running to mountain/bleeding/praying (foreshadowing

crucifixion)???

Jack spreads arms= crooked/twisted/inverted cross???

5

Death of a pig= foreshadowing Piggy’s

death/cannibalism/vampirism???

Jack= knocks off Piggy’s glasses (attempt to steal his soul)???

Meeting on beach= descent down the mountain (hell)???

Meeting on beach= boys form triangle (holy trinity/empty

apex/absence of God)???

Piggy= outside of triangle (absence of God)???

Boys bathroom=all over the island (savages/animals)

Boys bathroom=defiling/destroying Eden

Chapter #5 Beast from Water

Beasts= not in forest (where are they)???

Piggy= “We eat pig”= beasts eat pig (boys are monsters)???

Piggy= “Nothing to fear in the forests”= no demons, only God

(Eden/paradise)???

Piggy= “no beasts, not with claws” “there isn’t no fear either”

(scientific community/reasoning/reality/faith/God)???

Meeting/pig dinner= Ralph & Jack (both hold arms out/cross &

inverted, crooked cross)???

Beast of the Sea= (Book of Revelations) persecutes the saints who

do not worship the dragon (Satan/Jack/Roger)???

Simon’s prophecy= “the beast is us”

Meeting/assembly= breaking down/rules &

civilization/communication & government (Armageddon)???

6

Ralph’s prophecy= “The world, the understandable and lawful world

is slipping away” (all hell is about to break loose)???

Jack, Roger, & Maurice= open revolt (the battle for throne of God’s

paradise)???

Meeting= blows up (atom bomb)??? (chanting/howling/”wordless

rhythm”/hell)???

Ralph’s 2nd prophecy= “suppose things are watching us and

waiting?” (God, the beast, scientist/government)???

Ralph= “[we are] three blind mice” (is this a government

experiment?)???

Boys’ voices= began to squeak (lab rats)???

Little Percival= wailing, screaming, crying (literary allusion=

connection to the holy grail/foreshadowing death of God on the

island)???

Chapter #6 Beast from Air

Beast of the Air= Beelzebub (Lord of the Flies)

“Figure”= three (3) miles up (beast/Christ)???

“Figure”= “feet dragged up the mountain, head & chest upright”

(crucifixion of Christ)???

Sam & Eric= keepers of the fire (one being)??? (two mouths, four

legs, four arms/ the beast/a fly)???

Sam & Eric= “the figure” (claws/teeth/eyes/wings=beast/Lord of

the Flies)???

7

Beach= Jack’s tribe (savages/vampires)= turn circle inside out

(circle of spears/fangs) (inversion of God’s symbol/fighting

God/symbol of evil)???

Piggy= busted lens (shattered vision of God/flaws of mankind)???

Simon= cuts head on tree (crown of thorns/foreshadowing

crucifixion)???

Tarzan literary allusion= “For all we know, the beast may swing

through the tress like what its name.” (King of the

Beast/Satan)???

Jack= Continually turns red throughout chapter

(reptile/vampire/demon)

Simon’s 2nd prophecy= “I don’t believe in the beast”

Leviathan= beast of the sea/Castle Rock/Satan’s lair/boiling

sea/hell (home of the savages/vampires)???

Island= pink rock/flesh (is the island human/reflection of the

boys

themselves?/stranded/deserted/lost/hopeless/faithless/marooned

as individuals)???

Ralph= (chapter #1) Queen’s maps (maps of all the islands in

the world) (maps of boys/government experiment)???

Jack= assumes role of chief/leads boys across the rock bridge to

Castle Rock (hell) (boys following evil)???

Chapter #7 Shadows and Tall Trees

8

Boys’ shadows= personality disorders??? split personalities???

Sea= “boiling” (hell)???

Ralph= desires a bath, a haircut (scissors=separate from the

savages/vampires)???, clean and cut finger nails (nails represent

the demon he has become)??? (desires a cleansing of the soul/to

be civilized)???

Boys= faces “marked in less accessible angles and shadows” (no

longer human/ animalistic/vampires)???

Ralph’s vision/premonition= “one clamped, one helpless, and

one condemned” (coming of a crucifixion)??? (unpenitent thief,

penitent thief, & Christ)???

Simon’s prophecy= tells Ralph “you’ll get back to where you

came from”

Jack= hunting/pig droppings “Jack bent down to them as though

he loved them.” (a fly/lord of the flies)???

Ralph= flashback (books of trains & ships) (separation from

everyone on the island/new journey)???

Simon= “Berengaria” (a mistake by Simon) meant to say

“Eleanor of Castile”

Berengaria= linked to Jack (queen who only married for

power/Jack only wants power)

9

Eleanor of Castile= saved husband’s life by sucking the poisoned

blood out her husband’s wound during the Crusades (Jack’s

wound)

Eleanor of Castile= connected to Ralph (willing to do whatever it

takes for the lives of the boys) (Christ figure)???

Robert= wants human sacrifice, ritual, “kill,” “kill” chant (head

vampire/Satan)???

Jack= “use a littlun [for] sacrifice” (everyone laughs/blood

lust/vampires)

Twins Sam & Eric= “nod like one boy” (twins split between good

& evil)

Jack prophecy= in a “strange voice” says “we mustn’t let

anything happen to Piggy must we?” (foreshadowing)???

Jack, Roger, Ralph= Climb the mountain (pig hunt)??? (searching

for the beast)??? (unholy trinity)???

Figure/creature on the mountain= (Jack hides in rear) (Ralph

takes lead)

Chapter #8 Gift for the Darkness

Jack= drawing circles in the sand after seeing the beast (still

connected to God)???

Ralph= describes the beast (“teeth…black eyes”/ vampires?)

Jack=squats by the fire (“doesn’t want to be rescued”)

(connection to the beast)???

10

Jack’s prophecy= “The beast is a hunter” (Jack)??? (Roger)???

(Maurice)???

Communication/Language= Ralph & Jack battle over “talk, talk,

talk” (last semblance of communication/ death of language)???

Jack= turns multiple shades of red throughout the chapter

(reptilian skin changes)??? (demon constantly changing

shapes)???

Jack= rebellion & separation from Ralph’s tribe (leaves

alone/cries tears) (crocodile tears/trap)??? (last semblance of

being human/connection broken from God)???

Ralph’s prophecy= Jack “will come back when the sun goes

down” (beast/demon/vampire)???

Pyramid of twigs & leaves on the beach= (symbolic of mountain

& harmony)???

Piggy & Samneric= Jungle to harvest fruit (last supper)???

Jack’s prophecy= “we’ll kill a pig and give a feast”

(foreshadowing death of Piggy)??? (last supper)???

Jack= hunting “silent as the shadows” (dark

side/demon/vampire)???

Jack= murders sow while piglets [children] watch (mother pig)

(matricide)??? (foreshadowing Piggy’s death)???

(***Piggy=mother of the littluns)

11

Death of mother pig= juxtaposed with “butterflies” dancing on

the air (angels of God)??? (soul of the mother pig)???

Hunters= bathing in mother pig’s blood/eating the raw viscera

(vampires)???

Jack= decapitates mother pig (sacrificial gift for the beast) or

(warning)???

Flies= swarm on the mother pig’s viscera and head (connection

to mankind)???

Mother Pig= reflection of what mankind teaches its children to

become??? (“half shut eyes…infinite cynicism”)

(heartless/soulless/murderers/vampires)???

Simon= hiding amongst candle bushes (witnesses death of

mother pig) (infested by flies [mirrored reflection of mother pig],

drinking his sweat [blood]) (foreshadowing Simon’s death)???

Simon= pulse in right temple pounding (drums in the

head/connection to savagery/connection to the

beast/foreshadowing destruction of the temple of God)???

Storm begins= thunder, lightning, rain (God’s anger at the

coming storm/war/death on the island)???

Ralph begins questioning Piggy= seeking God’s

guidance/knowledge???

12

Hunters= “demoniac figures…howling” (rise of the vampires)???

Littluns flee “screaming” (angels fleeing hell on earth) (death of

innocence)???

Jack= completely nude (past the point of no return)

(savage/demon/vampire)???

Ralph= calls meeting, “The fire’s the most important thing.

Without the fire, we can’t be rescued.” (without fire, connection

to God will be lost)???

Lord of the flies= speaks to Simon (setting a trap)??? (prophecy

of the beast)??? (warning from mother)??? (disconnect from the

mother)??? (Is Simon one of the piglets [child of the mother

pig])???

Chapter # 9 A View to a Death

Storm= continues to build (clouds of the coming doom)???

Island= “color” draining from “trees…water…rocks”

(foreshadowing vampire attack/draining of blood)???

Simon= severe nose bleed (crown of thorns) (foreshadowing

vampire attack)???

Simon= sees “pearly lights” in the sky (pearly gates of heaven

opening for Simon)???

Simon= “brightness [light] gone from his eyes” (lost soul/preview

of death)???

13

Simon= “staggering…weak legs…tongue pained him” climbing

the mountain alone (symbolic journey up the mountain of God

[Sinai])??? (symbolic journey to heaven)??? (symbolic journey to

see the beast)??? (symbolic trip up Calvary Hill/ foreshadowing

crucifixion of Simon)???

Mountain top= “the beast” (soldier/adult/mankind)???

The Beast= flies everywhere “cloud of flies” (halo of flies) (man’s

future)??? (Simon’s future)???

Simon= untangles the beast (sets beast/man free)??? (cleansing

of mankind’s soul/ forgiven by child/Simon/angel of God)???

Hunters= pig roast [mother pig] (cannibals/vampires)???

Jack & Ralph= struggle for chiefdom (beginning of

Armageddon)???

Ralph= “going to be a storm” (battle between good & evil)

(foreshadowing the storm of vampires killing Simon, angel of

God)???

Hunters= blood ritual/chanting “kill the beast, cut his throat”

(foreshadowing vampire attack on Simon, draining his blood)???

Simon= coming down the mountain (bringing message of

hope/message of God)???

Simon= vampire attack (murdered with “teeth…claws”)

(cannibalistic vampires)???

14

Death of Simon= juxtaposition following horrific attack (storm

ends/clouds open up/moonlight falls over remains of Simon’s

body/phosphorescent glow everywhere/sea creatures carry

Simon’s body to the sea/waters carry Simon away/Simon floating

in the shape of a cross/baptism & purification of Simon’s

soul/return to God)???

Chapter #10 The Shell and the Glasses

Ralph & Piggy= stare at “empty chief seat” (God/Christ has

abandoned the island)???

Ralph & Piggy= “befouled bodies” (connection to

murder/connection to sin/becoming vampires)???

Simon’s murder= Piggy & Ralph “outside of circle” (disconnected

from murder/no power over man/godless act)???

Ralph & Piggy= Piggy touches Ralph’s shoulder/Ralph “shudders

at the human contact” (symbolic of man’s disconnect from

heaven & goodness)???

Samneric= last remaining followers of Ralph & Piggy/keepers of

the flame (last remaining hope for God & Christ)???

Sam= scratch on forehead from twigs (crown of thorns/coming of

another sacrifice/crucifixion)???

Jack, Roger, Maurice= separate island/Castle Rock (Satan’s

lair)???

Hunters= semi-circle (broken circle/disconnect from God)???

15

Jack= “we must stay on the right side of the beast” (mark of the

beast/Revelations)??? (Jack is the Antichrist)???

Jack, Roger, Maurice= Unholy Trinity (Book of Revelations)???

Hunter= Wilfred is whipped by Jack (the damned whipped in

hell)??? (Wilfred’s name means: “one who seeks peace”) (Wilfred

whipped for seeking peace with Ralph & Piggy)???

Ralph, Piggy, & Samneric= allow the fire to go out (loss of God’s

protection)???

Vampire attack= Jack, Roger, & Maurice [unholy trinity] attack in

the darkness

Jack, Roger, & Maurice= attack with “teeth…claws” (vampires

seeking souls)???

Jack, Roger, & Maurice= steal Piggy’s glasses (steal Piggy’s

soul)???

Jack= carries Piggy’s glasses [soul] in his left hand (left hand is

connected to evil)???

Chapter # 11 Castle Rock

Demons/Vampires= steal the fire of the trinity (Ralph. Piggy.

Samneric) (island spirals into the darkest pits of hell) (all hope is

lost)???

Piggy= no glasses (blind/lost in hell/powerless to save man as

God figure)???

16

Ralph, Piggy, & Samneric= march to Castle Rock [hell] (the

devil’s lair) (battle of Armageddon continues) (Christ/harrowing

of hell [Apostles’ Creed])???

Samneric= take up spears (foreshadowing transforming into

vampires)???

March to Castle Rock= “devastated fruit trees” (Garden of

Eden/god’s paradise tainted/destroyed by sin/evil)???

Ralph= Wishes for bath, comb, uniforms, caps “because we

aren’t savages” (baptism/preparing for burial)???

Piggy=Carrying the conch (horn to announce the coming

Armageddon)???

Mirage= “the sky…the mountain…the coral reef…the lagoon”

(symbols of God) “separated from the island, floating in the sky”

(separation of heaven from hell)???

Piggy= “peered anxiously into the luminous veil that hung

between him and the world” (Piggy’s death shroud/God shut off

from the world)???

Roger= “dark face” (death/grim reaper/Satan himself/apex of

Castle Rock/unholy trinity)???

Piggy= becomes “shapeless as a sack”

(vampires/savages/demons do not recognize God presence or his

power/God is helpless, shapeless)???

17

Jack & the Vampires= Return from hunting in the jungle, they are

“black & green” [reptiles/serpents in the Garden of

Eden/demons]

Savages/vampires= Have murdered and decapitated another

mother pig (where is the head?) (2nd practice of matricide)

(foreshadowing a 3rd practice of matricide/death of Piggy [mother

of the littluns])???

Ralph= calls Jack “thief” (soul/fire stealer) (reference to the

antichrist stealing God’s vision & love for humanity)???

Ralph & Jack= Armageddon ensues (spear fight/Revelations)???

Savages/Vampires= Capture Samneric, vampires feel Samneric’s

“otherness [and] the power in their own hands” (evil

overpowering/overthrowing goodness/godliness)???

Piggy (God)= “let me speak…I got the conch” (God’s last

attempt to have his word heard/last attempt to save

humanity/civilization)???

Jack & the Vampires= form “a solid mass of menace that bristled

with spears” (forming a massive

beast/animal/demon/resemblance of pig bristles)???

Roger (Satan)= releases lever (rock) murders Piggy (God)

Piggy= crushed, falls 40 feet, lands on “square red rock” [alter of

sacrifice]???

18

Piggy= head split open, brains come out, washed away by sea

(God removed from mankind by evil actions & thoughts)???

Death of Piggy (God)= sea boils, waves take his body, he

disappears (death of God=body, mind, & spirit of mankind/earth

[island] becomes a living hell)???

Jack= pierces Ralph’s side with spear (piercing of Christ’s side by

Roman centurion)??? (coming crucifixion)???

Ralph= all alone, holy trinity completely destroyed/ hunted and

chased (rabbit/cornered like a lab rat [man’s experiment])???

Chapter 12 Cry of the Hunters

Ralph= Completely alone (abandoned in hell)???

Ralph= bloody, scarred, covered with filth (sacrificial Christ)???

Bill (savage)= not himself “savage whose image refuses to blend

with the human form” (vampire)???

Roger= left hand [spear] (vampire/evil)??? right hand [stone]

(mark of the beast/murderer)???

Roger= smoke rising “thickly behind him” (Satan/head

vampire)???

Roger= gnawing on pig (symbolically feasting on the flesh of

Piggy)??? (Vampire/cannibal/Satan)???

Ralph= in denial “They’re not as bad as that.” (forgiving qualities

of Christ)???

19

Garden of Eden= “acres of smashed fruit” (symbolic of Piggy’s

[God’s] head being smashed)??? (Eden’s/God’s paradise

complete destruction)???

Island= “rock prevents vegetation from growing” (rock of

hell/death preventing reestablishment of God/Eden)???

Ralph=”prickles of sensation ran up and down his back”

(symbolic of “pig bristles”/the beast)??? (a hunted beast)??? (the

unholy trinity’s vision of Christ as “the beast”)???

Ralph= confronts the skull of the mother pig (confronting the

deaths of Simon & Piggy)???

Ralph= takes the spear from the mother pig’s skull (owner of the

spear/lord of the flies/accepts role of Christ figure)???

Ralph= 2nd march to Castle Rock/hell (reaches out to

Samneric/attempts to “save them” [2nd harrowing of hell])???

Roger= sharpens spear at “both ends” (horns/Satan)???

Ralph= hiding from “horrors of the supernatural” (hiding from

Satan/vampires)???

Vampires= constantly screaming & howling (signaling the

coming attack/hunt of the vampires)???

Ralph= spears two (2) vampires (spear serves as the wooden

stake)???

Vampires= attempt to crush Ralph with “red rock” (fire and

brimstone of Revelations)???

20

Ralph= attacks vampires (“snarling & stabbing”) (fighting fire

with fire)???

Jungle= becomes engulfed with flames (the death of the Garden

of Eden and the birth of hell on earth)??? (mirrors what mankind

has done to the earth with atomic war)???

Hell= Ralph hears “screaming…mice squealing” (voices of the

damned in hell [vampires]/lab rats [boys] of man’s experiment

with the children)???

Fire on the island= started with Piggy’s glasses (God’s rage at

mankind turns earth into hell)???

Ralph= falls at the feet of a military commander (uniformed in

white) (is man God controlling all life with war)???

Military Officer= I “would have thought you [English] boys would

have been able to put up a better show than [this].” (reference

to man’s superiority complex of race/nationality)??? (reference to

boys being used as a twisted, sinister lab experiment for the

fallout of war)??? (reference to man’s inability to ever take care

of himself without resorting to the death and destruction of his

own kind) (is mankind simply a cannibalistic vampire doomed to

self-destruct)??? (is man the definition of true evil: “the exercise

of power in order to psychologically or physically harm another

human being”)???

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