Lord of the Flies

This extract is in Chapter 5 from ‘Lord of the Flies' by William Golding. This passage shows an escalating conflict among the children because Golding’s establishment of power struggle manipulates the concept of social order. The unnecessary fear and poor communication causes the downfall of society inevitably. I will discuss the Symbolism, Figurative language, and how the Dialogue is constructed within this passage which I believe are the most important techniques Golding uses to convey his point.

The somber tone is maintained throughout the passage. At the start of the passage the tone is gloomy but the use of light imagery for the conch indicates that the unnecessary fear can be combated if they remain democratic by following rules. But, the misinterpretation of Simon’s idea leads to the final line “The assembly was shaken as by a wind.” This line suggests that the failure to understand Simon’s idea which leads to talks of the beast being a ghost has everyone petrified. But the pace remains similar throughout because of the continuous dialogue and scarce description.

In the selected passage, Golding had used the darkness in the setting to develop and enhance the theme of the story. Golding had used darkness in many forms in order to indicate the growing power of fear. Firstly, the word “gloom” was used to describe the atmosphere along side with the diminishing light of the conch. This is expressed as the result of the argument and the vilely pleasure which the hunters gain from their uncivilized acts. Furthermore,