1. Lord of the Flies: Revision pack
Symbols
Piggy’s Glasses
Represent power, civilisation and order. They deteriorate throughout the novel
becoming more and more broken until they, like Piggy, are destroyed. They are the only
means of making fire so are also linked to survival and rescue.
„His specs-use them as burning glasses.‟
“...he saw more clearly if he removed his glasses and shifted the one lens to the other
eye; but even through the good eye, after what had happened, Ralph remained
unmistakably Ralph.”
“Piggy took back his glasses and looked at the smoke with pleasure.”
“He was a chief now in truth; and made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left
hand dangled Piggy‟s broken glasses.”
“Piggy handed Ralph his glasses and waited to receive back his sight.”
“He was a chief now in truth; and made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left
hand dangled Piggy‟s broken glasses.”
Fire
Has several meanings and could be said to represent the following things:
Danger, it cannot be controlled and probably claimed the life of the boy with the
birthmark.
The boys‟ primal urges (to make fire, to hunt, to dance and play-as in the scene of
Simon‟s murder)
Safety, light and comfort.
“„We don‟t want another night without fire.‟”
“This was the first time he had admitted the double function of the fire. Certainly one
was to send up a beckoning column of smoke; but the other was to be a hearth now and
a comfort until they slept.”
“Ralph tried indignantly to remember. There was something good about a fire.
Something overwhelmingly good.”
Hope (particularly the hope of rescue)
“„Four of us. We aren‟t enough to keep the fire burning.‟”
Cleansing, in destroying the island at the end of the novel the boys are rescued and
given the chance of a fresh start.
The Conch
Represents order and democracy. At the start it is respected and obeyed but as order
breaks down the conch loses its power.
Piggy is the only one who believes in the power of the conch throughout the novel and it
is significant that it is destroyed at the same time he is.

2. The conch is shattered into a million pieces and with it all hope of rebuilding order is
smashed.
“...the fragile white conch still gleamed by the polished seat.”
“At length Ralph got up and went to the conch. He took the shell caressingly with both
hands and knelt, leaning against the trunk.”
“...Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked himself to and fro.”
The dead airman.
Wrongly believed to be the beast, the airman creates a link between the boys and the
outside world. The airman reminds the reader of what is going on in the adult world
where men are killing other men and links to what the boys are beginning to do to each
other on the island.
The pig’s head
Placing the head on a stick demonstrates the boy‟s decent into savagery, offering gifts
to the beast.
It is also The Lord of the Flies, which translates into Hebrew as Beelzebub or the
devil:
This is literally seen when the flies surround the pigs head.
When the head talks to Simon it describes itself as the „beast‟ and explains that he has
gained power over the boys and will destroy them. Stating that he is impossible to kill;
the beast is part of them telling the reader what is going to happen in the rest of the
novel.
„half shut eyes‟ „dim with the infinite cynicism of adult life‟
„Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn‟t you?
I‟m part of you? Close, close, close! I‟m the reason why it‟s no go? Why things are what
they are?‟
Masks or painted faces
These represent the boys‟ transformation from schoolboys to savages. They give the
boys the power and freedom to hunt and kill.
The Beast
Represents the fear and evil within the boys.
The beast as imagination: begins with the mulberry birth-marked boy describing how
„The beastie came in the dark‟
„Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.‟
The beast changes form throughout the novel. Described as both a „snake thing‟ and
something that comes from the water.
„He wants to know what you‟re going to do about the snake thing‟ Piggy
„…as if you‟re not hunting but – being hunted.‟ – Jack
„I saw something move, among the trees.‟ – Phil (a littleun)
„Daddy said they haven‟t found all the animals in the sea yet.‟ – Maurice

3. The beast with the boys and mankind: This is the knowledge that only Simon has,
that the beast is within them all. It is made clear in the closing of the novel when
Ralph weeps for „the darkness of man‟s heart‟.
Characters
Simon
An outsider, Simon represents the good that humankind is capable of (so could be
considered to be a hero). However, he is an outcast and has seizures which make him
appear physically weak.
He is the only one who understands what is really happening to the other boys and is
the one that The Lord of the Flies speaks to.
His death is the beginning of the complete decent into anarchy and savagery for the
boys.
If he represented hope and goodness then with his death these things are lost too.
"[S]urrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath
the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out toward the open sea."
Chapter 9
Ralph
Is the novel‟s more obvious hero. He is elected chief are tries to maintain order on the
island.
He is chosen largely due to his appearance and the fact that he holds the conch (Ralph
often looks to Piggy for advice).
'[Ralph is] like Piggy....He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.'" Chapter 8
The fire and rescue is Ralph‟s main concern and it is this which creates the conflict
with Jack.
At the end of the novel Ralph is the one who realises the true horror of what‟s
happened on the island and what it tells us about mankind.
„Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man‟s heart, and the fall through
the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy‟
Jack
Jack is the antithesis of Piggy. He is rash and enjoys conflict.
Jack wants to be leader and his first appearance leading the animalistic choir
foreshadows how dangerous he becomes.
"[There was] something dark...fumbling along....The creature was a party of boys,
marching approximately in...two parallel lines...." Chapter 1
„tall, thin, and bony...his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was...freckled, and
ugly without silliness." Chapter 1
His initial restraint for killing is soon lost and he becomes a keen hunter.
The mask he wears gives him power and enables him to distance himself from the
civilisation and order that Ralph and Piggy are keen to maintain.

4. „[Jack] tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him
up.‟ Chapter 3
He [Jack] began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling." Chapter 4
'I painted my face--I stole up. Now you eat--all of you--and I--'" Chapter 4
“The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red.”
“He was a chief now in truth; and made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left
hand dangled Piggy‟s broken glasses.”
Piggy
The antithesis of Jack. He is thoughtful and wants the boys to live in peace. An easy
target for bullies his is set apart from the other boys by his physical appearance (being
overweight) and accent (singling him out as working class).
"'I don't care what [you] call me so long as...[it's not] what they used to call me in
school...They used to call me Piggy!'" Chapter 1, pg. 11
He remains hopeful right up until his death and never loses faith in the power of the
conch. With his death all hope of restoring order is lost.
He tries to protect the littleuns and Ralph; but is ultimately punished for his
difference.
Piggy, for all his ludicrous body, had brains." Chapter 5
"'Life...is scientific....I know there isn't no beast...but I know there isn't no fear,
either....Unless we get frightened of people.'" Chapter 5
“Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?” Chapter 11
Roger
Roger is the antithesis of Simon. He represents evil. He soon realises that his violence
on the island will go unpunished and is keen to follow this path. His murder of Piggy is
calculated and he shows no remorse for what he has done.
„Roger gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them. Yet there was a space
round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he dare not throw. Here,
invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life. Round the squatting child was the
protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.‟
Roger, sitting on the very edge of the cliff, looked somberly back at the island as he
worked his fingers with a loose tooth.” “He ceased to work at his tooth and sat still,
assimilating the possibilities of irresponsible authority.”
Settings
The island as a whole
The island offers isolation.
„This is an island. Nobody don‟t know we‟re here.‟ (9)
„Until the grown-ups come to fetch us we‟ll have fun.‟ (33)
The island represents a microcosm and a chance for the boys to be in charge.
„This belongs to us.‟ (26)
„All ours.‟ (27)

5. „This is our island. It‟s a good island.‟ (33)
The island is personified negatively.
„The unfriendly side of the mountain‟ (43)
„As if it wasn‟t a good island.‟ (53)
„They were used now to stomach-aches.‟(61)
The island is dangerous.
„Unknown indigo of infinite possibility‟ (94)
„The world outside the shelter was impossibly dangerous‟ (108)
„The horrors of the island‟ (175)
The island is a macrocosm, with the two ends symbolising the human instincts of Ralph
and Jack.
„This was the divide, the barrier.‟ (121)
„The conch doesn‟t count at this end of the island‟(166)
„Jack towards the Castle Rock and Ralph on the outside towards the island‟ (196)
The island is paradise and hell.
„On the other side of the island […] one might dream of rescue.‟ (121)
„But here […] one was helpless, one was condemned.‟ (121)
The use of pathetic fallacy in the fall to savagery.
„Thunder went off like a gun‟(152)
„Up in the cloud the canyons boomed again‟(155)
„Between the flashes of lightning the air was dark and terrible‟ (167)
Golding was showing the evil of the human character, and it is the boys who make the
island hell.
„The forest further down shook as with the passage of an enraged monster.‟ (25)
„Already its blood was staining the sand‟ (169)
„Awful things have been done on this island‟ (188)
Simon’s clearing
Like Simon it stands apart from the rest of the Island as it is calm and peaceful. It
reflects his character. Initially it represents innocence and purity and can be
compared to The Garden of Eden. The boys‟ loss of innocence is illustrated in this
clearing when Simon returns to find The Lord of the Flies impaled at its centre; a
powerful symbol of how the innocence of childhood has been corrupted by savagery.
Castle Rock
The fort on the island; used to keep enemies out and the headquarters of Jack‟s tribe.
This is the place where Piggy dies it could be argued that this is where order and logic
loses out to savagery and bestial tendencies.

6. Lord of the Flies
Past exam questions-Whole text questions:
Either,
(ii) What do you think of Jack and the way he is presented in the novel? [20]
Or,
(iii) A review of Lord Of The Flies said “William Golding knows exactly what boys are
like.” Towhat extent do you agree? Remember to support your answer with detailed
reference to thetext. [20]
What is the significance of the conch throughout this novel? You should refer closely
to language, events and characters in your answer.
What are the causes of the breakdown of civilises behaviour in the novel? You should
refer closely to language, events and characters in your answer.
How far do you agree that Jack represents disorder and savagery in the novel? You
should refer closely to language, events and the actions and opinions of other
characters in your answer.
By what means and how successfully is the character of Piggy made sympathetic? You
should refer closely to language, events and the actions and opinions of other
characters in your answer.
What is the importance of Simon in the novel? You should refer closely to language,
events and the actions and opinions of other characters in your answer.