Irony In Lord Of The Flies Analysis

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Everybody fears something, no matter how big or small, the fear is still present. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies dismay plays a huge role in the order and civility of the island. A littlun describes to Piggy how he saw a beastie. For a while, the boys are trying to configure what the beastie resembles and what it wants with the boys. Does it come from water, or from the unexplored parts of the island? Does the beastie fly, does it walk? All of these unknown questions outline the fear that the boys feel for this looming presence. William Golding effectively uses irony to develop the idea that the fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn you to either focusing on what is important or losing your moral compass. Fear …show more content…
Jack is a charismatic and evil boy, and is easily corrupted by power. Jack is the leader of the choir boys, or the chorister, and being that Jack thinks that he is the leader of the boys. When Ralph is elected chief, Jack is mortified, but is quickly appeased by Ralph making him the leader of the hunters. While deciding how the democracy is to be run Jack imposes to the boys that, “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. Afterall we’re not savages”(42). Jack is building up the boys confidence in how their lives will be on the island, and their democracy will survive. The irony in this quote is that shortly after he presses the boys about having rules, Jack contradicts himself when stating “Bollocks to the rules! We 're strong--we hunt! If there 's a beast, we 'll hunt it down! We 'll close in and beat and beat and beat”(91). Here Jack is indicating that because there is a beastie, they should no longer follow the rules. The fear the boys have for the beast is wrecking their democracy and turning to barbarity and darwinism. Jacks violence as a leader eventually leads to many traumatic and sardonic events to …show more content…
Simon was a very down to earth and unified with nature. Contrasting the other boys, he was frail, fainted, and was the only one whom the lord of the flies talked to. Simon was consistently putting the littluns before himself; he was the only one who expressed concern for the littluns. Simon is seen as a mythical and prophetic character, especially when he foretells the boys “Maybe there is a beast…. What I mean is… maybe it’s only us” (89). Simon is predicting the fact that the boys will turn into beast-like savages. The irony of Simon predicting the savagery and having the lord of the flies talk to him, is that Simon is the savior of the boys, and is brutally murdered by them all. When Simon sees that the beastie everyone saw was just a parachuter, he runs to the beach to tell the boys. The sudden running figure frightens the boys and they try to parry the monster, and Golding describes the attack as “It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill”(152). Simon was called an ‘it’ to emphasize the fact that he was treating like a beast. Simon was trying to yell over the noise to tell them about the parachuter, but because of their fear for the beast, the boys kept clawing, stabbing, and biting the beastie. Simon’s murder especially showing how fear can really change how you discern other people and things in order to feel

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