Similarities Between Genesis To Lord Of The Flies

Superior Essays
Anjari Carter
Mrs. Blount
10th Honors World Lit
October 26, 2016
The Parallels between Lord of the Flies and the book of Genesis
“Everybody has good and bad forces working with them, against them, and within them.” (Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem) There are many connections between the Lord of the Flies and the book of Genesis. Hints of symbolism can be found throughout both stories. Lord of the Flies is a book written by William Golding which is about a plane of young boys that was shot down over an island. Since there was not any adult guidance or supervision they were forced to create a temporary society to survive in hope that they would soon be rescued. The plan was defective and resulted in the
…show more content…
Soon after the children join the tribe, their evil ways start to show. This also can be seen as a representation of things that took place in the Holy Bible. In Lord of the Flies, Jack said, “I gave you food and my hunters will protect you from the bears. Who will join my tribe?” In the Holy Bible, Satan says, “No! You will not die. In fact, God knows that when you eat your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-6 Holman Christian Standard Bible) Both Jack and Satan, both with evil intent, tried to persuade others to help spread evil. Once people are persuaded by Jack in Lord of the Flies and Satan in the Holy Bible, evil, savagery, and killing begin. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph states, “Just an ordinary fire. You’d think that we could do that, wouldn’t you? Just a smoke signal so we can be rescued. Are we savages or what?” In the Holy Bible, God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach, and take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3:22 Holman Christian Standard Bible) Both Ralph and God were trying to get people to do the righteous thing. Ralph wanted them to do the right thing so that they could all get off the island. God wanted Adam and Eve to do the right thing so that they could have life

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The 1954 novel Lord of the Flies encompasses the aftermath of World War 2 and draws heavy parallels to a post-World War 2. Written by Robert Golding, the novel is set on a dystopian island and illustrates that with the absence societal responsibilities, civilization degrades into fear and chaos by Jack’s dictatorial reign over the island. His rise to power originates through his evident denial of taking on his societal responsibilities. Naturally, human nature objectifies the strong and turns to them for guidance, Jack manipulates the others into sacrificing their freedom and sense of identity with his appeal to their needs of food and security. In turn, savagery and chaos ensue as everyone begins to blindly follow and conform to his ideologies.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The novel, Lord of the Flies, can be examined as a Biblical Allegory as many parallels are drawn between the novel and the story of the Garden of Eden. Golding uses similar environmental factors that can be compared between the two stories. The powerful theme of temptation is also evident, and represents how evil can sometimes over power against good. A third parallel can be drawn on the idea that the boys are under the presence of God, but are left by themselves on this microcosm without a physical higher authority to guide them away from evil.…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Thomas C. Foster whenever characters in literature share a meal it is considered a communion. Just because meals in literature are considered a communion that does not necessarily mean that they are holy. Sharing a meal is an “act of sharing and peace” (Foster 8). Eating food is considered such a personal thing that people only want to share meals with people they are comfortable being around. If an author includes a scene about a meal in their story it is always meant to serve a purpose, such as showing how characters are getting along with each other.…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    217 The Lord of the Flies), this kind of vivid imagery of savageryis the source of the controversy surrounding the book. Despite all the negativity surrounding this book, it actually holds something very usefulfor anyone who decides to read it. The Lord of the Flies teaches a very important lesson, itexplores the theme of authority, societal collapses, and savagery (Avi. Lord of the Flies:Savagery vs Civilization). The book starts off with the kids having a relatively stable system;each of the kids is assigned a job and the “littlel’uns” gathering fruit.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack creates the Lord of the Flies by severing the sow’s head and impaling it on a stake in the forest as an offering for the beast. Simon claims that The Lord of the Flies spoke to him about the nature of evil. The sow’s head can also be seen as a physical representation of “the beast” and as a symbol of Satan. In the author’s notes, “The “lord of the flies” is a translation of the Hebrew Ba’alzevuv. It has been suggested that it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which gave us this pungent and suggestive name for the Devil, a devil whose name suggest he is devoted to decay, destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic therefore fits in very well with Golding’s…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the speculating fiction novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Goulding, a group of British kids go from being innocent schoolboys, to corrupt savages after a horrific plane crash leaves them stranded on an island without order, protection, or an escape plan. As the boys fight for survival and order, their true animalistic nature is revealed when give into doing evil over good. Through these evolving characters and biblical connections, Goulding’s religious insight and views are shown in a direct form, which is otherwise known as a biblical allegory. William Goulding has intentionally placed biblical allegories in all of the characters to show the evil nature that lies within mankind. The most iconic character is the Lord of the Flies, or…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding and “All There Is to Know about Adolph Eichmann” by Leonard Cohen have the same theme of “monsters exist, not within monsters, but within the soul of every human.” The two pieces of literature have the same theme because in Lord of the Flies, all of the kids believed there was a supernatural monster that was hunting them down, but the real threat was the leader of the savage tribe, Jack, who repeatedly had his people beat and sometimes kill other boys. “In the midst of the chaos, Simon steps forward and says, ‘Maybe it’s only us’” (Golding 88). This is stated by Simon, who never questioned the existence of a beast, but said that the beast only existed inside of the boys.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The lord of the flies” describes to Simon that he is a part of him, which means that there is evil in Simon. “The lord of the flies” tells Simon that he (evil) is in everyone. “You know perfectly well you’ll only meet me down there- so don’t try to escape!”(Golding 143). This quote displays how each of the boys has evil in…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    English Lord of the Flies and Brave New World Essay Trying to teach a similar lesson means having similar components in a book. In the allegorical novels Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, the reader can find parallels and differences between the two books. Thereof, the reader finds similarities between the two central symbols in each book, the conch in Lord of the Flies and soma in Brave New World; both of which play pivotal roles in each of the respective societies. Also evident in each of the books is the contrasts between the two main protagonist. Each protagonist - John in Brave New World and Ralph in Lord of the Flies- are in different dilemmas in each of the societies; John is trying not to…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In literature, parallels have sometimes been drawn between certain characters and Jesus Christ. Jesus represents innate goodness, selflessness and sacrifice. His teachings promoted good in mankind and society in general. However, they were not always well received. Jesus was misunderstood my many and perceived to be a fraud.…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The similarity between the island in Lord of the Flies and the Garden of Eden in the Bible is a parallel shown prominently throughout the book. This ties into the boys, specifically Jack, associating with Adam and Eve. In the beginning of the book, the boys land on the tranquil island. Everything is peaceful and no worries abound. When the idea of a leader is introduced, things start going downhill.…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    -The spiritual belief in the Bible is God -The spiritual belief in the Lord of the Flies is the beast -Believing in santa clause, Tooth fairy and the Easter bunny -Adam and Eve compared to Jack and his hunters -Garden of Eden and the island were beautiful at first -They both break the rules -Beast is a reference to the snake -Eve is similar to Jack and Adam to his hunters -Moses is sharing the Ten Commandments -Relatable to Piggy and his rules -Moses is sharing his message to protect all the israelites -Piggy wanted to protect the boys -Traveling through the desert for 3…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Good vs. Evil in Lord of the Flies Does evil always prevail? Some say yes, some say no, but no was nearly the case in William Golding Lord of the Flies. “Good” and “evil” are very broad terms, but easily distinguishable in general. Good can be nearly anything with a positive connotation, but in the case of Lord of the Flies, it typically is anything that sticks to typical morals and values, whereas evil is immoral and barbaric acts that symbolize a regression to a primal nature. The conflict between this type of good and evil can be seen everywhere, religious texts, novels, nearly anything involving a protagonist against a person, force, or themselves.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Lord of the Flies is a famous novel written by William Golding which represents the human nature and the distinctions and representations between civilization and savagery. In Golding’s novel, Ralph, who is the protagonist, represents civilization because of his strong, yet fair leadership over the other schoolchildren. Meanwhile, Jack, who is the antagonist, is seen as a strong sign of savagery because of his defiance against Ralph’s leadership, which is shown when he leaves Ralph and starts his own tribe. The idea of human nature shows that humans are generally good at heart, unless they are tempted with evil. This explains why certain children on the island joins Jack instead of staying with Ralph.…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civilization is defined as the stage of human social development, whether that social development has a positive or negative connotation is dependent on outside factors and the people. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows both sides. The overall idea of the book focuses on the negative concepts of civilization such as murder and lack of teamwork and agrees with Gauguin ’s quote, but there are a few examples of bonding and friendships. Paul Gauguin is credited with claiming, “Civilization is what makes you sick.”…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays