Following his career in the Royal Navy, William Golding began to compose his most famous novel, Lord of the Flies. Shortly after their plane crashes on a solitary island, a group of English school boys attempt to maintain order and civilization. Ralph, the chief of the group, struggles to gain power and leadership from his followers, especially, the defiant, violent boy named Jack. Throughout the years, critic’s have argued that the novel is a religious allegory that has numerous biblical allusions within the work.
Lord of the Flies is, in fact, a religious allegory in which the island represents the Garden of Eden, the beast symbolizes the fall of man, and Simon acts as the Christ figure. First, the novel displays religious allegory characteristics through the islands similarities to the Garden of Eden. Golding describes that “The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air” (Golding 9).
The captivating imagery of the island corresponds to the flawless description of the Garden of Eden.
According to Genesis 2:9 “The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. ” The abundance of fruits and plants around the island provides visual similarities to the beautiful Garden of Eden. Although there are numerous graphic characteristics to the Bible, the innocence between Adam and Eve and the stranded boys also exist throughout the novel. After first arriving on the island, most of the boys were stripped of their clothing, but they do not experience any ashamed feelings at first.
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Golding expresses their innocence when he states “Some [boys] were naked and carrying their clothes; others half-naked, or more or less dressed…” (Golding 18).
Their innocence is correspondingly similar to Adam and Eve during their time in the Garden of Eden. As the Bible states “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25).
The innocence they had was pure, but after they sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they knew was forbidden, they felt shame in their bodies and tried to cover themselves.
The resemblance demonstrates the same qualities that the boy’s portrayed, on the island, after their attempt to kill the first pig. The shame towards their nakedness occurs when jack begins to paint his face to hide his embarrassment. “He [Jack] made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw” (Golding 63).
The shared characteristics among Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the group of English schoolboys on the island are clearly demonstrated in the novel, as well as similarities to the beast and the fall of man.
The immeasurable amount of evil inside every human can either be disguised as holy and kind actions, or it can be flourished with anger and violence. The proper English boys thinking there is a beast on the island is a parallel to when Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve chose, with their own sinful mind, to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Therefore there is an evil within all of our souls. One of the younger boys describes as seeing a snake-like beast, and from that point the boys are frightened that a beast may be hunting them.
Little do they know, the “beast” is only the evil inside of each of them. Simon travels to his serene, beautiful field where he goes at times he needs to be alone. While he observes a pigs head on a stick, he experiences hallucinations as he hears the dead pig head speaking to him. The sow describes to Simon, “Fancy thinking the beast is something you can hunt and kill” (Golding 143).
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This indicates that the beast is merely a figure of their imagination, which represents the serpent which tempts Adam and Eve.
By making them think they need the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is the same as the “beast” in the boys makes them think they need to kill to survive. It causes them to become more and more savage. 2 Corinthians 11:3 states “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ”. As the boys believed the beast was coming after them, the more violent they became towards one another. Simon, who is shown as the Jesus figure, had to show the boys that there was hope they would get
off the island. Finally, the novel displays intriguing similarities between Simon and Jesus, and they are shown throughout Lord of the Flies. Throughout the Bible, Jesus leaves his disciples to go to a solitary place to calm and pray, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).
Simon, who symbolizes Jesus, was a wise and holy person. He was realistic to the other boys of the group, and he attempted to restore hope that they would be rescued.
Although he was always kind and helpful to the group, his “friends” betrayed him when he came to warn them about the parachutist. This is similar to when Jesus was let down by his disciples. When none of the other boys would help Ralph build the huts, Simon was the one who stood by his side and encouraged him. Golding shows how loyal Simon was in Chapter three, “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else” (Golding 50).
When Simon was killed by the savage boys is a comparison to when Jesus was left by his disciples and crucified. The similarities between Simon and Jesus prove, once again, that Lord of the Flies is a religious allegory.
When the island represents the Garden of Eden, the fall of man is shown by the beast, and Jesus is expressed by Simons hopeful expressions, Lord of the Flies, the famous novel by William Golding, is proved to be a religious allegory. As their attempt at a humane and civilized group fails, the correspondence to the Bible increases. Simon provides more hope of rescue to the boys and is helpful in building huts, as Jesus was also helpful. The beautiful Garden of Eden resembles the island the boys have crashed on, and provides the boys opportunities to become more savage. In conclusion, Lord of the Flies is, indeed, a religious allegory.
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