NOTE: This may be too long and you may be too lazy to read it, but this answer is very informative and will help any and all students/readers of this book understand the prominence of the deaths, symbols, and reasons for why the deaths occurred and/or appeared in the book.
The kid with the birthmark was caught in the fire that got out of control. (That does not hold much, if any, significance to the story). Then there was Simon. Simon was killed out of fear by the boys when "he" (the boys mistook him for the beast) was seen in the dark holding The Lord of the Flies' head. Simon had rushed back to the huts to tell the boys of his realization but they immediately started attacking him before he could get a word out. They continued to kill him even after hearing his sobs, cries for help, and, most likely, after seeing his illuminated face. Although, Piggy and Ralph did not jump into the killing circle, formed around the "beast", right away; instead, they joined the circle close to the end of Simon's life. One important thing to know is that they killed Simon because of their fear of the unknown, just as all of us readers (or you lazy kids who don't want to read the book) have: The fear of the unknown. Golding portrayed, throughout the book, the "end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart" (Golding 202). The next, and last, death on the island was the fall of Piggy. Before his death, Jack stole Piggy's glasses and took them to Castle Rock; Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric (name given to the twins Sam and Eric) all discussed confronting Jack to retrieve his glasses. [Piggy's glasses symbolize survival (it makes the fire to cook their food), hope (the fire makes smoke so they can be rescued), and knowledge (Piggy is, of course, the owner of his glasses and he is the brains of the island; if Piggy doesn't have his glasses, and evil does, then all of what the glasses represent will be lost and Piggy will be over. {The kid can't see!} ). Therefore, when Jack stole Piggy's glasses it foreshadowed Piggy's death. At Castle Rock, things didn't go as Ralph and Piggy had planned (walk up, demand glasses be returned, get glasses, restore order....NOT EVEN CLOSE!) Soon after arriving at C.R. , Jack and Ralph get into a fight using both their fists and their spears while Piggy is kneeling down as Ralph told him to. [My memory is a little blurry of what happened before Piggy picked up the conch, so I shall make it simple.] Piggy picked up the conch. He then tried to make them realize what would happen if he did not get his glasses back. A little after, Roger (at the top of the hill using a lever to hurl somewhat massive rocks at Ralph) turned his attention to Piggy. Piggy, holding the conch shell in the air to be heard, was still unable to see so when Roger hurled a rock at Ralph, he dodged but his unaware friend, Piggy, did not. "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee..." the conch (the symbol for power and civility) was crushed "...and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. ... Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms had twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed." (Golding 180). Two major symbols in the book have now been eliminated: The conch shell and Piggy, the brains of the island. When that stuff emerged from his open head, he lost his brains. Let me rephrase that last part of the sentence to: The boys lost the island's brains (the intelligence/knowledge).
To summarize, there are two prominent deaths (or should I say murders?) that add to Golding's many themes for his book. This truly is a great book even though the beginning may be... Boring, dull, hard to follow along, etc. . Share this information with your friends in classroom discussions, teacher meetings, study groups, tutorial classes, reading clubs, or when asked about the book! You will amaze and, most importantly, inform others of your new knowledge and understanding of the book.
Copyright 1954 by William Golding
*All excerpts/quotes and paraphrasing sentences above are given full credit to Golding*
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
The kid with the birthmark was caught in the fire that got out of control. (That does not hold much, if any, significance to the story). Then there was Simon. Simon was killed out of fear by the boys when "he" (the boys mistook him for the beast) was seen in the dark holding The Lord of the Flies' head. Simon had rushed back to the huts to tell the boys of his realization but they immediately started attacking him before he could get a word out. They continued to kill him even after hearing his sobs, cries for help, and, most likely, after seeing his illuminated face. Although, Piggy and Ralph did not jump into the killing circle, formed around the "beast", right away; instead, they joined the circle close to the end of Simon's life. One important thing to know is that they killed Simon because of their fear of the unknown, just as all of us readers (or you lazy kids who don't want to read the book) have: The fear of the unknown. Golding portrayed, throughout the book, the "end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart" (Golding 202). The next, and last, death on the island was the fall of Piggy. Before his death, Jack stole Piggy's glasses and took them to Castle Rock; Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric (name given to the twins Sam and Eric) all discussed confronting Jack to retrieve his glasses. [Piggy's glasses symbolize survival (it makes the fire to cook their food), hope (the fire makes smoke so they can be rescued), and knowledge (Piggy is, of course, the owner of his glasses and he is the brains of the island; if Piggy doesn't have his glasses, and evil does, then all of what the glasses represent will be lost and Piggy will be over. {The kid can't see!} ). Therefore, when Jack stole Piggy's glasses it foreshadowed Piggy's death. At Castle Rock, things didn't go as Ralph and Piggy had planned (walk up, demand glasses be returned, get glasses, restore order....NOT EVEN CLOSE!) Soon after arriving at C.R. , Jack and Ralph get into a fight using both their fists and their spears while Piggy is kneeling down as Ralph told him to. [My memory is a little blurry of what happened before Piggy picked up the conch, so I shall make it simple.] Piggy picked up the conch. He then tried to make them realize what would happen if he did not get his glasses back. A little after, Roger (at the top of the hill using a lever to hurl somewhat massive rocks at Ralph) turned his attention to Piggy. Piggy, holding the conch shell in the air to be heard, was still unable to see so when Roger hurled a rock at Ralph, he dodged but his unaware friend, Piggy, did not. "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee..." the conch (the symbol for power and civility) was crushed "...and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. ... Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms had twitched a bit, like a pig's after it has been killed." (Golding 180). Two major symbols in the book have now been eliminated: The conch shell and Piggy, the brains of the island. When that stuff emerged from his open head, he lost his brains. Let me rephrase that last part of the sentence to: The boys lost the island's brains (the intelligence/knowledge).
To summarize, there are two prominent deaths (or should I say murders?) that add to Golding's many themes for his book. This truly is a great book even though the beginning may be... Boring, dull, hard to follow along, etc. . Share this information with your friends in classroom discussions, teacher meetings, study groups, tutorial classes, reading clubs, or when asked about the book! You will amaze and, most importantly, inform others of your new knowledge and understanding of the book.
Copyright 1954 by William Golding
*All excerpts/quotes and paraphrasing sentences above are given full credit to Golding*
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
