The Golding’s Lord Of The Flies Novel: Religious Theme (Essay Sample)

An analysis of the religious theme as depicted in the Golding’s Lord of the Flies novel as well as an argument for the possibility that religion could be a form of an imagination
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An analysis of the religious theme as depicted in the Golding’s Lord of the Flies novel as well as an argument for the possibility that religion could be a form of an imagination
Written by William Golding, the Lord of the Flies novel represents a religious metaphor that retells some of the stories explicated in the Bible. Golding compares one of the characters, Simon, to Jesus as he is killed by his companions when he attempts to tell them the truth. Golding also presents the religious theme through the Lord of Flies, a beast like imagination formed from the landing of a dead pilot (Olsen 81). Golding further depicts biblical parallel when Simon confront the beast just like Jesus confronted the devil only to find out that the beast was just but a fragment of his imagination. This raises the contemporary debate of whether to classify religion as a form of human imagination. This analysis will attempt to prepare a summary of all the twelve chapters of the Lord of Flies novel and at the same time expound on how the development of the religious theme implicates Simon and the beast. This analysis will also expand on how the religious theme can be used to justify the contemporary argument that religion could be a form of imagination.
To begin with, this part of the paper will summarize chapters one to six of the novel. The novel begins by introducing its characters; a group of young boys who crash on a deserted island after their plane comes face to face with enemy fire during the Second World War. The boys get to know one another, elect Ralph as their leader and start their new lives on the island. In the second chapter, one of the boys, Piggy reminds the rest that nobody was aware of their whereabouts that cause panic among the group. They begin believing that there is a beast like the monster on the island even though some of the older boys such as Ralph dismiss the claims as mere imaginations. Their efforts to build a large fire fail and one of the little boys also disappears. As their group leader, Ralph faces the challenges of taking care of the young boys and is also frustrated that most of the boys are not willing to work. Jack and his hunting party unsuccessfully return from their hunting trips that create a rift between him and Ralph. Simon is the only one willing to help Ralph with the work and he also seems to be mesmerized by the island’s beauty. The fourth chapter illuminates the boys’ daily routine that bears with it climatic challenges as well as the health complications due to their poor diet. The young boys continuously have nightmares about the existence of a beast and some of the older boys taunt them. Jack fails to live up to his responsibility of lighting a signal fire after a ship passes nearby but comes home with his first kill. The boys celebrate their first taste of meat since the crash, but the rift between Jack and Ralph continues to widen. The fifth chapter explains the boys’ failure to live up to their individual responsibilities except for Piggy and Ralph. An imminent attack by the beast continues to linger in the minds of young boys. Amidst heavy fighting directly over the Island, the corpse of a dead soldier parachute down the island on the night the twins, Sam, and Erick, are on duty to rekindle the signal fear in the event a rescue opportunity presents itself. To the increased fear and speculation of the existence of a beast on the island, Ralph calls a meeting and the group ventures out to search for the beast.
Secondly, this part of the paper will summarize chapters seven to twelve of the novel. The seventh chapter continues to elaborate on the group’s search for the monster. While the rest of the boys head back to the beach, Ralph, Jack and a group of other boys decide to head for the mountain in their pursuit of the beast. After spending the night at the foot of the mountain, Jack climbs the mountain only to run back down after he finally sees the beast. Ralph and the rest of the group decide to affirm the presence of the beast creature seen by Jack. To their surprise, they also get a glimpse of the beast and end up running down the mountain fearing for their lives. In the eighth chapter, Jack is now thirsty for power and dares to challenge Ralph leadership to a fresh election. The other boys refuse to vote him the leader, and he decides to take a few of his followers into the jungle. There, he lures the rest of the group to his camp by preparing a feast. Meanwhile, Simon has his doubts about the beast seen on the mountain and is shocked to see that Jack has even started offering sacrifices to the so-called beast. In chapter nine, Simon finally finds out that what the rest of the group thought was the beast was a dead soldier trapped in a parachute. He eagerly runs to Jack’s camp to inform the rest of the group of his new profound discovery only to find the rest of the group in a state of savagery after which they murder him with their bare hands. Jack turns out to be a ruthless ruler on his side of the camp. He results to harsh rule and continues to believe that Simon was the beast and that the beast could assume anyone’s form. Jack attacks Ralph and his few followers, beats them and takes Piggy’s glasses to use them in lighting fires. Ralph attempts to reason with Jack over Piggy’s glasses but a fight ensues between Jack and Ralph, and Piggy ends up dying at the hands of Jack and his followers. Instead of deescalating the tension, Ralph mission to reason with Jack turns out to be a full-fledged tribal conflict between Ralph’s side of the group and Jack’s side of the group. Jack issues a manhunt against Ralph and even goes to the extent of lighting a forest fire to smoke him out. Luckily the fire attracts a naval officer who sails to the island. He is shocked by what the children had become after living on a deserted Island for a few days.
Thirdly, the religious theme in the novel can be explained by Simon’s resemblance to Jesus Christ. The similarities between Simon and Jesus refer to how Simon is the only morally upright the Island. Simon does not in any way have a craving for power nor is he in any way greedy, unlike Jack and Ralph: “Then, amid the roar of the bees in the afternoon sunlight, Simon found for (the littluns) the fruit they could not reach and passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands” (William 51). Based on teachings of the Bible, Jesus was tried and tested by the devil for forty days and forty nights which compares to how Simon climbs the mountain to discover whether the beast exists. After Simon realizes the beast does not exist, the beast then begins to threaten him “You’re not wanted on this island! So don’t try it on or else we shall do you. See? Jack and Roger and Maurice and Robert and Bill and Piggy and Ralph.” (Cox 131). It is after he discovers the moral truth of what the beast is that the rest of the group kills him in which resembles Jesus's crucifixion for the sake of mankind. Nonetheless, there are limitations to Simon’s comparison with Jesus. One of the limitations is the fact that Simon lacks the supernatural relationship to God. Another limitation is the fact that Simon is a wise boy, but, unfortunately, his demise does not bring salvation to the island, rather it plunges it deeper into moral guilt and savagery.
Fourthly, the religious theme can also be expounded on with the belief of the existence of an imaginary beast. The imaginary beast in the novel is a representation of the savagery that exists in the hearts and minds of the boys. Just like Simon recalls Jesus, the beast recalls the devil in the biblical context. The more the boys become savage, the more their belief for the beast develops inside them. Jack is so convinced that the beast exists that he cuts the head of the sow and boldly declares that “This head is for the Beast. It’s a gift” (Pati 124). The beast becomes a manifestation of evil power and also represents a Satan figure. Simon confirms his doubts about the beast when it speaks to him saying “You knew. Didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason it’s no go? Why thing are what they are?” (Haldar 130). The Bible identifies evil as the main reason for people’s division that is similar to how the beast divides the boys into two distinct groups. Jack’s side of the group is portrayed as the evil side since they worship and offer sacrifices to the beast. Ralph’s group, on the other hand, is depicted on the good side as they uphold reason and fail to give in to the savagery acts performed by Jack and his group.
This part of the research will analyze the contemporary issue of spiritual imagination based on religion as the main theme in the novel. In the contemporary setting, there is a heated debate of whether religion and spiritual imagination could, in fact, result from the ability of humans to imagine things. Pruyser (81) argues that it is possible for human beings to experience projective imaginations. An example of a projective imagination is an engineer who visualizes on how a particular road or bridge will look like upon completion. The engine...