„Symbolic characters and signs in the Dystopian Genre” based on William Golding’s Novel ,,Lord of the Flies"

Abstract

William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies uses the symbolic meaning of characters, colors, and objects to provide another terrifying example of a dystopian world. The characters in the novel are only symbolically children; in reality, they represent a destructive society and various social classes. Each of them embodies chaos, illusionary harmony, kindness, cruelty and the lust for power. The objects on the island indicate the psychological state of the characters and the disintegration of civilization. The colors emphasize the internal states of the main characters and reflect the variability of the environment. Each symbol clearly demonstrates one of the key ideas of the novel: that when the sense of humanity and moral accountability disappears, the inner demon within a person and the desire for power awakens. Accordingly, the novel not only conveys the theme of children’s survival on the island, but is also imbued with deep psychological and sociological elements. It reveals the extremes of human nature and shows what happens when it is freed from social control and moral boundaries. Finally, the symbolic aspects of Golding’s novel remind us how important it is to accept one another, show solidarity, and remain humane in order to preserve our humanity and avoid becoming like the beast impaled on a stick or the novel’s antagonistic characters.