Biblical Allusions in The Lord Of Flies
In the novel “Lord of the flies,” what immediately comes out is that there is nothing unintentional. Through his wise choice of words, William Golding, the author of the novel is precisely able to portray every object in his novel and brilliantly describes every single detail. In a fairly short novel, Golding manages to convince his readers that the world he has created actually exists.
Golding uses Biblical allusions to decorate his novel, and numerous critics have argued that the complete novel is an allegory of the Bible. In the initial chapter of the novel, the boys find themselves abandoned on an island which is depicted as the Garden of Eden. On the island, the boys are not afraid of any unknown outcome or rivalry between them to survive. The islands beauty is compromised as soon as the boys witness a snake-like creature, simply put, a Monster who is feared by everyone.
The fear of the unknown monster motivated the two boys to form separate factions and confront the monster that is created by themselves. Everything is brilliantly represented to make the reader think of one faction as good and the other faction as bad. Golding tries his best to represent the bad faction of children as more appealing. The bad faction has more water, food, and they appear to enjoy everything.
The title of the novel itself, “The Lord of the Flies” is recognizable as an allusion because the name of the title hints the devil in Christian faith. Moreover, there is also a character by the name of Simon who is an allusion to the Jesus Christ in the New Testament.