Lord Of The Flies: Week of 10/20

Pages Read: 202- End
Prompt: Questions for William Golding
Symbolism

My recent finishing of the Lord of the Flies has, without a doubt, left me in shock. In a way some of the events that occurred towards the end could have been foreseen, but others that occurred could not have been predicted so easily. In my opinion, William Golding has done an excellent job in writing the book. I feel that if it was anybody but Golding they would not have been able to accomplish what Golding has. The entire novel continually metaphorically slaps you in the face, time after time, page after page. In a perfect essence, Golding has managed to capture the true nature of a group of children who are left to survive on their own.

Throughout the story the most noticeable attribute of the story would be Golding's writing style. A couple questions of mine would be:
-Did Golding realize that several of the "make it or break it" points would be things such as his word choice, character development, and the use of symbolism, while writing the novel?
-What inspired Golding to write the Lord of the Flies? How did he receive the idea of writing this rather troubling book?
-Was the ending of the book a comparison of how adults and children would survive or a comparison of their nature?
-Golding is constantly referring to "the end of innocence" and "the darkness of man's heart." In Golding's opinion what part of the story demonstrates "the end of innocence" and what would represent the spreading of "darkness in a man's heart?"

Another rather impressive thing throughout the story would be Golding's subtle, yet impressive use of symbolism. Through Lord of the Flies a constantly found symbol would be the conch shell. Ralph, one of the main characters, uses the conch shell as a sign of both power and equality. The child who held the conch shell would be allowed to speak, so that there would be at least some type of order to the now confusing lives of the boys. Another repetitive symbol would be Piggy's glasses. The glasses that belonged to Piggy were used to start fires that were used to keep both warm and as a smoke signal for oncoming ships. The glasses help represent the intelligence and knowledge, which is usually a sign of civilization, that was maintained through the boys. On the other hand, the glasses also showed how when intelligence and knowledge falls into the wrong hands, it can be devastating.