《蝇王》中象征主义的分析---毕业论文

1、【标题】蝇王中象征主义的分析 【作者】蒲 腾 【关键词】蝇王；象征主义；理性；恶性本质；野蛮；黑暗；野兽 【指导老师】刘 敏 【专业】英语 【正文】i. introductionlord of the flies told a story about a group of english schoolboys who were marooned on an island for the crash of the plane during world war ii. without adults supervision, without rules or a structured society

2、, they returned to their base and“uncivilized” instincts, and savagery and cruelty controlled the whole island. many of the characters within the novel represented some of the basic inner qualities considered within all humans; qualities which may or may not be revealed during a civilized lifetime b

3、ut which nevertheless most likely exist within all individuals.the novels affluent symbols that made samuel hynes concluded that“lord of the flies is a symbolic novel, not a fairy story.”1 in 1983, william golding was awarded nobel prize for literature. as the swedish academy praised, for his novels

4、 which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human conditions in todays world.the ideas and aesthetic interests of symbolism are often traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century, and many early twentieth-century artists a

5、nd writers continued to be influenced by its ideas.this paper is an analysis of the symbolism in lord of the flies on the basis of many scholars researches from three aspectsthe symbolic characters, objects and events, to examine their symbolic meanings for emphasizing the theme of the novel.ii. sym

6、bol and symbolismwhat is symbol and what is symbolism? what are their functions? the word symbol derives from a greek word meaning“to throw together”. it is an object, animate or inanimate, which represents or stands for something else. scales, for example, symbolize justice; a dove, peace; a lion,

7、strength and courage. actions and gestures are also symbolic. the clenched fist symbolizes aggression; arms raised denote surrender. in literature, symbol is usually a person, thing, place, action, situation or the normal level of reality within a story.the word symbolism has an extremely wide meani

8、ng. it can be used to describe any mode of expression, which, instead of referring to something directly, refers to it indirectly through the medium of something else. in the literary field, symbolism can be defined as the art of expressing ideas and emotions not by describing them directly, nor by

9、defining them through overt comparisons with concrete images, but by suggesting what these ideas and emotions are, by re-creating them in the mind of the reader through the use of unexplained symbols. however, this is only one aspect of symbolism, the personal aspect. there is a second aspect, in wh

10、ich concrete images are used as symbols, not of particular thoughts or feelings, but of a vast and general ideal world of which the real world is merely an imperfect representation.william goldings lord of the flies is filled with numerous symbols. the writer used a variety of these to assist reader

11、s in relating aspects of the narrative to places or ideas in modern society, as well as infusing the story with greater depth and meaning. throughout the novel, golding effectively implemented various symbols, including symbolic characters, symbolic objects, and symbolic events. we can say that with

12、out symbolism, lord of the flies would be a common fairy story, let alone a classic. symbolism in characterscharacters should be the most necessary factors in a novel, all the things go with the characters, and lord of the flies is never an exception. the most important characters should be ralph, p

13、iggy, jack and simon. in this section, the symbolism in these four heroes would be analyzed, as ralph was the symbol of social rationality, but with limitation; piggy, technological intellects; jack, the symbol of evil nature; simon was the symbol of human instinct, a prophet, or we can say that he

14、was the embodiment of goodness.a. ralph and piggy as ralph and piggy were of the same kind that represented those rational people who also had evil nature, and they were the products of education and regulations of adults, so here they would be discussed together.1. ralphralph was the first characte

15、r appeared in this novel, and he was one of the main characters of the novel. not only his words and behaviors maintained rationalism but also his appearance demonstrated this point, he was called“the fair boy”2,“boy with golden hair”ralph was the symbol of social rationality. he was brave, strong m

16、inded and had a gift in leading and management. and it was he, who held the conch which was the pronoun of rights and democracy, as well as a symbol of human will; and so he got the love of other children and was voted as the chief.otherwise, ralph also had his own desires, and sometimes those desir

17、es went out of control. he, like the other boys, laughed at piggys nickname. he also couldnt resist the temptation of joy of meat and hunting. when jack hunted a pig,“he meant to refuse meat, but his past diet of fruit and nuts, with an odd crab or fish, gave him too little resistance.”3 he surrende

18、red and accepted a piece of half-raw meat and gnawed it like a wolf. piggy also presented his weakness, even jack broken one of his glasses, he asked jack for meat. even the most rational person at that time lost sense. the most ironic scene was that ralph stood among the ashes of the signal fire, h

19、is hands full of meat, said nothing. the signal fire was the principle ralph tried to keep, he treaded it on his feet.in ralphs deep mind there also was darkness and shadow. in the terrible stormy night, he also had a part in the killing of simon. and he had no ability to control the situation and s

20、ecure safety for all the children. ralph stood by when piggy was killed, even got no help when himself was traced. in the end, when they were saved, ralph cried, for the end of darkness of mans heart. whats more ironic, ralph and these little savages ended their“little childrens fighting” with the c

21、oming of adults and the cruiser. but the cruiser was throwing into the continued war and these children who had just been through cruel killing would be brought to a newer and crueler battlefield. how weak the civilization was, as it was built on the basis of social rationality.2. piggypiggy represe

22、nted those technological intellects that were too optimistic about the destiny of human society. their imagination of utopia was after all not realistic; the development of society was not only determined by science and technology. history has demonstrated that technology was a double-edged sword, i

23、ts side effect was inborn, and become much more apparent in contemporary society.piggy over-believed in human wisdom. every time they came into trouble, piggy would suppose if they were adults all problems would be solved by knowledge or reason. till piggy was killed, he didnt understand that civili

24、zation and regulation cant act on this barbarism-controlled island.piggy was wise, he yelled about the fact that no one knew they have crashed on the island and that they could be stuck there for a long time. when they were trying to figure out where the beast came from, golding made use of piggys m

25、outh, telling us that what they were afraid was just the fear and darkness in their mind.when these children was not restricted on this forgotten island by civilization, most children put moral and principles away, and submitted to the barbarism and flightiness in their mind. it meant morality was n

26、ot come from the kindness of their heart, but the product of education and regulations by adults. after all, ralph and piggy was made in such way, they had their own limitations.b. jackjack existed as another kind of symbolism; he represented the evil nature of human, the barbarity, irrationality. h

27、e was the leader of the choir, but he was always untamed; and wanted to fight for leadership, for the freedom of irrationality.jack first appeared as an image of the evil, with black cloaks from throat to ankle. the black color was always connected with monster and the wickedness. it foretold that j

28、ack would set against human will and kindness.lost in an island, the most important thing was to get contact with the outside world, and survival was also important. jack just represented his need, but the way he reflected this need was went with an inborn barbarism:“we need meat. cut her throat! sp

29、ill her blood!”4 the failure of the first hunting greatly stimulated their interest on hunting and conquering, and the success of the second drove them to crazy. the craze was not out of need of survival, but the eruption of savagery. in their mimic hunting dance, we can hear the prolongation of the

30、 savagery:“kill the beast! cut his throat! spill his blood! do him in!”5the first time when jack hunted the first pig in chapter four, he distasted the blood on his dignity hands, and wanted to find something to wipe, but in chapter eight, he had became a totally bloody monster:“then jack found the

31、throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. he(jack) giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. then jack grabbed maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks.”6 the changing process of jacks attitude to hunting, in fact, was the process of losing human goodwill, and

32、the process of revealing the savagery. after the painted face, jack became more and more bloody and violent; he and his hunters killed the pig in cruelty, and refused to obey the rules established in the meeting. during the assembly, he even beat piggy and broke the glasses, which were the symbol of

33、 civilization. after broke up with ralph, jacks group even attacked ralphs camp and snatched the glass. he even wanted to kill ralph at the end of the novel.golding ascribed that“the defect of the society derived from the defect of human evil nature, nowadays our main responsibility is to have a cle

34、ar understanding of our nature.”7 and the main purpose of golding was help us to understand. and he did it, he made us face the sad fact of cruelty and greed of human being. in his novel, jack and his followers were the sinful monsters, who degenerated from humanity, and back to their evil nature.c.

35、 simon in the novel, simon was a complex figure who did not fit neatly into the matrix framed by jack at the one end and ralph at the other. he used to be a member of the choir, led by jack. as a chinese traditional saying goes, simon was like a lotus flower rooted in the silt, but his heart was as

36、pure as an angle.simon was the sole figure of fundamental, natural good. he was kind and helpful to help little children to get the fruit which was out of their reach; when piggy was unwilling to give a hand to collect firewood, simon explained that piggy had helped them with fire with his glasses;

37、and simon was the only person who left to help ralph with the shelters, while other children were go swimming or hunting.simon was different from any other boys; he was not the symbol of technological intellects, nor the symbol of sense, but as a symbol of natural good and human prophet, with divine

38、 insight, adventured to seek the truth and found the truth and with upright personality. he was close and shy but sharp-eyed, when other children were scared by the beast from air, he realized that the so-called monster was human being themselves. to prove his assumption, he went into the forest alo

39、ne to seek them out.iv. symbolism in objectsa. paint and maskwith the development of the story, paint was not only the cover of jacks evil action; it also gradually became the symbol of evil that existed universally in human nature. a clear understanding to the mask is important to the understanding

40、 of the main idea of the novel.1. painted facesexterior form of interior evilbecause of the paint,“he was safe from shame or self-consciousness and could look at each of them in turn.” xu ming held that“the first emergence of the painted face symbolized the beginning of the barbarian trend.”8 the pa

41、inted face seemed to be alive and independent from them, it swallowed the childrens human nature and personality. it gradually symbolized the immoral, uncontrolled ruin power that laid in humans unawareness. the horrible mask painted on peoples face was just the exterior symbol of this interior evil

42、. meantime, ralph, the delegate of civilization and rationality, whose comprehension to the mask also deepened the theme of the novel that the humans evil nature existed widely.2. jack and his painted face the first time jack painted his face with colored mud, the painted mask was likely to revive,

43、and with a kind of transformed power that was demoniac and mysterious. the mask turned jack into an“awesome stranger”.9 jack realized his own change when he saw in the pool:he looked in astonishment, no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger. he spilt the water and leapt to his feet, laughing

44、excitedly. beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. he began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling. he capered toward bill, and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness. the fa

45、ce of red and white and black swung through the air and jigged toward bill.10from the water, seeing his own face, jack realized that his deep-hidden nature was awakened. just as in chapter four of swifts gullivers travels, after gullivers back to his world, he saw a cruel, humble and irrational“yaho

46、o in the mirror. jack also saw an“awesome stranger” with a painted face in the water. though the painted face looked so different from the yahoo in the mirror, but they represented the same thing. he became aware of the inexhaustible power brought by the new appearance, seemed that he was cursed by

47、the demon and he dropped into hysteria situationdance, cry and fevered laugh, later developed into bloodthirsty growl. the mask became an independent life, ate up jacks mind.here golding used metonymy, the one who swung through the air and jigged toward bill was not jack but the face of red and whit

48、e and black. the mask symbolized certain mysterious horrible power.with the development of the story, what golding emphasized was not that jack was free from the bondage of social and moral regularity by the painted mask, but the evil and horrific power the mask represented. in ancient tribe, the pr

49、imitive carved masks were used to emphasize the peoples strong power and mystery. in this novel, this living mask also owned such overwhelming power, jacks black, white and red face was funny to bill at the beginning, and bill even laughed at him, but sooner bill became aware of the wickedness of th

50、e new face,“then suddenly he felt silent and blundered away through the bushes.”11whats worse, they all stood by when piggy was killed by the great rock pushed down by roger, and they even revealed no sad or regret or sympathy with him that they should have. when jack and his group painted their fac

51、es, the symbolic meaning of the mask was emphasized; their inborn evil became more universal.the painted faces symbolized the dying out of jack and his hunters human nature, and degenerated to irrational savages. in chapter eight, jack and his hunters painted their faces and rushed into the forest t

52、o steal fire from ralphs camp. from this scene on, golding began to name the hunters in general as savages, the painted savages, the painted anonymity, or the painted group, etc. when ralph arrived at the castle rock, and put the conch to his lips to blow, savages appeared, they painted“out of recog

53、nition”12, and when ralph inquired of jack, a painted face spoke with the voice of robert answered. what the mud mask symbolized was not only the personal indulgent desire of jack, but also the universal barbaric desire of destroy. the mud mask once made jack out of shame has gradually transformed t

54、o symbolize the evil deep hidden in all human.b. the fire and the glassesthe signal fire burns on the mountain, and later on the beach, to attract the notice of passing ships that might be able to rescue the boys. as a result, the signal fire became a symbol for the boys connection to civilization.

55、as long as the fire is well maintained, the boys had a desire to return to society, but when the fire burned low or goes out, the boys lost sight of their desire to be rescued, having accepted their savage lived on the island. the signal fire thus functioned as a kind of measuring stick by judged. i

56、ronically, at the end of the novel, it was a fire that finally summoned a ship to the island, but not the signal fire: it was the fire of savagerythe forest fire jack starts as part of his quest to hunt and kill ralph. piggy was the most intelligent, rational boy in the group, and his glasses repres

57、ented the power of science and intellectual endeavor in society. this was most clearly demonstrated when piggys glasses were used to make fire by intensifying sunlight with their lenses. thus, when jacks hunters raided ralphs camp and stole the glasses, the savages had taken the power to make fire,

58、and ralphs civilization was left helpless.c. the conchthe conch was the most complete thing depicted in the novel. ralph found it in a lagoon, and blew it out, on hearing the sound of the conch, the children scattered everywhere on the island assembled. and then the boy who blew the conch was electe

59、d as the chief. from then on, the call of the conch meant an assembly; all those children should go to the platform. because they couldnt have everybody talk at once, so they set up a regulation, that who wanted to talk should get the conch just like“hands up at school. then it was looked as a right of speaking, an order of obeying and accepting each other,(or democr