The Island

• The island is symbolic of the Garden of Eden. It is also a microcosm of the world and the problems it faces.
• The boat shape of the island is an ancient symbol of civilisation. The water current around the island seems to be "flowing backwards", giving the subtle impression that civilisation may be going backwards for the island or its inhabitants.
• The Beast from the Water is symbolic of the serpent.
• The Scar is symbolic of man's destructive nature (foreshadowing).
• Castle Rock - Jack's fort / where Piggy dies
• Jungle - Lord of the Flies / fire
• Mountain - signal fire / kills the littlun / beast from air / Piggy's glasses break
• Lagoon - home; where the Naval Officer finds them (further down: chanting / Simon killed)
• Platform - where meetings take place
• Reef - protection from the world / physical manifestation of their isolation
• Wooden huts - survival; destroyed by the fire at the end
• "This is our island. It's a good island. Until the grown-ups come to fetch us we'll have fun"
• "the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat"
• "Beyond the falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea"
• "the shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet in the air"
• "It was roughly boat-shaped: humped near this end with behind them the jumbled descent to the shore. one either side rocks, cliffs, treetops and a steep slope"
• "the coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island"
• "the naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns"
• Jack: Castle Rock - castle links to his dictatorial rule; rock signifies his stubbornness. Sharp, jagged rocks are representative of his harsh character and cruel nature.
• Simon: secret place in the jungle, away from others, surrounded by nature. Represents the Garden of Gethsemane.
• Ralph: the Platform - everybody equal; everybody raised (important); representative of his leadership style
• The sea as paradise - "the white surf flicked the coral reef"
• The sea as hell on earth - "the long grinding roar of the breakers on the reef"
• The heat as paradise - "the water was warmer than [Ralph's] blood and he might have been swimming in a huge bath"
• The heat as hell on earth - "the heat hit him"
• The fruit as paradise - "everywhere was the scent of ripeness"
• The fruit as hell on earth - "they were now used to stomach-aches and a sort of chronic diarrhoea"
• The lagoon as paradise - "inside [the lagoon] was peacock water, rocks and weed showing as in an aquarium"
• The lagoon as hell on earth - "the swell... seemed like the breathing of some stupendous creature"
• The island is extremely remote, apparently untouched by humans until the boys arrive, inflicting a scar upon the landscape.
• Beyond the Edenic exterior, the island appears to possess a menacing side, possibly triggered by the boys' arrival.
• Golding uses the natural world of the island to foreshadow later events in the book.
• 'Beyond the platform, there was more enchantment' ch1
• 'Beneath them, on the unfriendly side of the mountain, the drum roll [of the fire] continued' ch2
• 'the silence of the forest was more oppressive than the heat' ch3
• 'You can feel as if you're not hunting, but - being hunted' (Jack, ch3)
• 'The darkness was full of claws, full of the unknown menace' ch6
• 'The island was getting worse and worse [thought Ralph]' ch8
• 'Between the flashes of lightning, the air was dark and terrible' ch9
• 'Evening was come [on the night of Simon's death], not with calm beauty, but with the threat of violence' ch9