The novel Lord of the Flies by William Gilding is full of allusions to the bible and other religious figures. The title of the book itself has a very strong religious undertone. “Lord of the Flies” is another name for the Devil, or Unholy One. The devil is the lord of the flies, signifying death, decay, and destruction. This is the first allusion of many that you see throughout the novel. It doesn’t, however, make much sense to the reader at the beginning of the book.
As the novel develops, the allusion becomes clearer and easier to understand. In this novel, the “Lord of the Flies” is a butchered pig’s head on a stake in the ground. Jack and his tribe of savage hunters killed the pig violently for food and sport. After murdering the pig, Roger placed the pig’s head on the stake, and jammed it into the ground somewhere in the forest, for all to see and admire, and also as a sacrifice to “the beast. The pig’s head represented o me the cruel and evil ways people act when left to their instincts and desires, without any morals or standards to live up to. Simon, whose character is based on an allusion, also, has a conversation with the Lord of the Aces while he is alone in the forest. The pig’s head tells Simon that he will never be able to escape him, no matter where he goes or what he does, because he represents all evil, and is in every human being. I thought this was in fact an obvious allusion to the devil.
This is a very important part in the book, and helps the reader realize how Gilding is trying to compare the evils of human nature to what is happening on the island. After Simony’s encounter, the reasons Gilding chose the title he did become clearer and almost obvious to the reader. In this way, the title of the book has a significance that is only understood after reading the entire book through and seeing how it relates to and is developed throughout the plot of the story.
