to when they chant, “‘Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’” (152). The way Jack changes from a choir director to a heartless savage in the novel is very symbolic of the deterioration of civilization. Golding uses the character Piggy as a symbol of intelligence. He wears thick spectacles which, throughout the book, are symbolic of the society breaking apart. First, his glasses are used to start a fire, which in turn kills one of the “littluns”. Later on, one of the lenses will break and Jack will steal the glasses during a raid. When Piggy has his glasses, there are still traces of civilization, even when he only has one lens left, but when Jack steals them all hope of this is gone. After Jack and his tribe raid Ralph’s shelter, Jack runs off, and “from his left hand dangled Piggy’s broken glasses” (168). Even though Ralph and Piggy know there is no hope for them, they will go and try to reason with Jack. They arrive at Jack’s hideout and it is obvious that they are full-blown savages. This meeting ends with the murder of Piggy, and civilization is lost.There is a beast inside of everyone, just waiting to come out. In The Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows what it takes to release this monster and rid of civilization as a whole. Golding develops the characters Percival, Ralph, Jack, and Piggy as symbols of the deterioration of society. The beginning of the novel shows little boys looking to have a grand adventure on an island, but in the end, the results are catastrophic....
