https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub
It turns out that "lord of flies" is a literal translation for one of the demons in hell, and some people say that that one is actually the devil himself. This might give a religious meaning to the book too, and how people struggle with sin and divinity in their lives.
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ReplyDeleteI find this really interesting. Do you think that God could also have an impact because if the 'Lord of the Flies' is Satan, and also the beast, then the boys have been running and fearful of Satan this whole time. However, in the stories of the Bible, God can protect you, but only if you believe in him. The boys who were good of old are now becoming savages, therefor vulnerable to their inner demons.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying. Simon's encounter with the lord of the flies could represent Jesus' encounter with Satan during his 40 days in the desert. Simon being Jesus and the lord of the flies being Satan.
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ReplyDeleteRelating to Alex's comment I believe that sin is such an appealing thing to us as humans it is in our nature. It feels good to do something wrong while you are doing it and when sin takes you over you lose those morals you once had and the only way to come back is through God and his grace and mercy which the boys on the island, who were so caught up in the lustful pleasure of doing what was wrong, did not see it as wrong.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment! Sin in Greek means 'to miss the mark' - and to us it means to fail to adhere to our morals and the standards that have been set for us. We are all susceptible to temptation and I thought that it was really interesting that the boys tried to push away Simon's murder, and act like they weren't involved, or didn't know what was going on. So although it is appealing to us and we allow our selves to give in to it, we always still come back and try to 'erase our tracks' in the sense that we don't want to have anything to do with it. There was a point in which Ralph, the twins, and Piggy tried to act like the murder never took place. Do you think Jack will soon 'come back' and act the same way?
DeleteThis is really interesting because there is also religious meaning behind Simon's character. I read an article about how Golding actually borrowed the names from The Coral Island – Ralph, Jack, and Peterkin. Except in Lord of the Flies, he changed Peterkin to Simon. Simon is the name of one of the twelve apostles and Jesus decided that his name should be Peter. Furthermore, there are also connections between the night before Simon's death and the night that Jesus visited the Garden of Gethsemane and if this is the case, then does that mean Simon died for the sins of the boys? Simon was only trying to save the boys from themselves and was essentially killed for spreading good news. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteAdrienne,
DeleteYou have made a good point, and I didn't realize the names were similar to those from The Choral Island, that's very interesting. It's almost as if Jesus (if he existed) changed humanity from destruction and evil (like in the Lord of The Flies) to humane actions (what the boys did in The Choral Island). As I use the word humane, I realize that it has the word human in it, and humane means to show compassion. But do humans really show compassion? Is life really like the story of the Coral Island?
Phoebe