Drama Lord of the Flies Foreshadowing, Metaphors & Similes by William Golding
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Foreshadowing is an important technique in Lord of the Flies, and Golding employs several instances of indirect foreshadowing throughout the book. Nearly every plot event is foreshadowed in the establishing chapters, creating a sense of inevitability to the events. Both character traits, such as Piggy’s emotional fragility, and plot points, such as the climactic fire that leads to the boys’ rescue, are foreshadowed heavily in the novel.
Piggy’s Death
Piggy’s Death is an important plot point in Lord of the Flies, and is foreshadowed from the first time we see his character; however, the exact nature of his death is an instance of false foreshadowing, as Golding sets up the reader to believe Piggy will die from his physical frailty, not violence. Piggy’s death signifies the end of Ralph’s fragile troop, and a victory by the forces of violence and brutality over the forces of wisdom, kindness, and civility. The death is foreshadowed in the early pages, when Piggy tells Ralph he has asthma, can’t swim, needs his glasses to see, and is sick from the fruit. “Sucks to your ass-mar!” Ralph replies, foreshadowing the boys’ lack of concern about Piggy’s physical vulnerability. When Jack breaks one of the lenses in Piggy’s glasses, the foreshadowing of his fragility is repeated, and his dependence on his glasses for survival. Later, he can’t catch his breath and “blue shadows” creep around his mouth, suggesting he will suffocate while the boys looks for the beast. That his death comes through an act of violence, instead of his own physical condition, defies the expectations set up by all the previous foreshadowing. At the same time, the fact that the boys hunt pigs foreshadows the violent nature of Piggy’s death, as when Jack says “If only I could get a pig!
Burning of the Island
Fire serves as both a life-giving source and a deadly threat in Lord of the Flies, and Golding foreshadows its critical dual roles to the resolution of the novel throughout the book. Ralph immediately understands fire’s importance as a source of heat, a way to cook meat, and, most significantly, a means of signaling passing ships and getting the boys rescued, saying “The fire’s the most important thing on the island,” several times. But the first fire the boys set burns out of control, and one of the littluns goes missing, presumably killed by the flames, foreshadowing the fire Jack sets at the end to flush out Jack so he can kill him. The importance of keeping the fire lit compared to the necessity of hunting pigs is the main source of tension between Jack and Ralph, and the final break comes between the two of them when Jack steals Piggy’s glasses, their means of lighting the fire. Jack and Ralph’s arguments about the importance of fire foreshadow fire’s ultimate role as sustainer of life, as fire, not hunting, rescues not only Ralph from his immediate danger, but all the boys from the island.
The Boys’ Rescue
One source of tension throughout the novel is the question of whether the boys will be rescued from the island, but several instances of foreshadowing suggest the boys will eventually be discovered. The anxiety about what will happen to them is established early in the book, when Piggy repeats “nobody knows where we are,” and says “the plane was shot down in flames… we may be here a long time.” Shortly after, however, Ralph insists that “there aren’t any unknown islands left… sooner or later, we shall be rescued.” At this point, the question is whether there is any civilization left to rescue them. Soon, though, a ship passes, indicating that the world beyond the island still exists. The arrival of the paratrooper also links the island to the outside world. Simon alludes to his faith that the boys will make it home, though his wording – “I just think you’ll get back all right” – omits himself from the reassurance, suggesting he has a presentiment of his own death. When the boys are finally discovered, they are on the brink of destroying Ralph and the island, so although it has been foreshadowed, their rescue still comes as a surprise.
Chapter 1: The Sound of the Shell
All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.
In this quote, the narrator uses two metaphors, one likening the strip of jungle damaged by the plane crash to a scar, and another comparing the heat and humidity to a bath.
The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick, endless apparently, for to Ralph’s left the perspectives of palm and beach and water drew to a point at infinity. . .
This metaphor characterizes the beach as a thin, endless stick, emphasizing both the narrowness and length of the beach.
This last piece of shop brought sniggers from the choir, who perched like black birds on the criss-cross trunks and examined Ralph with interest.
In this simile, the narrator likens the choir boys, dressed in black cloaks and seated on fallen tree trunks, to a flock of irreverent black birds sizing up Ralph.
The coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing chalk line but tired before he had finished.
This simile helps explain how the white coral reef runs parallel to part of the island’s coastline, comparing it to a half-drawn chalk outline made by a giant.
Chapter 2: Fire on the Mountain
He was a shrimp of a boy, about six years old, and one side of his face was blotted out by a mulberry-colored birthmark.
Here the narrator compares one of the littluns to a shrimp, suggesting that he is smaller than other boys on the island.
The sun in the west was a drop of burning gold that slid nearer and nearer the sill of the world.
In this poetic metaphor, the narrator likens the setting sun to a “drop of burning gold” sliding down a windowpane toward the windowsill.
Small flames stirred at the trunk of a tree and crawled away through leaves and brushwood. . . . One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel. . . . The squirrel leapt on the wings of the wind and clung to another standing tree, eating downwards.
In this simile, the narrator compares the spreading flames of a forest fire to a squirrel climbing and leaping among the trees.
Chapter 3: Huts on the Beach
Jack himself shrank at this cry with a hiss of indrawn breath, and for a minute became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape-like among the tangle of trees.
This simile, which describes Jack hunting pigs in the jungle, likens his stealthy behavior to that of a wild animal.
Chapter 5: Beast from Water
Ralph chose the firm strip as a path because he needed to think, and only here could he allow his feet to move without having to watch them. Suddenly . . . He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet.
In this metaphor, Ralph compares life on the island to an improvised journey that becomes tiresome because he must spend so much energy treading cautiously.
Chapter 7: Shadows and Tall Trees
. . . the darkness and desperate enterprise gave the night a kind of dentist's chair unreality.
This metaphor refers to the night Ralph, Jack, and Roger go in search of “the Beast,” comparing their state of confusion to that of a drugged patient in a dentist’s chair.
Chapter 12: Cry of the Hunter
Ralph launched himself like a cat; stabbed, snarling, with the spear, and the savage doubled up.
As Ralph tries to escape from Jack’s tribe of savages, the narrator compares his desperate behavior to that of a snarling cat attacking one of his pursuers.
