In Chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies by
William Golding, a concerned Ralph has called a meeting later in the day than usual
because he is worried about the breakdown in order among the boys. Significantly, he
looks around the place of assembly where there is the beach and the ocean's side,
representing reality; then, he see the lagoon, symbolic of illusions. In front of him is
the "darkness of the island," which gives rise to the boys' nightmares. Now that the
sun is lower and not blinding, it slants in at one side "so that the shadows were where
they ought to be." Ralph falls into a pensive mood; he
wonders,
If
faces were different when lit from above or below--what was a face? What was
anything?
At this point,
Ralph realizes that appearances can be deceiving. He has been convinced that
civilization with its rules has held the boys together, but now he is not so sure that
civilization is not a facade. Civilization may not be real, just as the masks disguise
the faces and savage nature of Jack and the hunters, and just as the "beast" or the Lord
of the Flies disguises the real evil in the natures of the
boys.
The ensuing debate at the meeting on what the beast
is reflects this ambiguity of reality. Even when the intuitive Simon attempts to
articulate what the beast really is,
Simon became inarticulate in his effort to
express mankind's essential
illness.
The compexity of
life is too much of a burden for Simon, Ralph, or even Piggy as the shadows fall on the
boys and the illusions of the lagoon change as civilization breaks down. The boys create
different stories about the beast, and the masks of the boys hide the savagery within
them. Appearances are certainly deceptive for all.
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