Significance of Place in Lord of the Flies

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Significance of place The significance of place in Lord of the flies is an important topic, as there are so many questions unanswered that could have many inferred answers. Some of these questions are the authorial intent; why was the platform and lagoons near each other and did the beach pose a threat or safety? In this essay I am going to discuss the significance of place of the Beach and the Jungle. The beach, all throughout the book, is an area where discipline and order are recognised. It is also the only place which retains civilization right up until the end of the book. One important thing to note is the conch, which represents democracy and civilization, was found by Piggy on the beach. This, in a sense, shows that the conch lives on the beach; therefore, it is a place where democracy and civilization belongs. Throughout the novel the progression of state of the beach stays quite civilised and peaceful until both the storm and the killing of roger on the shoreline kills the quiet and peace of the idyllic beach, however, Ralph and Piggy, the only civilized and rational thinkers before the end of the book, always stayed on the beach, this suggests the civilised side of them still remain, even when the rest retreat into being uncivilised savages. The Beach has many events which happen on it which make it significant to the story line. For example; the killing of Simon was the first real murder the boys commit, the others have been accidents of nature (fires .etc.), this shows the first real progression of them becoming savages. Another example is the election for a ‘leader’, this shows some common sense and civilisation which contrasts to the later event of Simon’s death. This contrast of the two events shows some defect in human nature beginning to show beneath the group and how such innocent boys of the ages from 4 or 5 to 15 can do such bad things,

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