Irony in Lord of the Flies

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, irony is endlessly present. The author uses irony to get the reader to consider the hidden meanings he is trying to express. Throughout the novel, many ironic situations can be seen in Jack’s transformation, Simon’s discovery, the fire, and the reason the boys were on the island in the first place. Thomas C. Foster believes that “irony sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes wry or perplexing- provides additional richness to the literary dish” (Foster, 2003, pg. 244). Golding uses irony to make the reader more attentive to the ever changing plot. When first marooned on an island the boys still are very civil and have their morals intact. One of the older boys Jack tells the group of younger boys that, "we've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages,” (Golding, 1954, pg. 34). Ironically, Jack is the one that becomes the most uncivilized. Jack branches from Ralph’s main group and starts a tribe of his own. This tribe tortures and murders both humans and animals. They also neglect all of the rules that were originally set on the island. Golding uses the conch to symbolize civilization in the novel. When Jack gives the speech to the young boys in the beginning of the novel the conch shell was still useful in representing that they were still civilized. However, by the end of the novel when the conch shell breaks at a confrontation between Jack and Ralp, this exemplifies the complete loss of order and democracy. Simon liked to have time by himself to avoid the bickering between the other boys. Simon found a clearing away from everyone else and eventually stumbled across the beast that everyone in the tribe was so terrified by. Simon ran to tell the tribe that the beast was just a dead parachutist. However, while Simon was trying to explain that the beast was not real he was mistaken for the beast. The