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  Home : English : Literature Study Guides : Lord of the Flies : Study Questions & Essay Topics
Lord of the Flies
  
 
Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. What does it mean to say that Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel? What are its important symbols?
2. Compare and contrast Ralph and Simon. Both seem to be “good” characters. Is there a difference in their goodness? 3. How does Jack use the beast to control the other boys?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Of all the characters, it is Piggy who most often has useful ideas and sees the correct way for the boys to organize themselves. Yet the other boys rarely listen to him and frequently abuse him. Why do you think this is the case? In what ways does Golding use Piggy to advance the novel’s themes?
2. What, if anything, might the dead parachutist symbolize? Does he symbolize something other than what the beast and the Lord of the Flies symbolize?
3. The sow’s head and the conch shell each wield a certain kind of power over the boys. In what ways do these objects’ powers differ? In what way is Lord of the Flies a novel about power? About the power of symbols? About the power of a person to use symbols to control a group?
4. What role do the littluns play in the novel? In one respect, they serve as gauges of the older boys’ moral positions, for we see whether an older boy is kind or cruel based on how he treats the littluns. But are the littluns important in and of themselves? What might they represent?
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