Lord of the Flies: Archetype Analysis

Lord of the Flies: A Hero’s Journey?

A plane crashes into an uninhabited island, stranding a group of schoolboys. All the adults are dead. All the rules are gone. They are finally free to do whatever they want. At first this means small challenges to the rules of order and civilization. However, as they get braver their fun turns to terror.

A Hero’s Journey: Analysis of The Lord of the

Flies

Chris Vogler has 12 stages of plot patterns. 

He clearly states that the Hero’s Journey is a guide, not a rigid formula. 

Some steps can be out of order. 

Or some steps can be missing entirely.

Ordinary World

Most Hero’s Journeys start in the Ordinary World.

This setting usually allows us to get to know the Hero and identify with him

Let’s us see the flaws and special attributes

Is important to set up a contrast with the special world.

Ordinary World: LOTF

Although most Hero’s Journeys have a bit of time in the Ordinary World to see the Hero functioning in his home setting, we only have a a brief glimpse of this physical setting through the plane.

Plane was taking the students home from boarding school This Hero’s personality is established early on in the film

and novel through his actions toward Piggy and the others. He is depicted in a more positive light in the film. Why? From the start of the novel he is shown to be charismatic

and well liked, but also rude and a bit of a bully. He wants to establish order and rules through the building

of shelters and creation of a fire.

Call to Adventure

Disrupts the comfort of the Ordinary World

Presents a challenge

Gets the story and excitement going

Delivered by the Herald: letter, riddle weather, arrival of the villain, death, abduction, etc)

Consequences for refusal

Call to Adventure: LOTF

Survive the plane crash

Herald was the plane crashing due to being “attacked” (8).

Can’t refuse; consequence would be death.

Another call to adventure is when Ralph is elected leader (22-23).

Refusal of the Call

Hero refuses the call or is reluctant

Insecurities and fears of the Hero are outlined

Risks of the journey are outlined

Refusal of the Call

Swimming in the pond.Not listening to Piggy. Betraying Piggy’s trust:

“He’s not Fatty […] his real name’s Piggy” (21).

Not accurate in film.

Meeting with the Mentor

Meets a mentor

Gives Hero confidence, knowledge, and insight.

Is a profoundly knowledgeable character

Gives wisdom

Reassures the Hero

Meeting with the Mentor: LOTF

Piggy fulfills this role

Wise

Tries to provide guidance

Promotes civilization

Piggy shouted again. “Which is better –to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (180)

“I expect we’ll want to know all their names […] and make a list. We ought to have a meeting.” (11)

Crossing the Threshold

Hero commits to the journey

Hero confronts a special event

Commits to entering the new world

No turning back

Crossing the Threshold

Possibilities:

Accepting his role as leader

When Jack splits the group

When the boy with the birthmark dies in the fire (not in film)

“That little’un […] with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?” (46).

Tests, Allies And Enemies

Hero faces tests and throughout the process figures out allies and enemies

Learns the rules of the Special World

Each test prepares Hero for the Ordeal

Allies can help guide the HeroEnemies reflect the Hero’s dark side

Tests, Allies And Enemies

Allies: Piggy and SimonSometimes Sam ‘n’ Eric

Enemies: Jack, Roger, “The Lord of the Flies”, their own fear, anarchy

Tests: Building and maintaining the fireMaintaining order and civilizationIdentifying and facing “the beast”

within

Approach the Inmost Cave

Hero makes preparations

Leads to the Ordeal

Often involves planning: maps, reconnaissance, picking off the enemy

Hero faces biggest fear

Consists of reorganization and the rekindling of morale

Approach the Inmost Cave

After Simon’s death, Ralph and Piggy retreat back to the beach.

They are alone.

Everyone has abandoned them.

They try to come to terms with Simon’s “murder” (156).

They decide to confront the others.

Ralph and Piggy are the only ones to acknowledge the deed

Supreme Ordeal

Central life-or-death crisis

Confronts his greatest fear, most difficult challenge, “death”

On the brink of failure

Climax

Can witness the death of an ally

Often faces the villain

Supreme Ordeal: LOTF

Piggy is killed with a rockRalph is forced to flee He is chased and his life

is threatened Roger “sharpens a stick

at both ends”

The Reward

Hero survives death

Overcomes greatest fear

Earns the reward:

A magical or special item

Greater insight

Knowledge

Their life

A moment of celebration

The Reward: LOTF

Ralph survives!The boys are rescued

The Road Back

Hero completes the journey and heads back to the ordinary world

Often needs a push to get the Hero going in the right direction

Changes the direction of the story

The Road Back: LOTF

Ralph is physically running through the jungle and then down the beach.

Trying to outrun the fire and the savages

Is saved by the naval officer (200)

The Resurrection

The final meeting with deathRebirth from water or fireEmerged from land of deathHero is rebornTransformed from their

ordinary self

The Resurrection

Runs from the raging fire and drums to the beach.

Survives their attempt to murder him

Takes ownership for his part: “I am” the leader (201)

Return with the Elixir

The final reward

Earned the right to return to the Ordinary World

Can be love, acceptance, survival

Return with the Elixir: LOTF

The tears at the end cleanse not only Ralph, but the boys too (202):

“The tears begin to flow and sobs shook [Ralph]”

“The other little boys began to shake and sob too”

They weep for the “end of innocence” and the “darkness of man’s heart”

The Hero

The Hero: Ralph? Ralph is athletic,

charismatic (7-8).

Elected the leader of the boys.

“There was a stillness about Ralph […] that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart” (21).

The Hero: Is it really Ralph?

Ralph is the primary representative of order, civilization, and positive leadership in the novel.

Ralph uses the conch to maintain order.

Ralph sets about building huts and thinking of ways to maximize their chances of being rescued.

Ralph represents the more positive aspects of government: concerned with making sure everyone is looked after.

The Hero is Ralph Ralph is committed to

civilization and morality. His main wish is to be rescued and returned to the society of adults.

“We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire” (37).

Ralph designates people to look after the fire and restores order with the conch (42-43).

The Mentor

Archetype characteristics

- Usually a profound philosopher

- Distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment

- Provides motivation and insight

- Provides the Hero with a gift

- Kind and wise (Simon)

- Offers guidance that in a mystical way may impress upon someone a sense of who they are, thereby acting as a mentor (Simon)

- May appear as an absent-minded professor (Simon)

Piggy: The Mentor and Mother-figure

Piggy is an archetype for both the mentor and a mother figure.

Piggy has a tendency of taking care of, and looking after, others before himself.

Piggy is the intellectual with poor eyesight, a weight problem, and asthma. He is the most physically vulnerable of all the boys, despite his greater intelligence.

Piggy represents the rational world.

By frequently quoting his aunt, he also provides the only female voice.

Piggy’s Intellect: The Mentor

His intellect benefits the group only through Ralph; acts as advisor.

He cannot be the leader himself because he lacks leadership qualities and has no rapport with the other boys due to his physical weakness.

Piggy also relies too heavily on the power of social convention. He believes that holding the conch gives him the right to be heard. He believes that upholding social conventions get results.

Piggy as Scapegoat?

A scapegoat is a person that is blamed for a person, group or societies problems, regardless of whether he or she is actually at fault

Piggy as the Scapegoat

Piggy’s intellectual approach to life is modeled on the attitudes and rules of the authoritative adult world.

He thinks everyone should share his values and attitudes. However, the rest of the characters resent his reminders of rules and civilization.

Near the end of the novel Piggy asks, "What's grownups goin' to think?" This infuriates the other boys because he is reminding them of their loss of values, ethics, discipline, and decorum, which resulted in those deaths.

Piggy’s intellect is also a threat to Jack’s emotional control.

Piggy is also a reminder of their weaknesses (asthma, overweight) and the only true orphan.

Simon as Mentor

Simon represents the view that humans are essentially good.

The only real philosopher on the island.

Communes with the Lord of the Flies\

Simon seems to be the most in touch with nature and has a higher moral and spiritual awareness then the rest of the boys on the island.

He wanders into the jungle when he feels a seizure coming on. This leads to him isolating himself.

The Outcast

Kicked out of society (or has left voluntarily), rejected,

isolated. A "Christ-like figure”

The Outcast: Simon is different

Ralph thinks Simon is queer and funny (56).

“He was a small, skinny boy, his chin pointed, and his eyes so bright they had deceived Ralph into thinking him delightfully gay and wicked. The course mop of black hair was long and swung down...” (60).

Outcast + Mentor = Scapegoat

Simon is a “Christ-like figure” because he is aware that good and evil come from within and not from any imposed political system.

Unlike the other boys, who abandon moral behavior as soon as civilization is no longer there to impose it upon them, Simon is innately moral. He controls himself, rather than the threat of punishment from adults..

The Scapegoat: Simon as an Allegorical Figure

Simon “pulled off the choicest [berries] from up in the foliage” and fed the little’uns, who could not reach the berries.

Jesus multiplied bread and fish so that he could feed less fortunate people.

Simon acts morally, not out of guilt or shame, but because he believes in the inherent value of morality.

Simon & the Beast

Simon is the first to recognize that the monster on the island is not a real, physical beast, but rather a savagery that lurks within each human being.

The pig’s head symbolizes the evil inside us through Simon’s vision of the head speaking to him (157-159).

“Beelzebub” is a Greek word that means “the lord of flies” (2 Kings 1:2) and signifies the devil.

The Threshold Guardian

Archetype characteristics

- Someone in the way

- Protects the special world

- Beyond the guardian lay danger

- May be a character, locked door, secret vault, animal, weather, etc.

- Provides a test of some sort

Hero must pass the test by:

Ignoring

Outwitting

Overcoming

Appeasing

Befriending

Threshold Guardian: Piggy too?

Shows Ralph that he cannot act in the same way that he acted before the plane crash (immature and irresponsible)

The Herald

To warn and challengeCan be a person or a thing,

but must call the Hero to adventure.

Can be combined with other characters. Even the Hero (in the form of dreams, etc).

The Herald: The Conch

Calls Ralph and everyone else to “order”

The conch represents order and civilization

When it stops being effective it warns Ralph that he may be losing his authority

It changes the momentum of the story and it pushes Ralph to take leadership

Gives Ralph special powers

The Shapeshifter

Archetype characteristics Misleads the Hero Ambiguous intentions and

loyalties Can put doubts into the hero’s

mind The audience is usually left asking,

“Whose side is this character on?”

Shapeshifter: The Lord of the Flies & Sam ‘n’ Eric

The Lord of the Flies is constantly change shape-

The Beastie

The Parachuter

The Pilot

The Pig’s Head

Simon

Sam ‘n’ Eric

Start as two distinct entities, morph into Samneric

Their loyalties are constantly shifting

The Shadow

Archetype characteristics

Forces within and outside of us of war against the power of positive life and change

Enormous resistance to the very experiences or insights that would lead to healing

Embodies all that is dark in ourselves

The Tricksters

Disrupt, cause chaos, or provide comic relief

Funny, witty, or titillating dialogue

Physicality is meant to entertain

They may not change, but may cause change in their world

Anti-authority

Jack: The Shadow Jack’s physical description is typical of the villain,

his appearance is the opposite of that of Ralph’s conventionally attractive appearance (not as distinct in the film)

“Something dark was fumbling along” (14). “The darkness was not all shadow but mostly

clothing” (14). “Their bodies, from throat to ankle, were hidden

by black cloaks” (14). “Inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin, and

bony: and his hair was red [and his] face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of this face stared two light blue eyes, […] ready to turn to anger” (16).

Jack: The Trickster

Jack desires power above all other things. He is furious when he loses the election to Ralph and continually pushes the boundaries of his subordinate role in the group.

Eventually, Jack has learned to use the boys’ fear of the beast to control their behavior—a reminder of how religion and superstition can be manipulated as instruments of power.

Roger: The Devil Figure

“…the shock of dark hair […] seemed to suit his gloomy face and made what has seemed at first an unsociable remoteness into something forbidding” (63).

Throws rocks at Henry (64-65).

Kills Piggy with a boulder (200).

He kills a pig in a vulgar manner and then pretends to be the beast in their hunting ritual the night that Simon is killed.

In the tribe, he has become the center of much wickedness, becoming the torturer of Samneric (202-212).

He “sharpened at both ends”, on which, it is assumed, they'll put Ralph's head (211).

Are humans inherently good or evil?

Throughout the novel, it is implied that the children were only obedient in their past life because they were scared of punishment.

Simon, and to a lesser extent Piggy, are the only inherently moral voices on the island.

Roger is depicted as being a malevolent and dark character from the beginning of the novel.

Jack’s craving for power leads him to make choices that become increasingly evil.

Ralph participates in profoundly evil acts, such as Simon’s murder, but is one of the only one that acknowledges his role and repents.