William Golding’s Lord of the Flies can be viewed as a political allegory with characters representing world leaders during World War II. It can also be seen as symbolic, with many different objects representing other things or ideas. On the island, Ralph wants democracy, Jack wants dictatorship, and Roger is the sadistic one who provides evil. In The Lord of the Flies things such as the conch, the fire, and the beast each provide their own symbolic meaning. The story seems to be a political allegory when examining the main characters. According to literary critic Diane Andrews Henningfeld, “Ralph , for example, stands for the good hearted but not entirely effective