Games are means of entertainment and relaxation. Golding's use of games in Lord of the Flies develops the central theme of the novel that humanity has evil tendency within its nature. Metaphorically all the games have much deeper meaning than just a game of entertainment. Golding develops this theme from the first chapter of the novel to the climax. In the beginning, the characters play the games for fun and enjoyment. Even in their fun, a kind of cruelty, inflicting pain on others and enjoying the agony of the afflicted one was present. The characters of the novel are well suited to the game and the theme of man's innate evilness, as they are all below 14 years of age. As the boys play the game, they not only enjoy the fun of the game but also the joy of being savages. They don't require any order or law of guiding force in their state of savagery. This paper tries to bring out the game metaphor that leads the boys into savagery.

Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in a place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (Merriam Webster's Dictionary, XI^th Edition; p. 780). Gibbs (1994) defines it as an important factor of cognitive stylistics. It maps the space between two different conceptual domains. It is commonly used in literary works and in everyday discourse.

Life is a game; play it. It's an old saying. William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies enumerates the games that its characters play but with different motives. Golding tries to play the life game with the varied human nature of his characters. Interestingly, he has selected all his characters below 14 years, well suited to play the game.

The boys in Lord of the Flies consider most events as games, like the hunt, kill, chant and dance whereas in reality these are all key elements to the disintegration of their established society on the island. Order in the island society is slightly restored only when the boys encounter the naval officer during their manhunt. The games they played mostly to keep their mind off being trapped on an island, eventually lead to killings of each other, brutal beatings, dancing like cannibals after a successful hunt, and a savage in manhunt.

English Studies Journal, Game Metaphor, Brutal Beatings, Island Society, Cognitive Stylistics, Conceptual Domains, William Golding.