Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies

• Introduction Notes

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William Golding

• British novelist
• Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in literature
• Fought in Royal Navy for Britain during WWII
• Participated in invasion of Normandy on D-Day
• At wars end, returned to teaching and writing

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William Golding...

• Goldings first and most successful novel, Lord
  of the Flies, was published in England in 1954
  but its popularity was not established until five
  years later when it appeared in paperback.

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About the Novel

• Set in mid 1940s when Europe was in the middle
  of WWII.
• A plane carrying British school boys is mistaken
  for a military craft and shot down.
• Only the boys (no adults) survive the crash, and
  try to form a society and govern themselves.

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William Golding on his novel Lord of the Flies

• It was simply what seemed sensible for me to
  write after the war when everyone was thanking
  God they werent Nazis. Id seen enough to
  realize that every single one of us could be
  Nazis.

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Modern Day allusions

• Allusion- (n) a reference to someone or something
  famous
• There are many, many modern day allusions to Lord
  of the Flies in popular culture.
• For example.

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• The Simpsons episode titled Das Bus is a parody
  of Lord of the Flies.

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• The reality show Survivor is said to have been
  inspired by LOTF.

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• The episode Club Spongebob is a spoof of LOTF.

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• Bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Nine Inch
  Nails, AFI, and Pink Floyd have written songs
  about or have alluded to LOTF in their music.

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Extra Credit Opportunity!

• Until we are finished with the novel, you may
  find articles, songs (with lyrics), TV shows,
  movies, etc. that may be seen as modern-day
  allusions to Lord of the Flies and its themes.
• You will share the allusions you find on a
  turnitin.com discussion board for our class.
• Make sure to read others posts and do not post
  anything that has already been posted.

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A not too brief synopsis...

• British schoolboys are stranded on an uninhabited
  island during a nuclear war.
• Ralph meets Piggy, a fat boy with glasses, and
  together they find a conch shell which Ralph uses
  as a trumpet.

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A not too brief synopsis...

• In response to the sound, other boys appear, some
  very small, none older than 12, and finally a
  group dressed in choir robes and led by Jack
  Merridew.

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A not too brief synopsis...

• Realizing that there are no adults, the boys
  attempt to organize their own society. Ralph is
  elected chief and Jack is given control of the
  choir who become his hunters.

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A not too brief synopsis...

• As the novel progresses, fear becomes a part of
  island life for the boys.
• One of the fears is that there is an unexplained
  beast on the island.

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1. The capacity for human nature to be both good
and evil. 2. All individuals have the natural
capacity for brutality. 3. A society can often
be judged by the way it treats its most
vulnerable citizens.4. Fear of imperfection and
sin can separate people from God.5. People can
lose their innocence when put in circumstances
with the possibility of corruption.
Themes
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Symbols in the Novel

• The Conch- Civilization and order
• The Beast- The fear that separates man from God
• Piggys Glasses- Reason, science, and insight
• Lord of the Flies- Evil
• Fire Signal- Hope, salvation

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Philosophical Influence

• Thomas Hobbes
• English Philosopher 1588- 1679
• Man is by nature selfishly individualistic
• Man constantly at war with other men
• Fear of violent death is sole motivation to
  create civilizations
• Men need to be controlled to avoid savage
  behavior

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LOTF as an allegory

• Allegory story used as an extended metaphor for
  another concept
• Corruption of human nature (as seen through
  characters and setting)
• Bible (more info on this later)
• The human psyche (more info on this later)
• WWII

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The World Golding Knew

• WWII 1939- 1945
• The fall of France to Nazi Germany in1940
• Britain feared an invasion and evacuated children
  to other countries
• 1940- A German U-Boat torpedoed a British ship
  carrying children, killing the boys, thus
  suspending the overseas evacuation program

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Major Historical Topics that relate to LOTF

• 1. Allied Leaders during WWII Stalin, Churchill,
  FDR
• 2. Axis Leaders during WWII- Mussolini, Emperor
  Hirohito, Hitler
• 3. Operation Pied Piper (relocation effort)
• 4. The Holocaust
• 5. Nuclear war atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
  Nagasaki in particular
• 6. Genocide in Rwanda
• YOUR TASK FOR HW You will be assigned a number,
  and will then research the topic relating to that
  number. You are expected to bring in a one-page
  synopsis of your research. A list of facts is
  fine, with the URLs noted underneath. Dont just
  use Wikipedia,

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LOTF Vocab List 1

• Specious (adj) something that is believable but
  is actually false
• Officious (adj) overly helpful
• Ebullience (n) extreme enthusiasm
• Flourish (v) to thrive succeed grow well
• Furtive (adj) sly secretive
• Tirade (n) angry outburst of insults
• Conditioned (v) trained to act a certain way
  through repeated consequences and/or rewards

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• 8. Ludicrous (adj) completely absurd
• 9. Tremulously (adv) to do something nervously,
  perhaps while shaking or trembling
• 10. Decorum (n) quality of being orderly and
  properly behaved
• 11. Apprehension (n) a feeling of anxiety
• 12. Sagely (adv) - wisely, judiciously
• 13. Prefect (n) - a person appointed to position
  of authority
• 14. Succulent (adj) - juicy rich in desirable
  qualities

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• 15. Ungainly (adj) - not graceful awkward
  clumsy
• 16. Assimilate (v) - to adjust or adapt to a new
  situation/environment
• 17. Exulting (v) - to show or feel a lively or
  triumphant joy
• 18. Truculent (adj) - fierce cruel savagely
  brutal
• 19. Incantation (n) - the chanting or uttering of
  words thought to have magical power
• 20. Strident (adj) harsh-sounding shrill

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Holiday Vocab Activity

• ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER, using all the words
  from LOTF Vocab List 1, write a letter to Santa.
• All letters will be given to the Make-a-Wish
  Club on campus. For each letter, Macys will
  donate 1 to the Make-a-Wish foundation.

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• Dear sagacious Santa,
• Many adults think the idea of you is ludicrous
  and specious, but I know you are real (even
  though I am Jewish). So I furtively write to you
  in the hopes that you will give me the gifts I
  want. I would be absolutely exultant and
  ebullient if you would get me the Ludacris CD
  that has the song Ludacrismas on it. There is
  nothing in the world that I want more, and I will
  say incantations over and over until I get it.
• I think I deserve this wonderful gift because
  Ive been very good this year. I havent gone on
  any tirades, and Ive conditioned my classes to
  exhibit decorum. Although they are still strident
  once in a while (they are teenagers after all), I
  believe my students are assimilating and
  flourishing.
• Lastly, I would like to speak to you about your
  elves. There is an ungainly one in particular who
  looks like Will Ferrell. He tries to be
  officious, but just ends up tremulously bumbling
  everything. Though I understand his apprehension
  because he is a human masquerading as an elf, I
  ask that he not be the prefect of the division in
  the North Pole that deals with music-related
  gifts because I dont want my CD to get messed
  up.
• Love, Ms. Bond
• PS. Be careful on the road. I hope you dont get
  into any accidents that could truculently destroy
  your sleigh.
• PPS. I have left some succulent cookies for you
  by the fireplace.

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LOTF Vocab List 2

• 1. Enmity (n) feeling of hate
• 2. Interposed (v) to put oneself between others
  usually for the purpose of peacemaking
• 3. Motif (n) recurring pattern of something
• 4. Incredulous (adj) disbelieving skeptical
• 5. Clamor (n) chaos tumult
• 6. Mortification (n) extreme shame humiliation
• 7. Compulsion (n) irresistible impulse or force

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• 8. Belligerent (adj) truculent, aggressive,
  war-like
• 9. Derisive (adj) rude, belittling - describes
  tone of voice
• 10. Sanctity (n) holiness purity
• 11. Recrimination (n) an accusation made in
  retaliation or revenge
• 12. Impalpable (adj) not capable of being felt
  or understood intangible
• 13. Myopic (adj) near-sighted can be meant
  literally or figuratively (in terms of only
  seeing short-term consequences)

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• 14. Corpulent (adj) excessively fat
• 15. Contrite (adj) guilty remorseful
• 16. Leviathan (adj) - something very large and
  overwhelming refers to a giant sea creature in
  the Bible
• 17. Pliant (adj) physically flexible easily
  influenced
• 18. Declivity (n) a downward slope of any kind
  (physical, emotional, etc).
• 19. Incursion (n) invasion attack against
  enemies
• 20. Tacit (adj) implied inferred not spoken

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Ch. 7 New Info about Simon and Ralph

• Ralph
• What do we learn about Ralphs background? Why do
  you think we only learn about his background and
  not the other boys?
• What discovery does Ralph make about himself when
  they are hunting the pig?
• Simon
• What brave action does Simon take towards the end
  of the chapter? Why do you think he is so brave?
• Reflect ? What new leadership qualities do both
  boys show in this chapter, different from how
  they have been characterized earlier?

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LOTF FINAL SEMINAR

• 1) Write a paragraph response about any of the
  following topics in LOTF. Think about the deeper
  meaning/symbolic significance of the topic. You
  may address more than one topic if you like. Make
  sure to use textual evidence your response must
  incorporate at least one quote from the novel.
• 1) The id, ego, and superego
• 2) The ending of the novel
• 3) The officers view of the boys
• 4) Deaths of Piggy and Simon
• 5) The role of minor characters Sam and Eric,
  Roger, Percival
• 6) The killing of the female pig in Ch. 8
• 7) Anything else you can think of not listed here