1
Lord of the Flies

• William Golding

2
THEMES

• Inherent evil of man.
• Power and Leadership.
• Nature vs Civility.
• Law and Order.

3
CHAPTER ONE

• MAIN EVENTS
• Group of boys marooned on an island.
• Piggy and Ralph first on scene use conch.
• Jack Merridew and choir boys arrive still in
  robes.
• Simon, choir, faints.
• Ralph elected as chief.
• Piggys nickname revealed obvious target.
• Ralph, Jack and Simon explore.

4
COMMENTARY

• JACK
• First seen as something dark..fumbling along.
  Already seen as evil.
• Calm, self assured.
• Vocal aversion to Piggy. Fatty.
• Uniformed superiority. already sets out his
  group as different.
• I ought to be chief. arrogance.
• Irony that it is the choir who become the
  hunters.
• No time for weakness lack of pity when Simon
  faints.

5
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Ralph
• Well built and athletic natural leader.
• There was a mildness about his mouth and eyes
  that proclaimed no devil. - set up early as the
  pinnical of good society.
• Playful nature standing on head.
• Some meaness betrays Piggys nickname.
• Uses conch the symbol of democracy.
• Relies on Piggys intelligence.
• Comes to symbolise man and civilisation.

6
COMMENTARY THREE

• PIGGY
• Intellectual, but cannot survive in a place
  without acceptance and adult rule.
• Realist - mentions atomic bomb.
• Source of only female voice in the novel
  Auntie.
• Already an outsider.

• SIMON
• Christ like figure who loves nature and mankind.
• Often faints or has epileptic fits.
• ROGER
• The dark boy.
• Very intense and secretive- hints at evil that
  lies beneath.

7
CHAPTER TWO

• MAIN EVENTS
• Explorers return and call a meeting.
• The young ones worry about a beast.
• Agree to start fire to attract attention.
• The fire burns out of control.
• The boy with the birth mark disappears.

8
COMMENTARY

• Jack
• Jack is still in control of the choir but they
  have lost their uniformity. Had discarded
  their cloaks.
• We see him take Ralphs power when he encourages
  the boys to run up the mountain, discarding the
  authority of the conch move towards evil.
• Desire to kill Before I could kill it- but-
  next time.
• Boys willingness to follow symbolises the ease
  with which humanitys emotional, savage nature
  overwhelms its rational and civilised tendencies.
• Cruelty as he snatches Piggys glasses.
• His strength attracts the interest of the other
  boys.
• Still clings to some semblance of civility
  Were English and the English are best at
  everything. So weve got to do the right
  things.

9
COMMENTARY TWO

• Ralph
• Has position of leader but seems uncertain.
• Desire to maintain order We cant have
  everybody talking at once. Well have to have
  Hands up like at school.
• Wins back the boys support with his assertion
  that they will be rescued obvious desire to
  cling onto civilisation and order.
• Only when he needs something does Ralph pay
  attention to Piggy.

10
COMMENTARY THREE

• PIGGY
• Has faith in Ralphs ability to communicate the
  issues Youre hindering Ralph. Youre not
  letting him get to the most important thing.
• Logical mentality logical to follow the leader.
  Logical to build a shelter. Contrasts with the
  emotional boys.
• Lacks rapport with the other boys cannot make
  himself heard.
• Adult voice like a crowd of kids. and
  martyred expression of a parent.
• See the uprising against Piggy the adult
  figure. The battle of physicality against
  intelligence.

11
The Coral Island - similarities

• Written by R. B. Ballantyne published in 1857
• Set on a tropical island
• Main characters named Ralph and Jack
• Adventures as boys strive to survive
• Themes concerned with morality
• Novel ends with their setting sail for home

12
The Coral Island key differences

• The Coral Island

• Lord of the Flies

• Boys, being English, are civilising influence
• Englishness seen as moral virtue, bringing with
  it responsibilities the white mans burden
• Boys innocence prevails

• Boys bring destruction and death to the island
• Englishness claimed as virtue, but shown not to
  be
• Boys innocence corrupted indeed, the concept
  of innocence questioned

13
SYMBOLISM

• Fire
• Firstly represents hope and aspirations for the
  future a tool that separates humankind from the
  animals.
• Duality On one side the air was cool, but on
  the other the fire thrust out a savage arm of
  heat.
• Represents the conflicting nature of man.
• Fire also helps to highlight Ralphs perception
  of their situation. First fire is an act of
  communal play but becomes more serious as they
  begin to organise teams to tend it change from
  fun to fight for survival.
• Ultimately it is about savagery Life becomes a
  race with the fire. Primitive attack on piggy
  to get it started

14
SYMBOLISM

• The Beast
• Represents the evil that is part of human nature.
• Lurks in the jungle at night ready to devour
  them. Turn into a harmless vine during the day.
  He says in the morning it turned into them
  things like ropes in the trees and hung in the
  branches.
• During fire the little boys shriek Snakes!
  Snakes! Look at the snakes! Allusion to the
  serpent in the Garden of Eden who stole innocence
  and introduced humanity to its own physicality.
• On a conscience level, the boys perceive the
  beast as an actual animal. However the little
  boys have an immediate and instinctive
  recognition that the Island is a threat to them.
• Ralphs reaction But I tell you there isnt a
  beast! - denying the existence of the dark side
  of humanity.

15
CHAPTER THREE

• MAIN EVENTS
• Jack goes pig hunting unsuccessfully.
• The boys begin to erect shelters.
• Simon goes off on his own.

16
COMMENTARY

• JACK
• Contrast in how Jack first appeared Fully
  dressed in cloak and how he appears now. Jack
  crouched with his face a few inches from the
  clue, then started forward into the semi darkness
  of the undergrowth. - regression.
• Described using animalistic terminology.
  Dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours.
  Ape-like among the tangle of trees.
• Has become obsessed with hunting and the desire
  to kill He tried to convey the compulsion to
  track down and kill that swallowed him up.
• Finds it difficult to express himself verbally,
  linked with uncommunicative Island move away
  from civility.
• Finds it difficult to remember civility has to
  think for a moment before he could remember what
  rescue was.
• Could enforce rules but does not share Ralphs
  civilised vision.
• Still does not believe in the beastie but
  acknowledges the existence of a threat when he
  is alone in the jungle You can feel as if
  youre not hunting, but being hunted.

17
COMMENTARY CONT.

• RALPH
• Still the rational being desperate to make
  shelters. Takes his duty of caring for the boys
  very seriously.
• We see a difference in the attitudes of Jack and
  Ralph. Ralph does not enjoy what he is doing but
  Jack sees it as an adventure. But you like
  it!...You want to hunt! While I
• Still believes more than ever that they will be
  rescued The best thing that we could do is to
  get ourselves rescued.
• Resistance when Jack tries to convey his
  experience of the beast representative of
  reasonable society.
• Growing disenchantment with Jack and
  disillusionment with being leader. Sees Jack as
  undermining his efforts. People are not quite
  what you thought they were.

18
COMMENTARY THREE

• SIMON
• This chapter reveals Simon as the Christ like
  figure.
• Goldings describes his eyes as being so
  bright. Symbolises his vision. Later in the
  novel he will see the truth about the beast.
• Takes time to pass down fruit to the endless,
  outstretched hands, an almost saintly image.
• Has a hidden place of meditation which contrasts
  with Jacks experience of the Island. When Jack
  is hunting pale flowers on a grey trunk are
  described but when Simon is alone Golding
  mentions red and yellow sprays and gaudy
  butterflies.
• An atmosphere of calm and tranquillity is evident
  in Simons place the darkness holds no terror
  for him.

19
CHAPTER FOUR

• MAIN EVENTS
• The littluns play on the beach.
• Jack goes off hunting.
• Ralph sees the smoke of a boat on the horizon.
• He discovers the fire has gone out.
• The hunters return with a dead pig.
• Ralph is angry and calls a meeting.

20
COMMENTARY

• CHAPTER INSIGHT
• The opening of the chapter describes a microcosm
  of larger life cycles the main cycles that
  govern humanity. For instance, the rise and fall
  of a great civilisation.
• Opening creates contrast to the quiet darkness
  that ends Chapter 3. Boys are happiest in the
  morning. Towards noon the heat becomes a blow
  and reality becomes blurred. By midday the sun
  becomes an angry eye forcing the children to
  hide. Sun is a symbol of power GOD.
• Golding deliberately makes the island an inviting
  place which provides the boys everything they
  need to survive. No natural threat to boys, only
  those within.
• Evil is the will to exert power over others the
  power to control and to hurt.

21
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Jack
• Finds a way to release his inherent evil by
  wearing a mask of clay. The mask was a thing on
  its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from
  shame and self-consciousness. Even the other
  boys become afraid of him.
• Refers to mask as dazzle paint - camouflage
  used in warfare, linking his new identity with
  the adults fighting in war.
• Begins to think like an animal. They see me, I
  think. Something pink under the trees.
• Still disgusted when he notices the blood on his
  hands.
• Costs the boys their rescue but shows little
  remorse. Contrast with Ralph distance between
  the boys grows.
• Ritualistic face painting and dancing separates
  him from the constraints of civilised society.

22
COMMENTARY CONT

• Ralph
• Desire for rescue continues and his anger is
  evident when he realises that the fire has been
  allowed to go out mask of civility slips.
• Gulf between Ralph and Jack is evident. Jack is
  the hunter Ralph is the hunted. He did
  desperate violence to his naked body among the
  rasping creepers so that blood was sliding over
  him.
• Anger at Jack is evident mourning the loss of
  the world they left behind.
• Sees Jacks apology as a verbal trick,
  distracting everyone from the tragedy.
• Envious of Jacks victory and the influence it
  has on the boys.

23
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Roger
• Changed over the weeks. His unsociable
  remoteness is now something forbidding.
• Throws stones at Henry excited and agitated by
  his desire to hurt a child.
• Constrained by social convention Here,
  invisible but strong, was the taboo of the old
  life. Round the squatting child was the
  protection of parents and school and policemen
  and the law.

• Henry
• Becoming like Jack.
• Experiments with mastery over other creatures as
  he traps small insects.
• He became absorbed beyond happiness as he felt
  himself exercising control over living things
  desire for power.

24
CHAPTER FIVE

• MAIN EVENTS
• Ralph lays down the ground rules at the meeting.
• Jack asserts that the beast is a product of the
  imagination.
• The opinions of Simon and Piggy are ignored but
  remind us of their spiritual and rational
  approaches.
• Jack storms off from the meeting having
  undermined Ralph.

25
COMMENTARY

• Ralph
• Starts to think like an adult. Realises the need
  for Piggy.
• Realises that civility is crumbling. We are
  becoming like animals.
• Considers resigning as chief Ill give up
  hints at the failure of civilisation.
• Desire to be rescued is still strong.
• Jack
• Increasingly argumentative,bullying ignores
  others, dictator.
• Dismisses talk of the beast there is no
  beast.
• Attacks Ralph for supporting Piggy.
• Still does not share Ralphs view of civility.

26
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Piggy
• Realises the boys are becoming primitive What
  are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?
• Rational claims he does not believe in ghosts.
• Clinging to civility and the conch. Voices the
  necessity for assemblies.
• Refers to grown ups on several occasions. What
  are grown ups going to think?
• Simon
• Acknowledges the beast as the apparent evil in
  everyone.

27
SYMBOLISM

• Narrow strip of firm beach Ralph chooses this
  to walk on civility and order.
• Ralphs grey shirt and shorts represent civility.
• Clothes are becoming uncomfortable and wearing on
  Ralphs thighs weight of keeping order.

28
SYMBOLISM

• The beast
• "maybe it's only us," Simon suggests. Simon
  became inarticulate in his effort to express
  mankinds essential illness.
• To clarify, he asks, "What's the dirtiest thing
  there is?" Jack answers in a word of "one crude
  expressive syllable."
• The word is obvious (Golding was too discreet to
  use it.)
• Excrement
• If humans are the beasts, then humans are also
  excrement (basic metaphor for evil)
• Excrement is everywhere on the island (Ch 4).
  Eating fruit causes diarrhoea, and the island is
  dotted with faeces.

29
CHAPTER SIX

• MAIN EVENTS
• A dead parachutist lands on the Island.
• Sam and Eric encounter the beast.
• At a meeting Jack announces it should be hunted
  down.
• The bigger boys, without Piggy, set off to find
  the beast.
• They discover a good place for a fort at the end
  of the Island.

30
COMMENTARY

• CHAPTER INSIGHT
• Echoes of chapter one when they first explore.
• The dead parachutist prevents the boys from
  keeping alight the fire affects rescue.
  Symbolically, a preoccupation with evil (hunting
  the beast) sidelines attempts at civilised,
  ordered behaviour (keeping the fire alight.)

31
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Ralph
• Ralphs new found appreciation for thought is
  evident. So weve got to think.
• Wins the boys back after Jacks challenge by
  reminding them of their desire to be rescued.
• Deep sense of responsibility for the other boys
  ventures up castle rock first.
• Calm and realistic- he realised with surprise
  that he did not really expect to meet any beast
  and didnt know what he would do about it if he
  did.

32
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Jack
• Jack challenges, not only Ralphs authority, but
  the ritual of the conch and the right to free
  speech We dont need the conch anymore. We
  know who ought to say things.
• First impulse is to hunt the beast evil.
• Fear brings out the dictator in Jack. Declares
  the beast a hunters job and challenges Ralphs
  authority.
• Has no time for those who do not share his
  opinion.
• Simon
• Insight into the nature of the true beast.
• There rose before his inward sight the picture
  of a human at once heroic and sick.

33
CHAPTER SEVEN

• MAIN EVENTSRalph is dismayed by the state of
  the boys.
• Jack discovers the tracks of a wild boar.
• The boys devise a ritual dance to celebrate the
  hunt.
• Ralph, Jack and Roger climb to the top of the
  Island and discover the dead parachutist.
• Terrified by their discovery they flee down the
  mountain.

34
COMMENTARY

• CHAPTER INSIGHT
• The groups of boys display a lust for conflict
  delight in confrontations between Jack and Ralph
  and frenzied attack on Robert beast at work.
• Golding uses overmastering to describe desire
  to inflict pain .Note that Ralph is carried away
  by a sudden,thick excitement p142
• Robert realises the need to stay in the group
  pretends his hurt is only physical.
• Parachutist becomes a symbol of mans inherent
  evil which will prevail on the Island. They
  cannot tend the fire because of the corpses
  presence.
• The fallen man fallen nature becomes
  ape-like- primitive. This mirrors the boys
  degeneration.

35
COMMENTARY

• Ralph
• Seeks comfort in the images of home everything
  was good-humoured and friendly.
• Sees dirt on boys manifestation of the inner
  evil.
• Emotional and psychological development
  involvement in the pig hunt. Sunned himself in
  their new respect and felt that hunting was good
  after all.
• Realises that Jacks priorities and perspectives
  are present, even if latent, in us all.
• Directly asks Jack why do you hate me? Opens
  up floodgates of aggression - civilised
  conventions are intended to control this.
• Attempts to play down attack by applying
  civilised constraints. - Its just a game.
  However his comments about rugby show games can
  be painful.

36
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Jack
• Becomes increasingly aggressive towards Ralph and
  his leadership.
• Acknowledges that the game must have fatal
  consequences primitive.
• Described as a stain in the darkness.
• Roger
• Other dark stain.
• Fighting to get close during attack on Robert.
• Replaces Simon in second ascent up the mountain
  replacing good with evil (compare chapter 1 )
• Simon
• Sacrificial Role is cemented. Tells Ralph
  Youll get back to where you came from. the
  implication is Simon will not.

37
CHAPTER EIGHT

• MAIN EVENTS
• The three boys report their encounter with the
  beast.
• The meeting rejects Jack as the new chief after
  he attempt to undermine Ralph.
• The fire is re-lit.
• There is a brutal killing of a sow.
• They save the pigs head and put it on a stick as
  offering to The Beast. A raid takes place to
  light a cooking fire.
• Simon having witnessed this brutal ritual
  converses with the Lord of the Flies and
  realises the source of evil is within the boys.
• A storm is gathering.

38
The Killing of the Pig

• Attacks an innocent sow supreme act of cruelty
  Jacks reaction to his failure with the boar in
  chapter 7 and with Ralph at the meeting.
• Setting -takes place in Simons secret , sacred
  place.
• The hunters have desecrated this place of natural
  beauty with their foul bloodlust destroyed
  Eden.
• The death of the sow signals the triumph of evil
  climax.
• wedded to her in lust... Excitedthey were
  heavy and fulfilled upon her word choice and
  imagery has sexual connotations .
• Jack now takes great delight in the blood on his
  hands.

39
You knew, didnt you?... Im the reason why its
no go?
Tries to force Simon to accept savagery.
Simons dialogue With LoTF Reminds us of Christs
agony In the garden of Gethsemane Before
Crucifixion.
Were going to have fun on this Island! So dont
try it onor else. Changes the concept of fun
discussed earlier.
Literal translation of Greek Beelzebub evil,
the devil
THE LORD OF THE FLIES

• We shall do you.
• Prophecy of
• Simons death.

Connection with Jack evil personified
Flies lack sympathy, consumed by need to eat and
multiply. Mirrored in the character of Jack and
his obsession.
Voice of school master.
40
CHAPTER NINE

• MAIN EVENTS
• Simon climbs to the mountain top where he
  considers the corpse of the dead parachutist.
• Having worked out what it is, he makes his way
  down to tell the other boys.
• Below, the boys are indulging in tribal dances.
• Simon stumbles into the dancing circle.
• The boys kills Simon in their frenzy.

41
COMMENTARY

• CHAPTER INSIGHT
• Storm clouds build up over the Island
• As storm reaches climax the boys terror turns to
  desire the lust to kill.
• Great wind blows up, lifting the dead
  parachutist. The boys rush screaming into the
  darkness as they come face to face with their
  own evil killing Simon.
• Darkness brings peace and clarity. Lyrical
  description of Simons body being carried off
  ends the chapter.
• Ritual dance replacing Christian prayers
  offers comfort in time of uncertainty.

42
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Jack
• At the feast Jack sits like an idol , painted
  and garlanded to be worshipped.
• Has acquired more power but all connected to the
  desire to kill. No reason or thought.
• Authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in
  his ear like an ape. Devil on his shoulder
  animalistic, primitive.
• Challenges Ralph offers food and protection
  from the beast.
• The conch doesnt count at this end of the
  Island.

43
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Simon
• Comes face to face with the beast on the top of
  the mountain.
• Simon like Moses comes down to offer the
  truth but finds the other boys wild.
• The mouth of the new circle crunched and
  screamed Savage attack, killed for knowing the
  truth.
• Becomes a scapegoat.
• Dies, like Christ, for the sins of his fellow man
  accompanied by a storm in Heaven.
• Saint like burial at sea.

44
Discussion Chapters 10 and 11

• Summarise the main events of the chapters
• Make notes on each of the main characters (Ralph,
  Piggy, Roger and Jack) including key quotations
  to demonstrate how they are developed.

45
CHAPTER TEN

• MAIN EVENTS
• Piggy and Ralph discuss the events of the
  previous night.
• Jack and the hunters have set up camp on the
  rocky outcrop.
• Ralph and Piggy try unsuccessfully to re-light
  the fire.
• In an attack on Piggy, the hunters steal his
  glasses.

46
COMMENTARY

• CHAPTER INSIGHT
• Everyone's guilt is evident when Golding refers
  to their befouled bodies.
• Littluns stay with Ralph represents order,
  civility and responsibility. The strong must
  care for the weak.
• Difference in reactions of the boys to the death.
• Refer to murder as dance , game do not want
  to address horror.
• Ralph
• Realises true horror of their actions. Only one
  to call it murder.
• Allows Piggy to justify what has happened. - I
  was on the outside too. Does not want to
  acknowledge his inner evil.
• Forgetting home Fading knowledge.

47
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Piggy
• Rationally tries to justify murder.
• Im frightened of us. He realises that they
  will become savages if they dont get rescued.
• Naively protects the conch does not realise
  that the other boys do not value it.
• Jack
• Feels no guilt.
• No sense of moral responsibility.
• Rules his tribe with fear and violence. Keeps
  the beast alive to maintain control.
• Does not want others to sneak in does not
  want civility to return.

48
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Roger
• Sadist. Impressed by Jacks exertions of power.
• He has been longing for release assimilating
  the possibilities of irresponsible authority.
• Symbolism
• Then the shelters collapsed with smothering
  finality. Last vestige of civility.

49
CHAPTER ELEVEN

• MAIN EVENTS
• Ralph is unable to light the fire.
• He and Piggy, with Sam and Eric, resolve to see
  Jack.
• A scuffle breaks out between the two groups.
• Piggy is killed by a falling rock.
• Ralph escapes alone.

50
COMMENTARY

• Chapter Insight
• Bigotry and prejudice become key. Not seeing
  others as individuals.
• Parallels with soldiers who justify killing.
• Effect of otherness is evident when the twins
  are tied up. They represent something that is
  not acceptable.

51
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Ralph
• Loosing his grasp on reality. Calls for smoke
  but does not seem to know why they need it.
• Becomes fallible because he will not admit his
  feelings.
• Wants his group to appear civilised when
  approaching Jacks as a reminder of what they
  have left behind..
• Contrast with Samneric who want to put on war
  paint desire for survival.
• Calls Jack a beast apt.
• Piggy
• Still finds comfort in the conch and the civility
  that it represents Its the only thing we
  got.
• Still demands action and relies on Ralph.
• Worries whats grown ups goin to think?
  mourning the lose of values and decorum.
• Code of ethics which is universal whats
  rights right.

52
COMMENTARY CONT.

• Jack
• Living out the beasts urges.
• Stole, not only glasses, but hope.
• Does not want conch does not value what it
  represents.
• Once he throws spear at Ralph Golding stops using
  his name. Calls him the chief. The boy inside
  is gone, he is just a primitive urge.
• Roger
• Relishes role as killer.
• Cannot see the boys as humans. Ralph was a
  shock of hair and Piggy a bag of fat.
• Frees him from the restraints of decency.
• He feels a sense of delirious abandonment when
  he releases the rock and kills Piggy.
• Different from the other boys because he shows no
  emotion.

53
SYMBOLISM

• The conch is the only tool of authority and
  morality that is left but it is ineffectual.
• Boys no longer respect it.
• Evil has triumphed. Spirituality, creativity and
  religion went with Simon intellect and reason
  went with Piggy and rules, authority and
  tradition go with the conch.
• The conch exploded into a thousand white
  fragments and ceased to exist.

54
Chapter 12

• Main events
• Ralph is now alone.
• He goes to speak to Sam and Eric at Castle Rock.
• The next morning, Jock and his group hunt him
  down.
• Isolated, Ralph collapses on the beach where he
  looks up to see the friendly face of a rescuing
  naval officer.

55
COMMENTARY

• Chapter Insight
• Ralph realises that the boys as individuals no
  longer exist.
• Hunting has become their identity rather than
  their activity.
• Naval officer sees their time on the Island as
  fun and games.
• Naval officer echoes Jacks sentiment in chapter
  2 Were not savages, were English." Like
  humanity these boys have had to act on impulses
  that are at best uncivil and at worst deadly.
• All societies possess these deadly impulses.
• Savage fire prompts rescue - Use of irony in last
  chapter, blurs the boundary between civilisation
  and savagery and implies that the two are more
  closely li9nked than the story has illustrated.
• Naval officer reacts to the savage children with
  disgust, despite the fact that he has come from a
  world consumed by war.

56

• JACK
• Makes Ralph an outcast by throwing his spear at
  him.
• Wants Ralphs head on a stick ultimate offering
  to the beast. Victory of evil.

57
COMMENTARY

• Ralph
• Still craves companionship relies on their
  daylight sanity.
• Knew he was an outcast because he had some
  sense.
• Reverts to a childish state.
• Becomes the prey, which brings out his animal
  instincts.
• Fundamental drive for survival.
• Still has sense wonders what they will eat
  tomorrow after the fire.
• When Ralph encounters the Lord of the Flies he
  finds a skull that gleamed as white as ever the
  conch had done. infinite struggle between good
  and evil.
• Knocking it to the ground is a small victory for
  Ralph over evil.
• As he sees the naval officer he does not see his
  face but his markings. civilised war paint.
• Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the
  darkness of mans heart, and the fall through
  the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.

58
TEST YOURSELF

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