Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies
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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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William Golding...

• This book was followed by a series of other
  novels, each concerned in one way or another with
  the theme of mans capacity for evil The
  Inheritors, Free Fall and The Brass Butterfly.

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Theme of Lord of the Flies.

• The theme of Lord of the Flies is that humankind
  is inherently evil and needs the structure of
  civilization (laws and order) to control its
  natural tendencies.

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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, bespectacled boy, 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 twelve, 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...

• The division of labor is agreed upon Jack and
  his group will become hunters Ralph, aided by
  Simon, Piggy and the twins Samneric, will build
  huts and carry water

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A not too brief synopsis...

• Ralph and Piggy criticize Jack who responds by
  breaking Piggys glasses with a blow, and then
  boasts about the pig his hunters have slain.

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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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A not too brief synopsis...

• Laced with such fears, the power struggle between
  the two boys grows.
• The boys become more and more fascinated with
  their savage side.

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A not too brief synopsis...

• By the end of the novel, the boys are offering
  sacrifices to the beast, Piggy and Simon are
  killed, and Ralph is being hunted by the group he
  once lead.

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Information about Lord of the Flies
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Themes

• Even though humankind strives to create civilized
  societies, it will fail at doing so. Contrary to
  the belief that man is innocent and society evil,
  the story shows that laws and rules, policemen
  and schools are necessary to keep the darker side
  of human nature in line. When these institutions
  and concepts slip away, humankind reverts to
  being primitive.

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Themes

• Evil (the beast) is human, a part of human
  nature, not outside us.
• Golding implies that the loss of innocence has
  little to do with age but is related to a
  person's understanding of human nature. It can
  happen at any age or not at all. Painful though
  it may be, this loss of innocence by coming to
  terms with reality is necessary if humanity is to
  survive.

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Themes

• Fear of the unknown on the island revolves around
  the boys' terror of the beast. The recognition
  that no real beast exists, that there is only the
  power of fear, is one of the deepest meanings of
  the story.

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Theyre the real thing

• Golding establishes a sense of reality by his
  descriptions of the boys and by the language of
  their conversations with each other.
• The boys have ordinary physical attributes and
  mannerisms of young boys. The group includes a
  variety of physical types short, tall, dark,
  light, freckled, tow-headed, etc.

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...Theyre the real thing

• To stress the universality of their later
  actions, Golding takes great pains to present the
  boys as normal. The littluns suck their
  thumbs, eat sloppily, etc., while the older ones
  roll about in the sand, stand on their heads, and
  swim.

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...Theyre the real thing

• Even their unkindness to Piggy is credible, for
  children often display a natural cruelty to
  anyone they consider different or inferior.

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Life among the savages

• Even their metamorphosis from ordinary schoolboys
  into bloodthirsty savages seems likely, for
  Golding has taken their descent one step at a
  time.

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Characters as symbols

• Ralphcommon sense, and responsibility
• Jackimmediate gratification and irresponsible
  authority
• Piggyineffective intellectualism

• Simonmystic, Religious side of man. Understands
  good and evil but cannot express it effectively.
• Samnericincapable of acting independently. They
  represent loss of identity through fear of the
  beast.

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Characters as symbols

• Dead parachutist the sign, evil developing on
  the island

• Each of the characters represents a part of man.

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...Characters as symbols

• We all have good, evil, common sense,
  intelligence, a sense of nature within us.

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Objects as symbols

• Conch shell
• law and order. The shell loses authority as
  anarchy grows. The conch fades in colour and
  value. Its power is destroyed with the fall of
  Piggy.

• Lord of the Flies
• Refers to the head of the pig which Jack has left
  as an offering to the beast. Literal
  translation of the Beelzebub, prince of demons.
  Symbolizes mans capacity for evil

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Objects as symbols

• Huts
• represent the desire to preserve civilization
  when Jack gains power they move into caves like
  the animals they have become.
• Fire
• its use divides civilization from savagery.
  Ralph uses it for hope Jack for cooking.

• Fire contd
• It is Jacks group that allows the fire (hope) to
  go out.
• Fire also symbolizes mans potential for
  savagery, destroying the island completely, when
  uncontrolled, in the same way savagery consumes
  the boys as they hunt Ralph.

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Objects as symbols

• Piggys glasses
• They signify mans ability to perceive, to think,
  and to see. They also symbolize how
  intelligence can be misused for destructive
  purposes when Piggys glasses are used to smoke
  Ralph out.

• Night and Darkness
• an archetypal symbol of evil, the powers of
  darkness. The boys would have recognized the
  parachutist in the daylight, as would they have
  Simon. The beast is more real at night.

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Objects as symbols

• Stick sharpened on both ends
• Represents how much evil has taken the boys over.
  First it was used to offer the beast the pig
  sacrifice next to offer it Ralphs.

• Face paint
• The paint helps the boys hide from their own
  consciences, turning them into anonymous savages
  who are freed from the restraints of civilized
  behavior.

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Jack

• Jack, chief representative of evil in the
  novel, is too inhibited by societys teachings to
  teachings to slay the piglet the first day, he
  later progresses to exhilaration in his first
  kill.

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Jack

• Eventually he comes to kill for the sheer thrill
  of slaughter rather than the need for meat, and
  this becomes the motive for hunting.

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Ralph

• Ralph is a tall, blond twelve year old,
  establishes himself as the leader of the boys
  when he blows the conch shell to call the first
  assembly. Throughout the story, he struggles to
  maintain order and is forced to compete with Jack
  for respect.