Lord of the Flies

William Golding...

Golding’s 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.

William Golding...

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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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.

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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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.

Information about Lord of the Flies

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.

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.

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.

They’re 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.

...They’re 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.

...They’re the real thing

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

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.

Characters as symbols

Ralph=common sense, and responsibility

Jack=immediate gratification and irresponsible authority

Piggy=ineffective intellectualism

Simon=mystic, Religious side of man. Understands good and evil but cannot express it effectively.

Samneric=incapable of acting independently. They represent loss of identity through fear of the beast.

Characters as symbols

Dead parachutist= the “sign,” evil developing on the island

Each of the characters represents a part of man.

...Characters as symbols

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

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 man’s capacity for evil

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 cont’d It is Jack’s group that

allows the fire (hope) to go out.

Fire also symbolizes man’s potential for savagery, destroying the island completely, when uncontrolled, in the same way savagery consumes the boys as they hunt Ralph.

Objects as symbols

Piggy’s glasses They signify man’s

ability to perceive, to think, and to ‘see.’ They also symbolize how intelligence can be misused for destructive purposes when Piggy’s 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.

Objects as symbols

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.

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 Ralph’s.

Jack

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

…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.

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.