William Golding Lord Of The Flies
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William Golding Lord Of The Flies
1. Author’s name: Sir William Golding2. Notes on the author, his life and time:
William Gerald Golding was born in Cornwall in 1911. His family was progressive and it was the first source of influence for Golding's talent. He studied physics and English literature at Marlboro and Oxford University of England. From the first years of his life, he faced the atrocities of war. He also took part in the Second World War by joining the British Navy at 1940. The war, as a physical result, changed a lot W.Golding's view of life. W. Golding couldn't believe in man's innocence any longer. He found that even the children are not innocent. No one is innocent until the society and the way of his life make him to pretend that he's innocent. But sometimes, when a man is facing a difficult situation then he will propably show his other nature. After the war (1945-1962), he worked as a teacher in Salisbury. These years he started to act as a writer. He published the books "Lord of the Flies" (1954), "The Inheritors" (1955), "Pincher Martin" (1956) and "Free Fall" (1959). The ideas of W.Golding's view of human nature can be found in almost any of Golding's books. Particularly, in his first and most famous book, "Lord of the flies". This book finally published in 1954 and it didn't become a success at once. Today, it's considering as one of the best books of English literature. It also became a film with great success. William Golding was awarded with the BOOKER Mc CONNEL Prize, the greatest British Literature Prize. Finally in 1983, he was awarded with the NOBEL Prize for his whole offer to the Worldwide Literature. William Golding have teached also in Greece (in 60's). He always loved Greek literature, and many of his books show clearly his Greek influence.
3. Title: Lord Of The Flies
4. Published by: The Putnam Publishing Group, New York
Date of publication: 1954
Number of pages: 202, paperback
Part of series of matching novels: no
5. Genre:
psychological novel – author describes shaping of society of children on the island as happening acording to certain rules.
6. Structure of the work
a) division into: chapters
b) itroduction:
social setting: -
geographical setting: some small island in Pacific ocean
historical setting: during World War II
c) initial incident:
Group of cast away children divides in two rival camps, because some boys, particularly Jack, don’t like the strict, but necessary rules. They want radher have fun, hunt and make feasts.
Therefor Jack establishes a new camp. In this moment the regression of this island society begins.
d) climax:
The story about disintegration and regression of this small society culminates, when the members of Jack’s tribe knowingly kill Piggy. At this moment they utterly abandon any old principles and moral and they lose their innocence.
7. Account for the title and/or subtitle and their relevance to the work:
The title, Lord of the Flies, is a reminder for the reader of who it is that the boys are submitting to as they become more savage and superstitious. The expression is a translation of Beelzebub, the name of a devil, which suggests that the boys are becoming more evil as they establish the Lord of the Flies on a stick, and begin to worship the mysterious forces of the jungle. Further, the title suggests that the boys are like flies, mere instinctive beings swarming to the kill.
8. Themes of the work:
- Regression of society
- Difficulty of enforcing rules
- Psychology of children
9. Subject-matter:
Regression of the island society.
10. Characters:
a) Mention the main characters and describe them briefly:
Ralph:
Ralph is twelve years old with blond hair, and is the most charismatic of the group. At the biginning, boys vote for him, because he is one of the oldest and he is the most charismatic of the group. He knew that they will survive only if, they keep all together and have some rules. He considered the most important thing keeping the fire, what was their only hope to be rescued. That’s why he was angry when they didn’t respect the rules, and he tightened them. The boys didn’t understand the necessarity of rules and Jack exploited this.
Jack:
Jack is about Ralph's age, with a skinnier build and red hair. From the very beginning, he seems to harbor emotions of anger and savagery. At first, he is the leader of his choir group, who become hunters as the book progresses. Jack considers keeping the fire as wasting of time, he is convinced that they won’t be found and he considers hunting and meat more important. He is fed up with Ralph’s rules and wants to have fun and make feasts. Finally, his savage personality and ability to tell people what they want to hear allows him to overtake Ralph as chief.
b) Mention the important minor characters and describe them briefly:
Piggy:
Piggy is a short and fat boy who wears glasses. He is afflicted with asmtha does not any work on the island. He tries to keep peace and order.
While he is probably the smartest boy on the island, he lacks any social skills, and has trouble communicating or fitting in with the others. Only one who seems to understand him is Ralph. His glasses are a very important on the island, because they are used over and over to start fires.
Simon:
Simon is younger than the three boys above, but older than other littluns. He is very good and pure, and has the most positive outlook. He insist multiple times that they will get rescued, even when Ralph is strongly doubting the possibility. Simon often travels into his tranquil spot in the jungle, but also tries to help out when it is needed. He meets up with a pig's head skewered on a stick, which becomes known as the Lord of the Flies. Simon is killed soon afterward by all of the other boys who were caught up in a savage dance.
11. The way the story is told: third person narration
12. Types of language used:
dialogues of boys: everyday language & slang
author’s narration: artistic language
13. Notes on the use of symbols:
Piggy (and glasses) - clear-sightedness, intelligence. Their state represents the status of social order.
Ralph, The Conch - democracy, order
Simon - pure goodness
Roger - evil, regression
Jack - savagery, anarchy
The Island - a microcosm representing the world
The Beast - the evil residing within everyone, the dark side of human nature.
Lord of the Flies - the devil, great danger or evil
14. Review:
I liked this book very much, and I think it is very edifying. I would qualify it like handbook for any leader of any social group. It is clear example, what direction can take shaping of isolated society. It doesn’t matter whether it is on island or elsewhere, whether they are kids or adults. The island is just a symbol of some microcosm, some isolated society, and story is set to the enviroment of children – boys, which have different, more interestnig mentality. I could be interresting to see how would this society develop when there were some grils too. I chose this book, because I once saw the movie that impressed me a lot. However, I think the book was a greater experience.
15. Story-line:
Piggy and Ralph meet up with each other after escaping from their shot-down plane. A large scar was made in the untouched jungle. Piggy spots a conch shell, and tells Ralph how to use it to make a noise. Ralph does so, and calls all of the other boys on the island who crashed down with the plane. Jack and his Choir, Simon, Sam and Eric, and many other characters join in an assembly (including the littl'uns, which are the youngest kids at about 6 or 7 years old).
Rules are set down, and Ralph becomes chief. There is no one else on the island but the young boys. Jack decides to create a hunting team.
Ralph calls another assembly. Several rules are made up, such as "only who holds the conch may speak." Some littl'un with a birthmark on his face tells about a "beastie" that he saw somewhere on the island. The general consensus from the others is that there is no such thing, and it must be his imagination. Ralph then suggests making a signal fire, which would be necessary if they want to be rescued. The boys scramble off to gather wood to build a fire. They don’t know how to fire it and Ralph gets idea to use Piggy's specs to make fire by the sunlight. They were not careful, however, and soon the fire is engulfing half the forest near the mountain. The little boy with the birthmark is noticed to be missing.
Jack is busy tracking a pig, when he arrives at the beach where Simon and Ralph are constructing huts. Ralph complains no other boys are helping them with their shelters, but Jack cannot see the necessity of other things, and says that hunting is more important; this expands into another argument between Ralph and Jack. Ralph presses that keeping the signal fire is much more important than hunting. Jack disagrees, and they start to dislike each other. Ignoring other boys’ fussing Simon picks fruit for the littl'uns and makes his way into the jungle finding a clearing. He climbs onto a mat of creepers, and remains there. He likes this tranquil place.
Roger is spoiling sand structures made by littl'uns, and throwing rocks at boys. Jack calls Roger away, asking him to paint his face for hunting pigs. Smoke from a ship is spotted in the distance. The fire was out, so the ship didn’t see them. Jack and his hunters come proudly carrying their first kill, trying to share their excitement with Ralph. When Ralph yells that a ship passed them by and no fire was going. Hunters are sorry but Jack urges that hunting is the most important. In the ensuing fight, Jack punches Piggy a breaks his specs. Finally, the fire is lit again, the pig is roasted, and everyone eats. Hunters dance for the first time.
Ralph calls another assembly and mentions that work isn't done, and rules aren't followed. He tries to convince the boys that the fire is the most important thing. All the little children, are afraid of a Beast, which they still believe in. Jack says that he's been everywhere, and there is no beast, and Piggy says that a beast can't exist in a world with science.
However, a littl'un still steps up and says that he saw something horrid in the forest (which was actually Simon returning in the dark from his place). Another littl'un says that there's a "Beast from the water” Jack tries to bring up the fact that Ralph isn't a good chief, because he can't hunt or sing. Piggy and others don’t agree, but Jack is starting to become more and more savage and powerful.
A man from a shot-down fighter plane falls down from the sky with parachute. The man is already dead and the body and parachute float up to the island, eventually snagging on rocks. The wind continually grabs the parachute, lifting the body up and down, which is seen by Samneric. Terrified, they run to tell about this "Beast from the Air," and an assembly is called. Most everyone now thinks they are in grave danger, and Jack suggests hunting it. Jack, Ralph, and a group of hunters set out to get the Beast, while Piggy stays at the beach with the littl'uns. They first check Castle Rock, where they had never been before. Jack thinks the place would be a great fort. They decide to continue to the mountain to look for the Beast.
Jack finds traces of a boar which they begin to hunt. Ralph manages to hit it with his spear, but the animal escapes. Another tribal dance is formed, with a boy named Robert as the Pig. Now Ralph participates, but they start to strike and hurt Robert. Finally, they move on towards the mountain, and send Simon back to tell Piggy they won't be back soon. Jack scales the mountain and reports a sighting of a moving creature, initiating a mass climb to the summit. When they see beast (dead body with parachute), they leave rapidly.
Piggy is told about the beast. Jack calls an assembly, and says that it should be hunted. Ralph upsets him, when he calls hunters cowards. Enraged, Jack asks if anyone thinks Ralph shouldn't be chief. Nobody responds, so he asks again if anyone wants to come with him, then runs off. They decide to move the fire to the beach, because of beast. When they get there, they notice that most of the older boys did in fact decide to go off with Jack, except for Ralph, Simon Piggy and Samneric. Jack's tribe begins to hunt. They kill the sow. The head is severed and put on a stick, which is embedded into the ground as a gift for the Beast. Jack realizes that they'll need fire to cook the meat, so they raid Ralph's camp and steal a flaming log, and invite them to come feast. Simon encounters the Pig's head, and starts talking to it in his imagination.
The black cloud of flies coating the head causes it to now be called "The Lord of the Flies." The Lord of the Flies says "I'm part of you...We're going to have fun on this island." It continues to say that if Simon tries to talk to the others about the Beast, that he will be killed by everyone, including Ralph and Piggy. After hearing this, Simon faints.
A storm is raging on the island, when Simon wakes up from his faint. He goes to the beach to tell the others about his experience. Piggy and Ralph already decided to check out the roasting of the Pig, where Jack then asks everyone to confirm their loyalty to him. Ralph tries to persuade them to follow himself and keep the fire alive, but most of the boys are already loyal to Jack. Jack orders the boys to begin their dance. Roger plays the pig, and as the boys begin dancing, even Piggy and Ralph want to be part of the group. As before, the dance escalates into real attacking, but they are distracted by a figure emerging from the jungle. They call out that "it's the Beast!" and begin to attack it relentlessly. The beaten and dead body of Simon is then carried out to the sea by the waves.
Samneric are collecting wood for the fire, while Ralph and Piggy discuss the murder of Simon. The rest of the boys goes to Jack’s tribe. Piggy claims that the whole affair was an accident. Jack meanwhile is guarding his fort on Castle Rock. Jack has beaten a boy to demonstrate his power. His savagery is obvious now, and his face is always painted. Ralph tries to reassure the twins that what they are doing is right, and Jack is wrong, in response to their protests on plod with fire. They finally concede to leave the fire and go to their shelters. They are woken up as Jack and tribe is searching for fire. They break into the shelter and take Piggy’s glasses.
Ralph calls an assembly, and Piggy, the twins and a few littl'uns are the only ones. Ralph want’s to go to Jack and demand the specs back. Ralph and Samneric set off carrying spears, leading Piggy holding the conch. At Castle Rock, Roger orders the boys to halt, but Ralph blows the conch. Ralph tells them he is calling an assembly, and Jack steps forward. He laughs at their request to return the specs, and a fight ensues. Jack then orders his tribe to grab Samneric, and tie them up. Suddenly, interrupting the fighting, Piggy speaks up, asking everyone if it is better to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill. Everyone remains silent and hears his message. As Piggy continues his preaching of democracy, Roger pushes the boulder. It falls down and smashes the poor Piggy and shatters the Conch. Ralph dodges the rock. Even Jack is a bit surprised with Roger's quick and brutal action, but he assures Ralph that it will happen to him next.
Ralph begins to run away.
Ralph stays in the jungle near Castle Rock, as dusk passes. Samneric are guarding Castle Rock under Jack's leadership. They inform him that Jack's tribe will be hunting him the next day, and they have "sharpened a stick at both ends." Ralph tells Samneric of his hiding spot, and goes back to it. Scared by Jack's power, Samneric tell Jack about Ralph's hiding plce the next morning. Another boulder is rolled down, but misses Ralph. Other attempts of getting Ralph from his hiding spot are unsuccessful, so they set the entire area on fire. Ralph runs from the advancing fire, making his way to Simon's mat of creepers where he hides and lays low. The savages advance with the fire, searching, hunting for Ralph. They finally reach Ralph's hiding spot, and Roger looks in. Ralph attacks him, knocking him over, and continued running to the beach. Running wildly, he almost crashed into a Naval officer standing at the beach, who was attracted by all the fire and smoke. He assumes that their
stay on the island must've been all "fun and games," but is surprised at the spears and face paint on many of the boys. Some are crying, many are confused. The officer is told that two boys were killed, and everyone is taken to a Navy cruiser. .