Lord of the Flies William Gerald Golding
Lord of the Flies
William Gerald Golding
Scaffold for Reading
William Gerald Golding: Bio
Born in 1911
son of an English schoolmaster
Referred to his father's overwhelming influence on his life.
Graduated from Oxford
University in 1935 and spent four years writing, acting,. and producing for a next small
London theater.
Became schoolmaster for a year
Married Ann Brookfield in 1939
Entered the British Royal Navy in 1940
The single event in Golding's life that most affected his writing of Lord of
The Flies , was probably his service in
World war II.
Injured in an accident involving detonators early in the war
Later given command of a small rocket-launching craft
Present at the sinking of The B ismarck —the crown ship of the
German Navy
Took part in the D-Day
Landings in France in
June 1944. He later described his
Experience in the war as one in which “one had one’s nose rubbed in the human condition.
The sinking of the German Battleship
Bismarck as seen from HMS
Dorsetshire
After the War
Returned to teaching English and philosophy at the same school where he had begun his teaching career.
From 1945 until 1954: Wrote three novels rejected for their derivative nature before finally getting
The idea for Lord of the Flies after reading a
Bedtime boys adventure story to his small children.
Wondered aloud to his wife whether it would be a good idea to write such a story but to let the characters "behave as they really would."
Won
Booker Prize
(1980) and
The
Nobel Prize for Literature
(1983)
Schoolmaster in 1954, when
Lord of the Flies
was first published
Golding wrote ten other novels plus shorter fiction, plays, essays and a travels book.
Golding died of a heart attack in
1993.
What made Golding decide to write a novel about children?
Reading to his own children
How did Golding die?
A heart attack in 1993
The
Novel
What is Coral Island?
R.M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island
(1857) tells a story of a simple adventure without any deep social themes, portrays three boys, Ralph,
Peterkin and Jack, who land on an island.
Golding used two of the names in his book, and replaced Peterkin with
Simon.
What is the setting of the novel?
Although it is never really mentioned where the island is located, it can be assumed that it is somewhere in a tropical region.
How many copies of The
Lord of the Flies were sold in the United States from
1954-1955?
2,383 copies
By 1959, The Lord of the Flies was beginning to gain recognition.
Which book was it beginning to challenge on American college campuses?
The Catcher in the Rye
Which band wrote a song about the book and when was it released?
The English heavy metal band Iron
Maiden even composed a song about the novel, with the title
" Lord of the Flies "
Released in 1995 from the album
X-Factor
What is the title a reference to?
1.
2.
3.
4.
it refers to the sow’s head on the stick?
That represents the beast - the darkness within us all (and the thing that scared the children the most and caused their society to break up).
Another name for the devil which may symbolically lay inside everyone– especially jack.
the 'beastie‘- it became the lord and the kids were the flies because they gave in to their fears
Connection with Pop Culture
most songs dealing with Golding's novel deal with “ good guy” characters in the novel, this song is unique in that it's told from the point of view of the most savage boys.
It inspired Sunrise Animation's classic anime series Infinite Ryvius
It was parodied in The Simpsons episode
Das Bus and in another Simpsons episode, Kamp Krusty , lord of the flies can be seen in a shot.
It widely believed that the Nine Inch
Nails song "Piggy" is based on Lord of the Flies.
The book also inspired Gatsby's
American Dream's "Fable" and Local
H's "Ralph."
The Irish rock band U2 called the song
"Shadows and Tall Trees" off their debut album "Boy" (A concept album about growing up and lost innocence) after one of the book's chapter titles.
Writers and film directors have also borrowed plot elements from Lord of the Flies.
Robert A. Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky , published in
1955, can be seen as a rebuttal to Lord of the Flies
Stephen King has stated that the Castle Rock in Lord of the Flies was the inspiration for the town of the same name that has appeared in a number of his novels. The book itself also appears prominently in his novels
Hearts in Atlantis and Cujo . King's fictional town in turn inspired the name of Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment.
Lord of the Flies has also served a source of plot themes for subsequent films. the main sequence of
Apocalypto.
A film adaptation of the book was one of the main inspirations for the reality TV show Survivor,
Lord of the Flies is referenced several times in the TV drama Lost
Connection with History
Lord Of The Flies is the literal translation of the Greek word
Beezelbub .
In the Bible, Beezelbub is the name given for Satan by Jesus (this occurs in the episode where he casts demons out of a crazy man and into a pig.
a line from which Lincoln derived his phrase about the Civil War– “a house divided upon itself cannot stand.”
The Characters
Piggy (and Glasses)
Ralph, The Conch
Satan
Jack
The Island
"Scar”- the part of the island where the plan crashed
The Beast
Lord of the Flies
Themes
Primary
Laws and civilized society holds everyone together, and without these conditions, our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost. Without society's rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light.
Underlying themes
–abuse of power
–Lack of loyalty
–Civility vs. savagery
–Look before you leap
–The fear leads to either insight or hysteria.
Abraham Maslow’s Theory
people want to be happy and loving, but they have particular needs that they must meet before they can act unselfishly.
most people want more than they have.
Once a person met their most basic needs, they would develop higher needs.
As one desire is satisfied, another pops up in its place.” Maslow created a hierarchy of needs with six levels
The Four Personality Types
It is believed that each person falls into at least one of the these
Categories:
–The Guardians
–The Idealists
–The Artisans
–The Rationals
ARTISAN
Concrete in communicating
Utilitarian in implementing goals
highly skilled in tactical variation.
proud of themselves in the degree they are graceful in action, respect themselves in the degree they are daring, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are adaptable.
the "Sensation Seeking Personality"
Educationally they go for arts and crafts
at least 35% and as many as 40% of the population.
Composers, Crafters, Performers, Promoters
Examples: Ernest Hemingway, Amelia Earhart, Bob Dylan,
Madonna, and President John F. Kennedy.
Guardians
Concrete in communicating
Cooperative in implementing goals
highly skilled in logistics
intelligent operations are often supervising and inspecting
Interested supplying and protecting
Inspectors, Protectors, Providers, Supervisors
Examples: Presidents George Washington, Harry S.
Truman, and George HW Bush, Queen Elizabeth I,
Mother Teresa, and Martha Stewart.
IDEALIST
Abstract in communicating
Cooperative in implementing goals
Highly skilled in diplomatic integration
most practiced and developed intelligent operations are usually teaching and counseling/ mentoring, or conferring and tutoring.
sages in one of these forms of social development.
have instincts for interpersonal integration, learn ethics with ever increasing zeal, sometimes become diplomatic leaders, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination.
Champions, Counselors, Healers, Teachers
Princess Diana, Joan Baez, Albert Schweitzer, Bill Moyers,
Eleanor Roosevelt, Mohandas Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Oprah Winfrey.
Rationals
Abstract in communicating
Utilitarian in implementing goals
Highly skilled in Strategic analysis
most practiced and developed intelligent operations tend to be marshalling and planning or inventing and configuring
they would if they could be wizards in one of these forms of rational operation.
Architects, Fieldmarshals, Inventors, Masterminds
Examples are Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Bill Gates,
Walt Disney,, Ayn Rand, Thomas Jefferson, General
Ulysses S. Grant and President Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
A Few Reminders
Themes
–Loss of Innocence
–Exploration of Modern Humanity vs. the humanity of the past
–Individual Responsibility (refer to The
Cat’s Cradle )
Novels are an attempt to revisit individual conflict within a society and to question cultural assumption and expectations (
Huck Finn
)
Allegory- Moral fable: setting, characters, and events that symbolize a moral or an abstract idea
Chapter 1
Young English boys shot down while flying from a nuclear bomb attack
–Intro of civilization vs. savagery
–Pilot does not survive
No adult supervision
Children are pre-adolescent– thrust into a situation
Will they behave in a civilized fashion or will they revert to their savage instincts?
Ralph
– Fair-haired boy, 12 years old, athletic, standing on head
– Protagonist
– Note handstands– things will be hung upside down
Piggy
– “fat boy”– physical appearance & weakness
(asthma) is not taken seriously by many boys.
– Intellectually strong– symbolized by glasses
– Right hand of Ralph– Ralph gets annoyed by his constant whining
Discarding of clothes
–Clothes=civilization
–Discard vestiges of society
–Piggy reluctantly takes off his clothes,
Ralph removed clothing immediately.
These behaviors are indicators of how the boy will behave for the remainder of their time on the island.
Hope and Despair
Ralph’s father– Naval Commander–
Ralph is convinced he will rescue the boys
