WILLIAM GOLDING- LORD OF THE FLIES Sir William Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) once said, “Look out; the evil is in us all.” He is a Nobel Prize winner (1983) and best-selling author Golding who wrote modern classics. Biography: In 1935, he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. He started working as a social worker while acting and writing for a small theatre in London. Soon after that he became an English teacher. He served for the British Royal Navy (1940 – 1945) in the World War II and watched the storming of Normandy Beach on D-Day. Golding wrote Lord of the Flies less than a decade after World War II, when the world was in the midst of the Cold War. The atrocities of the Holocaust, the horrific effects of the atomic bomb, and the ominous threat of the Communist demon behind the Iron Curtain were all present in the minds of the western public and the author. This environment of fear combined with technology’s rapid advances act as a backdrop to the island experiences. • After the first atomic bombs were detonated over Japan at the end of the war in 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States began building their nuclear arsenals, leading many people to fear apocalyptic nuclear conflict. People built bomb shelters, students practised nuclear bomb protection drills in American classrooms. • How will human beings behave if society is destroyed? Are the worlds’ great empires capable of mutual destruction? And maybe most importantly, is human nature intrinsically self-destructive, or does it have the moral capability to act in the interest of the greater good? Golding used the allegory of boys stranded on an island to explore these questions. • Allegory- A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one, a symbol. What is the story an allegory for? Historically, in times of widespread socio-economic distress, the general public feels vulnerable and turns to the leader who exhibits the most strength or seems to offer the most protection. In return, the people sacrifice any moral reservations they have. In his work, Golding explores the broad spectrum of ways in which humans respond to stress, change, and tension. Task 1: 1. What do you know about how the world was set up and feeling after WWII? Discus the concepts of nuclear war, Cold War and bomb shelters. 2. Are human being naturally good or evil? If we are naturally good, why do we need laws, government and police forces? 3. Are the wars being fought in the world today just and justifiable? 4. What does it mean to be “civilized”? 5. Create a definition for a Utopian world. Task 2: WWII and the Cold War reading Lord of the Flies: Golding’s work and pessimistic tone was heavily influenced by the events he had witnessed in his life and evil in humanity when he fought in World War Two. • All of the above can be found in Golding’s most famous and first published work (1954) , Lord of the Flies, where a group of British school boys are in a plane crash and stranded on an island. The group returns to acting in the primal behaviours and tribal rivalry, with one tribe representing the good and diplomatic side of human behaviour and the other tribe representing the cruel, evil, hate filled side. • There is duality of savagery and civilization in humanity, Golding uses a pristine tropical island as a protected environment in which a group of British schoolboys act out their worst impulses. The boys loyal to the ways of civilization face persecution by the boys indulging in their innate aggression. Task 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTu8iDynwNc (TV show trailer) • In groups: Describe what is happening in the video. What kind of story is the video setting up? Task 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8dMWg3EfAw • In groups: What makes the clip engaging? What kind of story is the video setting up? Task 5: In a group read Lost at Sea and answer the question 1 – 5 below. 1. Choose 8 objects from the list that are important for your survival. 2. Explain your choice of the objects. 3. Choose a leader of your group and state why. 4. List as many qualities as you can that define a leader. 5. List as many qualities and you can that define a hero.
