Lord of the Flies
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By William Golding
Image Source: http://www.sd68.k12.il.us/schools/orchard/lmc/Book%20Covers/lord%20of%20the%20flies.jpg
As we read Lord of the Flies, begin thinking about this
question:
Are people flawed because society is flawed, or is
it the other way around? Is there something
wrong with us, and if so, what is it?
The Author
- William Golding was born on September 19th, 1911, in Cornwall
England.
- When England entered WWII, Golding joined the Royal Navy.
- After the war he taught and wrote novels.
- Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in 1954.
- Golding continued to write books, but never again attained the kind
of popular and artistic success he enjoyed with Lord of the Flies.
- Golding died in 1993, one of the most acclaimed writers in England.
Image Source: http://www.fenwickfriars.com/1745107161635593/lib/1745107161635593/golding.jpg
Context
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William Golding wrote LOTF in response to
WWII.
He saw WWII as the ultimate expression of
man’s inhumanity to man.
- The Holocaust.
- Atom Bomb.
The Holocaust
The Holocaust (from Greek holos, meaning “whole,” and
“kaustos,” meaning burnt, also known as The Shoah, from
Hebrew HaShoah meaning “calamity”). The Holocaust
was the genocide of approximately six million European
Jews during World War II, a program of systematic statesponsored extermination by Nazi Germany.
Image Source: Wikipedia
The Atom Bomb
The Atom Bomb was developed during WWII
(codenamed the Manhattan Project) as an
alternative to the planned land invasion of
Japan by U.S. and Allied troops. The first
bomb (uranium, code named “Little Boy”) was
dropped on the morning of 6 August 1945 on
the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The second
bomb (plutonium, codenamed “Fat Man”) was
dropped three days later on the Japanese city of
Nagasaki. These two bombings resulted in the
deaths of approximately 200,000 Japanese
people (mostly civilians) from acute injuries
sustained from the explosion.
Image Source: Wikipedia
- It was this boundless cruelty that Golding sought
to understand.
- How is it possible after 6,000 years of civilization to
spend so much effort and energy on destruction?
- Golding concluded that it had to be the result of
some fundamental flaw that no amount of
education or experience or wisdom could solve - a
defect in the way human beings are made.
- Lord of the Flies is a dark novel because it suggests
that there is no hope for us. If Golding is right that
the human animal is fundamentally flawed, then
there isn’t any hope that humanity will survive - we
are destined to destroy one another.
Golding created an allegory of the human mind at war with
itself. He did this by:
- Creating a setting of an uninhabited island, untainted by
human influence.
- Populating that island with boys who are strikingly similar –
same language, same race, same educational background,
same financial background, same religion (presumably).
- In fact, Golding went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that
the characters were all the same. They have no shared
history. They bring to the island no baggage of any kind, they
are tabula rasa – blank slates.
- Golding created a situation where the boys have to start
civilization from scratch and the results – whatever they do –
cannot be attributed to any external social factors, anything
outside of themselves. What results can only be attributed to
their innermost motivations.
Freud and The Lord of the Flies
Freud thought that our psyche could be divided into three parts: The Ego,
the Superego, and the Id.
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Freud vis-à-vis the Characters
Golding believed that when you remove the traditional
influences, mankind will regress to his more animalistic
Freudian roots. Golding explores this notion by dividing the
human psyche into parts that are represented by the
characters.
Piggy – Physically weak but intellectually strong. He
represents the Superego. Logic, Reason, and Rationality
Jack – Physically strong. A hunter. He represents the Id.
Animalistic Passions and Instincts
Ralph – The Leader, a balancing influence between passion
and reason. He represents the Ego.
Simon – Outside this psychological paradigm, the Visionary,
the Mystic. A Christ figure.
As we read Lord of the Flies, begin thinking about this
question:
Are people flawed because society is flawed, or is
it the other way around? Is there something
wrong with us, and if so, what is it?
Activity!
STRONGLY AGREE
AGREE
DISAGREE
STRONGLY DISAGREE