William Golding’s
Lord of the Flies
Essays
Select one essay from Set A and one essay from Set B to write. Set A essays are in the
style of the open-ended AP Exam questions. Your answers should be about 250-400
words each, clearly worded, and demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the text.
You will wish to quote directly from the text in some of your responses. When doing so,
introduce the quoted material within the sentence and provide the page number in
parentheses. For example: Once the boys don their painted faces, they are alienated and
strengthened by this distinction: “Now the painted group felt the otherness of Samneric,
felt the power in their hands. They felled the twins clumsily and excitedly” (163).
Set A
1. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times of grace
by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of
tribulation and terror. Focusing on Lord of the Flies, explain how its representation of
childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
2. Many novels present a character as a scapegoat, but the character also serves to
present a certain commentary on life. Choose a character from Lord of the Flies and
explain how he fulfills this two-part function.
3. In a novel, a confidant is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero, whose role
is to be present when the hero needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the
result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant can be as much “the reader’s friend
as the “protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for other
purposes as well. Choose a confidant from Lord of the Flies and discuss the various
ways this character functions in the work.
4. In great literature, writers often create cultural, governmental, and other social
situations in order to make important and even revolutionary statements about the nature
of humanity. In a well-organized essay, define the situation and the statement that
Golding is making and explain how Golding’s choice of that situation contributes to the
effective communication of the statement.
Set B
1. Show how Ralph and Jack, though both are young, athletic boys, differ in respect to
leadership.
2. Trace the symbolism of the conch throughout the novel.
3. Why do the boys need face paint in order to do evil deeds?
4. Discuss writing a new version of Lord of the Flies, in which all the characters are
girls. Put them in the same situation-- marooned on an island without adults. How would
they behave? Would the results be the same?