LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING ABOUT THE AUTHOR WILLIAM GOLDING WAS BORN IN CORNWALL, ENGLAND...

LORD OF THE FLIES

BY WILLIAM GOLDING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• WILLIAM GOLDING WAS BORN IN CORNWALL, ENGLAND IN 1911.

• HE LIVED A SHELTERED, ISOLATED LIFE AS A CHILD.

• HE KNEW HE WANTED TO WRITE BY AGE TWELVE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• GOLDING STUDIED SCIENCE FOR TWO YEARS AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• BUT HE STOPPED STUDYING SCIENCE AND BEGAN TO POUR HIS ENERGIES INTO ENGLISH LITERATURE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• WWII BROKE OUT AND HE JOINED THE BRITISH NAVY IN 1940.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• HE PARTICIPATED IN MANY VIOLENT BATTLES INCLUDING THE INVASION AT NORMANDY AND BY THE END OF THE WAR HE WAS A LIEUTENANT IN COMMAND OF A ROCKET WARSHIP.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• HIS WAR EXPERIENCES CHANGED HIS VIEWS ABOUT MANKIND’S NATURE. HE CAME TO BELIEVE THERE WAS A VERY DARK AND EVIL SIDE TO MAN.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• THIS VIEW IS NOT UNIQUE TO MODERN ARTISTS WHO REACTED IN THE SAME WAY AFTER WORLD WAR I AND CHOSE ART AS THE SALVE WHICH WOULD HEAL MANKIND’S WOUNDS.

• ARTISTS AFTER WORLD WAR II WERE MORE VAGUE ABOUT WHAT WOULD SAVE MANKIND OR IF IT WAS SALVAGEABLE AT ALL.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• GOLDING SAID, “THE WAR WAS UNLIKE ANY OTHER FOUGHT IN EUROPE. IT TAUGHT US NO FIGHTING, POLITICS, OR THE FOLLIES OF NATIONALISM,BUT ABOUT THE GIVEN NATURE OF MAN.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• HE ALSO REFLECTED, “WHEN I WAS YOUNG. . .I HAD SOME AIRY-FAIRY VIEWS ABOUT MAN, BUT I WENT THROUGH THE WAR AND THAT CHANGED ME.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• GOLDING ONCE SAID,”I THINK OF MYSELF AS A RELIGIOUS MAN.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• IN 1983 GOLDING WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE.

• HE DIED IN 1993 AT THE AGE OF 81.

ABOUT THE NOVEL

• THE NOVEL WAS PUBLISHED IN 1954 AFTER HAVING BEEN REJECTED BY MORE THAN TWENTY PUBLISHERS.

ABOUT THE NOVEL

• IT WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL UNTIL THE 1960’S AND EVEN NOW THE BOOK IS CRITICIZED FOR BEING DIDACTIC AND INFLEXIBLE.

ABOUT THE NOVEL

• THEMES IN THE NOVEL: THE NEED FOR CIVILIZATION; INNOCENCE AND THE LOSS OF IT; THE LOSS OF IDENTITY; POWER; FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN; BLINDNESS AND VISION. IF YOU WRITE ON THEME, BE SURE TO CREATE A STATEMENT FOR THE THEME.

INTERPRETATIONS

• FREUDIAN: ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO AS DIVERGENT, CO-EXISTING FORCES WITHIN A HUMAN BEING; FOCUS IS ON THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE CONFLICT WITHIN.

INTERPRETATION S

• FREUD DEVELOPED A THEORY TO EXPLAIN COMPETING FORCES WITHIN THE HUMAN MIND OR PSYCHE.

INTERPRETATIONS

• FREUD CALLED THESE COMPETING FORCES THE ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO. HE FELT THAT A MENTALLY HEALTHY PERSON WOULD HAVE ALL THREE FORCES BALANCED.

INTERPRETATIONS

• ACCORDING TO FREUD THE ID WAS A PRIMAL FORCE WITHIN US ALL. THE ID IS ENERGY, PASSION, SEXUAL DRIVE, VIOLENCE, EMOTION, AND AGGRESSION.

INTERPRETATION

• IF ONE INTERPRETS LORD OF THE FLIES FROM A FREUDIAN PERSPECTIVE, THE CHARACTER WHO BEST EMBODIES THE ID PRINCIPLE IS JACK.

INTERPRETATION

• JACK REPRESENTS THE RESTLESS ID WHO SEEKS PLEASURE, HUNTING,

• FORCEFUL SPEECH AND PHYSICAL EXPRESSION. HE IS HARD TO CONTROL AND ACTS IMPULSIVELY.

INTERPRETATION

• THE SECOND FORCE IS CALLED THE EGO. THE EGO IS THE CONSCIOUS VOICE OF REASON. THE EGO SEEKS INTERACTION WITH OTHERS WITHIN SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE ROLES.

INTERPRETATION

• THE EGO SEEKS THE APPROVAL OF OTHERS AND IS SENSITIVE TO PRAISE AND CRITICISM. RALPH BEST FUNCTIONS AS THE EGO FORCE IN LORD OF THE FLIES.

INTERPRETATION

• THE FINAL FORCE IS THE SUPEREGO. IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THE SOCIETAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS RULES AND NORMS IN AN INDIVIDUAL. IT IS NOT INFLUENCED BY IMPULSE OR OTHERS.

INTERPRETATION

• IN THE NOVEL TWO CHARACTERS, WHO ARE BOTH KILLED, FULFILL THIS FORCE. THEY ARE SIMON AND PIGGY. PIGGY BEST EXPRESSES THE SOCIETAL VALUES OF THE BOYS’ HOME.

INTERPRETATION

• SIMON REPRESENTS RELIGIOUS ACTION AND VALUES. HE DEMONSTRATES QUALITIES WHICH THE SUPEREGO WOULD UTILIZE AS GUIDANCE DURING DIFFICULT TIMES.

INTERPRETATION

• OF COURSE, THE MOST FASCINATING ASPECT OF DOING A FREUDIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE NOVEL IS THAT IT HELPS TO EXPLAIN THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE BOYS.

INTERPRETATION

• RALPH, AS EGO, IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TWO EXTREMES: HE MUST MEDIATE BETWEEN THE AGGRESSIVE, IMPULSIVE JACK AS ID AND THE MORE PASSIVE, PRINCIPLED PIGGY AS SUPEREGO.

• BECAUSE THE RULES AND VALUES WE LEARN CAN GET IN THE WAY OF THE “FUN” WE WOULD LIKE TO DO, THE ID DOES NOT LIKE THE SUPEREGO.

INTERPRETATION

• CONVERSELY, THE SUPEREGO CANNOT EASILY TOLERATE THE ID SINCE THE ID IS INTENT ON SHATTERING ALL THE RULES THE SUPEREGO VALUES.

• RALPH IS VIRTUALLY IN A CATCH-22, A NO-WIN SITUATION BECAUSE HE CANNOT CONVINCE THE BOYS TO ABANDON THEIR GROWING ID IMPULSES. HIS VALUE AS A EGO-DRIVEN LEADER LESSENS.

INTERPRETATION

• LORD OF THE FLIES DEMONSTRATES JUST HOW DIFFICULT FINDING A BALANCE BETWEEN THESE FORCES CAN BE. WITHOUT CIVIL RESTRAINTS, WHO ARE WE REALLY?

INTERPRETATIONS

• SCIENTIFIC HUMANISM:

• GOLDING EXPLODES THE BELIEF THAT MODERN SCIENCE WILL SAVE MODERN MAN FROM HIMSELF.

INTERPRETATION

• THIS CLAIM OF GOLDING IS BEST COMMUNICATED BY THE CHARACTERS OF PIGGY AND SIMON.

INTERPRETATION

• PIGGY SAYS, “LIFE IS SCIENTIFIC, THAT’S WHAT IT IS.”

• HE CAN ONLY FATHOM WHAT HE CAN OBSERVE AND HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE.

INTERPRETATION

• MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE CANNOT IDENTIFY THE BEAST FOR WHAT IT IS, EVEN REFUSING TO ADMIT SIMON’S DEATH AS A MURDER.

INTERPRETATION

• PIGGY DENIES THE MORAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE COLLECTIVE GUILT. ONE CAN DERIVE THIS FROM THE SAME MORAL DEVASTION THRUST UPON THE WORLD AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB.

INTERPRETATION

• “WE NEVER DONE NOTHING, WE NEVER SEEN NOTHING.”--PIGGY

INTERPRETATION

• ONE VIEW IS THAT SCIENTIFIC HUMANISM HAS GIVEN MAN A FALSE SENSE OF CONFIDENCE IN HIMSELF AND HAS STRIPPED AWAY HIS NEED FOR RELIGION.

INTERPRETATION

• THEREFORE, SIMON’S FULFILLS AN ALLEGORICAL ROLE OF SPIRITUAL SHAMAN ON THE ISLAND. HE IS THE MYSTIC WHO UNDERSTANDS THE BEAST AND THE FALLEN NATURE OF MAN.

INTERPRETATION

• THE TRUTH COMES TO SIMON AS A REVELATION, BUT HE DOES NOT HAVE THE WORDS TO COMMUNICATE THE HORROR.

• SIMON REPRESENTS A FOIL TO PIGGY: HE SEES WHAT PIGGY’S OBJECTIVE, EMPIRICAL EYE CANNOT.

• TOGETHER, THEY ARE A POWERFUL FORCE.

INTERPRETATION

• THE IDEA IS THAT IF WESTERN MAN CAN FUSE THE TWO--THE SCIENTIFIC AND THE SPIRITUAL; THE RATIONAL AND THE INTUTIVE-- HE CAN SAVE HIMSELF.

• IN OTHER WORDS, THE PRIEST AND THE SCIENTIST MUST WORK TOGETHER.

INTERPRETATION

• THE PRIEST PROVIDES THE SCIENTIST A MORAL COMPASS.

• SCIENCE AND MORALITY SEPARATED WILL NOT SAVE US FROM OURSELVES.

• GOLDING WAS CLEARLY DISILLUSIONED WITH MANKIND’S BLIND RUSH TOWARDS TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS.

INTERPRETATION

• ANOTHER VIEW OF THE NOVEL INVOLVES A CLASSICAL APPROACH, HEARKENING BACK TO ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.

INTERPRETATION

• ONE OF THE FOREMOST CLASSICAL ALLUSIONS IN THE NOVEL OCCURS IN THE PAGAN RITUALS AND SACRIFICES. ONE ONLY HAS TO THINK OF JACK SURROUNDED BY GIFTS OF FRUIT AND THE MOCK PIG-HUNT AND CHANTING TO EVOKE THE PAGAN ASPECTS OF THE BOOK.

INTERPRETATION

• ANOTHER DEBT THE NOVEL OWES TO THE CLASSICAL TRADITION STEMS FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT EURIPIDES. IN HIS TRAGEDIES HE OFTEN PORTRAYED THE DISINTEGRATION OF SOCIETY DUE TO A TRAGIC FLAW IN HUMAN NATURE. IN THIS WAY, MAN FAILS TO RECOGNIZE AND THEREBY APPEASE THE IRRATIONAL PART OF HIS SOUL

INTERPRETATION

• MY PERSONAL FAVORITE “CLASSICAL CONNECTION” IS THE BOOK’S DEBT TO THE PRINCIPLES OF DIONYSIAN AND APOLLONIAN PERSPECTIVES

INTERPRETATION

• AS YOU SHOULD KNOW, THE GOD DIONYSUS WAS THE GOD OF FERTILITY, REVELRY, AND THE GREEKS CELEBRATED WILDLY AT FESTIVALS HELD IN HIS HONOR.

INTERPRETATION

• IN THE LATE 1800’S THE GERMAN PHILOSOPHER FREDERICK NIETZSCHE DETERMINED THAT THE DIONYSIAN FORCE WAS A MOVEMENT TOWARD CHAOS AND VIOLENCE.

INTERPRETATION

• RATHER THAN CONDEMNING THE VIOLENT SIDE OF MAN, NIETZSCHE DETERMINED THAT ALL OF LIFE IS VIOLENCE AND THAT IT CANNOT BE REJECTED OR WE WOULD REJECT LIFE ITSELF.

INTERPRETATION

• DIONYSIAN ELEMENTS INCLUDE DARKNESS, FLUIDS, DISORDER, DEATH, DIRTINESS, AND SEXUALITY. JACK FUNCTIONS ALONG THE LINE OF DIONYSIAN PRINCIPLES.

INTERPRETATION

• THE OTHER PART OF THIS STRUGGLE IS REPRESENTED BY THE GOD APOLLO. REMEMBER THAT APOLLO WAS THE GOD OF THE SUN AND AS SUCH REPRESENTS THE CLEAR, RATIONAL ASPECT OF MAN.

INTERPRETATION

• APOLLONIAN ELEMENTS INCLUDE THE SKY, CLEANLINESS, REASON, A LACK OF EMOTION, ORDER, AND LIFE, AMONG OTHERS. RALPH AND PIGGY REPRESENT THIS CLASSICAL FORCE.

INTERPRETATION

• THE NOVEL MAY ALSO BE DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO ITS THEOLOGICAL OR RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS. ONE, OF COURSE, IS THE ALLEGORICAL RENDERING OF SIMON AS CHRIST.

INTERPRETATION

• THE NOVEL ALSO EXPRESSES A RELATIONSHIP WITH ORIGINAL SIN AND DEPICTS A FALL OF MAN ORIGINATING FROM THE SIN OF PRIDE. NOTICE JACK’S FREQUENT BLUSHING.

INTERPRETATION

• THE ELEMENTS OF A CORRUPTION OF EDEN, SERPENT AND SNAKE IMAGERY, AND FIRE AND HELL IMAGERY ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU TO MAKE YOUR CASE FOR THIS INTERPRETATION.

INTERPRETATION

• ANOTHER MAJOR INTERPRETATION OF THE NOVEL REVOLVES AROUND GOLDING’S INTEREST IN EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. JOHN FITZGERALD AND JOHN KAYSER ARGUE THE NOVEL IS BASED ON THE EGYPTIAN MYTH OF OSIRIS.

INTERPRETATION

• WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR IS THE TELLING OF THE OSIRIS MYTH BY ONE SCHOLAR FOR WHOM I HAVE THE DEEPEST RESPECT, JOSEPH CAMPBELL. LISTEN CAREFULLY FOR CLUES THAT GOLDING USED THE MYTH IN THE NOVEL.

INTERPRETATION

• HERE ARE SOME SPELLINGS FOR SOME OF THE WORDS IN THE TAPE:

• ISIS AND OSIRIS• NEFTUS• ENUBUS• SET-TYPHON• SARCOPHAGUS• SYRIA

INTERPRETATION

• JUST AS THERE IS A BEASTIE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO IN LOF AS A “SNAKE-THING,” IN THE OSIRIS MYTH THE EGYPTIAN DAEMON SET-TYPHON IS ALSO REPRESENTED BY SNAKES AND WITH THE ASCENT OF CHRISTIANITY HE WAS TRANSFIGURED INTO BAAL OR BEELZEBUB.

INTERPRETATION

• SET-TYPHON IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE SEA. THE BEAST FROM THE AIR COMES FROM “A SUDDEN BRIGHT EXPLOSION” CARRIED FROM THE CHANGING WINDS. TYPHON, WHO IS ALSO REGARDED AS FIRE, LATER BECOMES THE GOD OF THE WINDS.

INTERPRETATION

• INTERESTINGLY, THE NARRATOR IN THE NOVEL INFORMS THE READER THAT THE BOY ARRIVED ON THE ISLAND BY SOME “ENCHANTMENT. SOME ACT OF GOD--A TYPHOON PERHAPS.” ARE NOT TYPHOON AND TYPHON TOO SIMILAR IN SPELLING FOR THIS TO BE OVERLOOKED?

INTERPRETATION

• THE OSIRIS MYTH ACCOUNTS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF DISCORD AND WAR. IT DEMONSTRATES THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF CIVILIZATION.

• ACCORDING TO THE HISTORIAN PLUTARCH, WHILE REIGNING AS KING ON EARTH THE GOD OSIRIS GAVE THE EGYPTIANS CIVILIZATION BY INTRODUCING LAWS, WORSHIP OF

INTERPRETATION

• THE GODS, MARRIAGE, AND AGRICULTURE. BEFORE THESE WERE GIVEN THE EGYPTIANS HAD BEEN SAVAGES AND CANNIBALS. OSIRIS’ BROTHER, THE DAEMON SET-TYPHON, OUT OF ENVY, SOUGHT TO USURP HIS BROTHER’S THRONE. HE TRICKED OSIRIS AND DROWNED HIM. AS CAMPBELL SAID, ISIS FOUND THE

INTERPRETATION

• BODY AND HID IT IN THE WOODS. TYPHON, WHILE HUNTING PIG DURING A FULL MOON, DISCOVERED IT AND MUTILATED IT.

• OSIRIS REPRESENTS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE AND TYPHON EVIL, AND PRIDE LEADS TO DISCORD.

INTERPRETATION

• THE RITUAL SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS IS ALSO IDENTIFIED WITH TYPHON THROUGH THIS MYTH.

• RALPH IS A BETTER THAN AVERAGE HUMAN BUT HE IS NOT SYMBOLIC OF OSIRIS BECAUSE HE IS TOO FLAWED (RECALL RALPH’S FASCINATION WITH KILLING A PIG).

INTERPRETATION

• OSIRIS IS EMBODIED BY PIGGY AND SIMON, WHO ARE BOTH KILLED, LIKE OSIRIS. JUST AS THE SEA CLAIMS THEIR TWO BODIES, SO WAS OSIRIS DROWNED IN WATER.

• OSIRIS WAS SAID TO POSSESS CREATIVITY AND REASON; HENCE SIMON’S INTUITION AND PIGGY’S REASON COINCIDE WITH THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE GOD.

INTERPRETATION

• UNLIKE OUR MODERN SENSIBILITIES, THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DID NOT SEPARATE REASON AND CREATIVITY FROM EACH OTHER. GOLDING, IT WOULD APPEAR, INSISTS THAT ART AND REASON OUGHT TO BE CONSIDERED AS MUTUALLY DEPENDENT UPON EACH OTHER.

INTERPRETATION

• LASTLY, THE MYTH-NOVEL THEORY CONCLUDES WITH A STARTLING COMPARISON BETWEEN JACK AND SET-TYPOHN: JACK IS RED-HAIRED, FRECKLED, AND PRONE TO BLUSH RED WHEN ANGRY OR FRUSTRATED; TYPHON IS DESCRIBED AS RED AND RUDDY. IN FACT, RED-HAIRED MEN WERE BURNED AND BEATEN IN ANCIENT EGYPT BECAUSE THEY

INTERPRETATION

• LOOKED TOO MUCH LIKE THE DESPISED SET-TYPHON.

PARODY

•1. a. A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. See synonyms at caricature.

LOF AND THE CORAL ISLAND

• IT IS NO ACCIDENT THAT THE CORAL ISLAND SHOULD BE EXPLICITLY REFERRED TO NEAR THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END OF LOF SINCE WILLIAM GOLDING BY INTENTION SET HIMSELF TO WRITE AN ISLAND STORY THAT DELIBERATELY CHALLENGES BALLANTYNE’S.


• SINCE IT SO PERFECTLY MIRRORS THE ASSUMPTIONS AND VALUES OF ITS PERIOD, VICTORIANS MAY WELL HAVE CONSIDERED THE CORAL ISLAND REALISTIC, NOT LEAST IN ITS PORTRAYAL OF THE BOYS.

• WITHOUT SOME GRASP OF BALLANTYNE’S STORY WE CANNOT REALLY APPRECIATE HOW EXTENSIVELY GOLDING PARODIES


• AND SATIRIZES HIS MODEL. HIS BOYS HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH THE IDEALISED BOYS OF THE CORAL ISLAND, EXCEPT THEIR INITIAL JOY IN FINDING THEMSELVES FREE OF ADULTS ON A TROPICAL ISLAND.


• I WANT US TO THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF COMPARISON/CONTRAST FOR THESE TWO WORKS:

• EVIL• RELIGION• BOYS’ RESOURCEFULNESS• SCIENCE• HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS--1

• SPECULATE WHO WAS THE “MAN WITH THE MEGAPHONE.” WHY IS HE AN IMPORTANT SYMBOL FOR THIS NOVEL?

• WHY DOES RALPH TELL PIGGY’S NICKNAME? WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT RALPH AS A RESULT?

• WHY MIGHT GOLDING HAVE DESCRIBED DEAD TREES LYING ABOUT? WHAT IS SUGGESTED?


• WHY DOES RALPH REFER TO HIS FATHER? DOES HE CONVINCE HIMSELF OR PIGGY MORE?

• DESCRIBE THE SHELL. HOW DOES ITS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE CORRELATE WITH ITS SYMBOLIC VALUE? WHAT DOES MAKING A FARTING NOISE WITH IT SUGGEST?


• ON P. 18 PIGGY HAS A DIFFICULT TIME KEEPING NAMES STRAIGHT AND THE BOYS LAUGH AT HIM. WHAT IS GOLDING SUGGESTING HERE?

• WHEN WE FIRST MEET SIMON HE HAS LOST CONSCIOUSNESS. WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS AND WHY IS THIS APPROPRIATE FOR SIMON?

• WHY MIGHT IT HAVE BEEN BETTER IF JACK HAD STABBED THE PIG?


• WHY “WACCO,” “BONG,” “DOINK?”• WHY DOES RALPH BRING UP INDIA AND

AFRICA?• BY HAVING THE BOYS VIOLENTLY

REMOVE PIGGY’S GLASSES, WHAT IS GOLDING SAYING?

• WHY DOES JACK WANT RULES?• WHAT IS THE STRUCTURAL EFFECT OF

HAVING THESE EVENTS SO SOON?


• HOW DOES GOLDING CHARACTERIZE JACK’S PHYSICAL PRESENCE? WHAT IS HE SUGGESTING?

• WHAT IDEAS DO “PRIMITIVE NEST OF STICKS,” ABYSS OF AGES,”AND “APE-LIKE” CREATE? HOW DO THESE SETTING DETAILS HELP DEVELOP THEME?

• WHAT DOES “VICISSITUDES” MEAN IN GENERAL? WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN RELATION TO JACK? HOW IS THE SOUND OF THE WORD APPROPRIATE FOR JACK?


• REFER TO TWO CD’S THAT INDICATE RALPH IS LOSING FAITH AND BECOMING DESPAIRING.

• LOCATE A LATER PLOT EVENT AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER FIVE WHICH IS QUITE SIMILAR IN THEME TO JACK’S DIFFICULTY ARTICULATING HIS “COMPULSION TO TRACK DOWN AND KILL” IN THIS CHAPTER. WHAT IS GOLDING SUGGESTING ABOUT LANGUAGE AND CIVILIZATION?


• GOLDING WRITES THAT JACK HAD TO THINK A MOMENT BEFORE HE COULD REMEMBER WHAT RESCUE WAS. WHAT DOES THIS SCENE SUGGEST REGARDING JACK’S FUTURE ACTIONS?


• RALPH REVEALS SOMETHING ABOUT HIMSELF WHEN HE SAYS, “BUT YOU LIKE IT….” WHAT IS MOST ALARMING ABOUT THIS ADMISSION?

• WHY DO I CONSIDER GOLDING’S USE OF “CANDLEBUDS” IN CH. 1 AND CH. 3 A BRILLIANT USE OF SETTING TO CHARACTERIZE SIMON?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS-4

• WHY DO THE LITTLEUNS BUILD SAND-CASTLES?

• WHY DOES GOLDING DEAL WITH MIRAGES AND ILLUSIONS?

• WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT ABOUT HENRY AND THE LITTLE ANIMALS?

• JACK’S PAINTED FACE ALLOWS WHAT TO HAPPEN? WHAT IS SYMBOLIC ABOUT THE COLORS HE CHOOSES?

• INTERPRET “THE FIRE WAS DEAD.”


• EXPLAIN RALPH’S AWARENESS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER. WHAT IS HE BEGINNING TO REALIZE?

• WE KNOW THAT RALPH HAS DIFFICULTY WITH WORDS WHEN TRYING TO EXPRESS HIS FEARS. EXTRAPOLATE AND DISCUSS THE ASSERTION THAT LANGUAGE IS A RATIONAL SYSTEM.


• WHAT ARE RALPH’S SELF-ACKNOWLEDGED LIMITATIONS?

• HOW DOES THE TIME OF DAY “FIT” THE ASSEMBLY?

• INTERPRET THE CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT A BEAST WOULD EAT.

• WHAT THINGS CONTRIBUTE TO THE BREAKING UP OF THE ASSEMBLY?


• WHAT IS PIGGY’S REACTION TO SIMON’S STATEMENT ABOUT THE BEAST? IS THIS AN APPROPRIATE REACTION FOR HIS CHARACTER?

• WHY WON’T VOTING OR RULES WORK IN CONVINCING THE BOYS NOT TO FEAR?

• ANALYZE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT GHOSTS AND TV.


• THE TRIO WISHES FOR A SIGN OR A MESSAGE, “SOMETHING GROWN-UP.” WHAT IS IRONIC ABOUT THIS?

• WHAT POINT IS GOLDING MAKING ABOUT PERCIVAL’S INCANTATION OF HIS ADDRESS? HOW DOES THIS HELP GOLDING STRUCTURALLY UNIFY THIS CHAPTER?


• WHAT DOES RALPH’S DREAM ABOUT PONIES, SUGAR, AND TEA TELL US ABOUT HIM?

• INTERPRET JACK’S WORDS, “IT’S TIME SOME PEOPLE…”

• ALTHOUGH RALPH AND JACK ARE UNITED, DO THEY SHARE THE SAME MOTIVE FOR HUNTING THE BEAST?


• WHAT DOES RALPH MEAN BY “BE SUCKING MY THUMB NEXT”?

• TRANSLATE “THE ENCHANTMENTS OF MIRAGE.”

• DESCRIBE GOLDING’S PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF SIMON IN RELATION TO RALPH’S POSITION AS THEY TALK TOGETHER. WHAT IS SYMBOLIC?

• HOW IS PRIDE ADDING TO CONFLICT?


• WHAT EVENT LIBERATES PIGGY AND THEN DISCUSS HOW HE SPECIFICALLY ACTS UPON THIS NEW FREEDOM.

• WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER? HOW IS IT PUT TOGETHER? WHY DOES GOLDING DO THIS?

• PIGGY SAYS “WHEN I SAW JACK I WAS SURE HE’D GO FOR THE CONCH.” WHAT DOES THIS REVEAL ABOUT BOTH OF THEM?


• HOW DOES SETTING RELATE TO PLOT AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER?

• GOLDING DESCRIBES JACK SITTING ON A LOG IN HIS CAMP. TO WHAT IS JACK COMPARED AND TO WHAT APPROACH TO THE NOVEL DOES IT REFER?

• GOLDING CLEARLY CREATES A LINK BETWEEN THE BOYS AND THE


• BEAST AS HE DESCRIBES THE BOYS KILLING SIMON. FIND THIS AND DISCUSS HOW THIS PASSAGE ACCOMPLISHES THIS CONNECTION.

• EVALUATE THE APPROPRIATENESS OF GOLDING’S DESCRIPTION OF SIMON’S DEAD BODY GOING OUT TO SEA.

• DISCUSS HOW SIMON’S AND THE PARACHUTIST’S DEATHS ARE RELATED.


• CITE EXAMPLES OF THE RUTHLESS NATURE OF JACK’S TRIBE

• JACK AND PIGGY BOTH DENY THE KILLING ON THE BEACH. DISCUSS THEIR MOTIVES FOR DOING SO.

• HOW IS JACK LIKE HITLER? THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THIS WITH REGARD TO THE BEAST AND THE JEWS.

DISCUSSION ?’S-11 AND 12

• WHY IS THE DESCRIPTION OF PIGGY’S DEATH APPROPRIATE TO HIS CHARACTER? (11)

• WHY DOES ROGER SEE RALPH AND PIGGY AS “A SHOCK OF HAIR…A BAG OF FAT?”

• DISCUSS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SKULL “AS WHITE AS EVER THE CONCH.” WHAT IS GOLDING DOING?

• ARE THE BOYS RESCUED?• WHY DO SAMNERIC HOLD OUT SO LONG?• WHY IS JACK REFERRED TO AS A LITTLE BOY?

Group Skits—10 pts. per person,performed Monday—each skit must be 5-10

minutes in length

• A ship’s psychologist on the return home interviews Jack and Ralph.

• Jack on trial for murder• Roger 10-15 years later• Jack and Ralph meet 20 years later• Jack explains the events to his 12-year-

old son• Ralph talks to Piggy’s aunt• The boys’ teachers discuss them• The naval officer does not arrive

LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING ABOUT THE AUTHOR WILLIAM GOLDING WAS BORN IN CORNWALL, ENGLAND...

Documents

Transcript of LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING ABOUT THE AUTHOR WILLIAM GOLDING WAS BORN IN CORNWALL, ENGLAND...