By William Golding

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Lord of the Flies

• By William Golding
• An intro. to the novel to psychology

2
Biography

• Golding (1911- )
• born in Cornwall, England
• received a BA from Oxford University in 1935
• became teacher, actor, writer
• He regards his novels as exploring characters who
  demonstrate
• inherent evil in human nature
• mans lack of free will
• his inability to find meaning in life
• his isolation

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Introduction

• Setting
• time in future during some major war
• place remote deserted island (Pacific)
• significance vague, could be anywhere
• Tone
• very serious
• deadly not treated comically
• horrifying

• Purpose
• allegory universal title, show what happens to
  men in primitive state
• man as a savage
• what happens when law/society break down
• show effect fear plays in governing mens lives

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Introduction

• Symbolism plays an important part in the
  development of the story

• clear-sightedness, ineffective intelligence
• democracy, order
• pure goodness, Christ Figure
• savagery, anarchy
• evil, Satan
• a microcosm representing world
• mans destruction, destructive forces
• evil residing w/in everyone, dark side of human
  nature
• devil, great danger or evil

• Piggy ( glasses)
• Ralph, The Conch
• Simon
• Jack
• Roger
• The Island
• The Scar (protruding rock)
• The Beast
• Lord of the Flies

Little uns
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Student Introduction

• Brief overview of Sigmund Freuds as well as
  Darwinist theories are essential to understanding
  of novel

• Only superficially is this a story of a group of
  English boys who must survive on an uninhabited
  island w/o adult supervision or guidance
• boys elect a leader, build a signal fire, live
  off the land
• boys degenerate into savages hunt the beast
  they fear but never see
• Golding is saying something important about the
  human condition

6
Freuds Ideas

• Personality is made up of 3 parts, which are very
  conflicting
• Id primitive, instinctual, animalistic often
  irrational and impulsive part of personality
  Jack/Roger
• Ego the rational side of personality, which uses
  reason, memory judgment to control the ID
  Ralph.twins
• Super-ego concerned w/morality the rules of
  society. Similar to your conscience seeks
  perfection has an awareness of good bad
  PiggySimon

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Personality

• An individuals characteristic pattern of
  thinking, feeling, and acting.

Each dwarf has a distinct personality.
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Psychodynamic Perspective

• In his clinical practice, Freud encountered
  patients suffering from nervous disorders whose
  complaints could not be explained in terms of in
  terms of purely physical causes.

Culver Pictures
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
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Exploring the Unconscious

• A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly
  unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and
  memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever
  came to their mind (free association) to tap the
  unconscious.

http//www.english.upenn.edu
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Model of Mind
Mind is like an iceberg. Mostly hidden and below
the surface lies the unconscious mind.
Preconscious, stores temporary memories.
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Personality Structure

• Personality develops as a result of our efforts
  to resolve conflicts between our biological
  impulses (id) and social restraints (superego).

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Personality

• ID

(primitive)
Super-EGO
EGO
(morality)
(reason)
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Darwins Ideas

• Was an evolutionist
• Believed in natural selection
• Some members of a species have traits that aid
  them in the struggle for life (ex. Mans
  intelligence). Other members have less favorable
  traits therefore are less likely to survive
  (ex. An animals ignorance).
• Believed that scarce resources leads to
  competition only the STRONGEST are able to
  SURVIVE
• Believed that man is closely linked to animal

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More Info

• http//www.rit.edu/7esjg2490/lotf/island.html
• http//www.rit.edu/7esjg2490/lotf/media/islandbig
  .jpg
• http//www.gerenser.com/lotf/