Lord of the Flies by: William Gerald Golding

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Life of Sir William Gerald Golding

• Lived from 1911 to 1993
• Wrote mostly about the eternal nature of man
• Highly imaginative and original
• Other works include The Inheritors, Pincher
  Martin, Free Fall, The Spire, The Pyramid, The
  Scorpion God, Darkness Visible, Rites of Passage,
  Close Quarters, Fire Down Below.

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His Greatest Work

• Lord of the Flies is a dark, allegorical novel
  written in 1954.
• A group of boys attempt to set up a democratic
  society when they get stranded on a deserted
  island. Their civilization eventually breaks
  down into savagery and every man for himself.

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Themes

• Society holds everything together. Without
  societys rules anarchy and savagery take over.
• Morals come directly from our surroundings. If
  there is no civilization around us, we will lose
  these values.
• People will abuse power when its not earned
• When given a chance, people often single out
  another to degrade to improve their own security
• You can only cover up inner savagery so long
  before it breaks out, given the right situation
• It's better to examine the consequences of a
  decision before you make it than to discover them
  afterward

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Symbolism

• Clear-sightedness, intelligence
• Democracy, order
• Pure goodness, Christ figure
• Evil, Satan
• Savagery, anarchy
• A microcosm representing the world
• Mans destruction
• The evil residing within everyone
• The Devil

• Piggy and Glasses
• Ralph, the Conch
• Simon
• Roger
• Jack
• The Island
• The Scar
• The Beast
• Lord of the Flies

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Inspirations

• Robert Ballantynes Coral Island
• Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Jules Verne

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Discussion Questions

• Explore the irony of the rescue at the end of the
  novel.
• Are the defects of society directly related to
  the defects of human nature as Golding suggests
  in LotF? Explore by using examples to support
  your point. Look at your warm up from last week
  to inspire your thoughts.

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Discussion Questions

• The central symbol is the Lord of the Flies
  (which is a translation of the Greek word
  Beelzebub). The word Beelzebub connects to decay,
  destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic.
  This being the case, explore how this symbol
  truly is the central symbol of this novel.

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Essay

• Start to format a new thesis statement for your
  essay.
• How are you going to work Lord of the Flies into
  your essay.
• Are you going to come up with a new idea?