Lord of the flies

Lord of the flies

Lord of the Flies is a 1954

distopyan novel by Nobel-Prize-winning English author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results.

The book portrays their descent into savagery; left to themselves, far from modern civilization, the well-educated children regress to a primitive state.

The author

Sir William Golding: - born 19. september 1911 Newquay – England -died 19 june 1993 Perranarworthal – England -english nationality -poet, writer -Booker Prize 1980 , Nobel prize for literature in 1983 -knighted by Elizabeth II in 1988

Summary

In the midst of a

raging war, a planeevacuating a groupof schoolboys fromBritain is shotdown over adeserted tropical island.

Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch shell on the beach.

Once assembled, the

boys set about electing a leader anddevising a way to berescued.

Ralph, Jack, andanother boy, Simon, set off on an expedition to explore the island.

The boys succeed in igniting some dead wood by

focusing sunlight through the lenses of Piggy’s glasses.

The fire engulfs the forest

At first, the boys enjoy their life without

grown-ups

Ralph complains that they should bemaintaining the signal fire and building huts for shelter

A ship passes by on the horrizon and the signal fire, which had been the hunters’ responsibility to maintain, has burned out

Furious, Ralph accosts

Jack, but the hunter has just returned with his first kill

Piggy criticizes Jack, who hits Piggy across the face

The littlest boys, “littluns,” have been troubled by

nightmares since the beginning

There is a „beast” or „monster” lurking on the island

One of the „littluns” suggests that it hides in the sea

Some military planes engage in a battle high above the

island

A parachutist drifts to earth on the signal-fire mountain, dead

Sam and Eric see the enormous silhouette of his parachute and hear the strange flapping noises it makes

The boys organize a hunting expedition to search for

the monster

Jack says that Ralph is a coward and that he should be removed from his possition

The majority of boys join Jack and separate from the others

Jack declares himself the leader of the new tribe of

hunters

A violent, ritual slaughter of a sow is organized to solemnize the occasion

The hunters place its head on a sharpened stake in the jungle as an offering to the beast

Encountering the bloody,

fly-covered head, Simon has a terrible vision

Lord of the Flies says that Simon will never escape him, for he exists within all men

He understands that the beast does not exist externally but rather within each individual boy

Simon travels to the beach to tell the others what he

has seen

In the midst of a chaotic revelry, they fall upon him and kill him with their bare hands and teeth

The following morning, Jack’s hunters attack Ralph and

Piggy

Ralph’s group travelsto Jack’s stronghold in an attempt to make Jack see reason

Jack fights Ralph

Roger rolls a boulder down themountain, killing Piggy and shattering the conch shell

Ralph barely manages to escape

Ralph hides, the others hunt him like an animal

He discovers and destroys the sow’s head

He is forced out onto the beach, where he collapses in exhaustion

He sees a British naval officer standing over him

The other boys reach the beach

Amazed at the spectacle of this group of bloodthirsty, savage children, the officer asks Ralph to explain

Thinking about what has happened on the island, Ralph and all the other boys begin to weep

The officer turns his back so that the boys may regain their composure

Character analysis

Ralph

athletic , charismatic protagonist

leader of the group

represents order, civilization and productive leadership

strong morale

his main wish is to come back to society

Jack Merridew

strong willed, egocentric

representing savagery, violence, thirst for power

opposite of ralph

he knows how to use the boys’ fear to control them

Piggy

Outcast

intellectual superiority - physical inferiority

closest to an adult state of mind

Represents a system of rules and order

believes in science, his glasses - inovation , discovery

Simon

In a nutshell, spiritual human goodness

believes in the value of morals

kind to other kids

Vivid

Wise and mature

Roger: - Jack’s “lieutenant.”

-A sadistic, cruel older boy who brutalizes the others and eventually murders Piggy -savage instincts and insensitivity to morals

Sam and Eric: -twins closely allied with Ralph -always together -the other boys often treat them as a single entity, calling them “Samneric.” -represent individualism and uniqueness

Vocabulary quiz

1.scavenge Like a myriad of tiny teeth in a saw, the transparencies came scavenging over the beach.

*čistiti, skupljati poput strvinara

2.immure Immured in these tangles, at perhaps their most difficult moment, Ralph turned with shining eyes to the others.

immure - lock up or confine, in or as in a jail *uhapsiti/zatvoriti

3.efflorescence It was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral.

*procvjetanje

4.crumple

His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness.

crumple - to gather something into small wrinkles or folds*izgužvati

5.submerge Darkness poured out, submerging the ways between the trees till they were dim and strange as the bottom of the sea.

submerge - put under water*zaroniti/potopiti

6.hiatus There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm.

hiatus - an interruption in the intensity or amount of something*jaz/stanka

7.snivel Piggy sniveled and Simon shushed him quickly as though he had spoken too loudly in church.

snivel - cry or whine with snuffling *cmizdriti

8.jabber The „littluns” began to jabber among themselves, then one stood forward.

jabber - talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner*brbljati

9.leviathan Then the sleeping leviathan breathed out, the waters rose, the weed streamed, and the water boiled over the table rock with a roar.

leviathan - the largest or most massive thing of its kind*gorostas

10.askew Some unknown force had wrenched and shattered these cubes so that they lay askew, often piled diminishingly on each other.

askew - turned or twisted to one side*nakoso/nakrivo

11.sinewy Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them.

sinewy - consisting of tendons or resembling a tendon *žilav

12. babble Piggy babbled: "-a conch; ever so expensive.

babble - utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way*tepati

An interesting classic novel

A truly inducing and motivating story

Made us wonder about our own views and perhaps ambitiously set expectations of intellectuality

Caused our internal re-evaluation of the value of classic novels

Why „Lord of theflies”???

In Biblical texts and in Christian demonology, the name „Beelzebub” or „Beel-zebub” is reffered to as one of the seven princes of Hell, and also as another name for the Devil.

In old-Hebrew, old-Arabic and many other ancient languages, Beelzebub is literally translated as „The lord of the flies”.

Conclusion

The name of the book, as the book itself, is a symbolic reminder of how evil may lurk inside each one of us. It is up to us whether we will let it govern our ways and pull our strings or keep it down with rational thinking and the belief in a greater, profound and truly good something.

It is time to ask ourselves: How civilized are we?