Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

1911- 1993

About William Golding

•British novelist

•Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in literature

•Fought in Royal Navy during WWII

•Participated in invasion of Normandy on D-Day

•At war’s end, returned to teaching and writing

Golding’s Fiction

•Allegorical Simple story with a deeper, symbolic meaning

•Allusions tooClassical literatureoMythologyoChristian SymbolismoGovernment

Lord of the Flies

•“It was simply what seemed sensible for me to write after the war when everyone was thanking God they weren’t Nazi’s. I’d seen enough to realize that every single one of us could be Nazi’s.”

•Man is inherently evil and needs the structure of civilization to control them

oWilliam Golding on his novel Lord of the Flies

About the Novel/Setting

•Set in mid 1940’s when Europe is engulfed in war.

•A plane carrying British school boys is mistaken for a military craft and shot down.

•Only the boys survive the crash, and try to form a society and govern themselves.

Themes in the Novel

•Civilization vs. Savagery

•Loss of Innocence

•Original Sin

•Fear that separates one from God

•Nature of Good and Evil

•Goodness is rare and fleeting

Motifs in the Novel

•Biblical parallels (book criticized for re-telling episodes in the Bible)

•Pristine places corrupted by evil

•Beel’zebub- Hebrew translation for Lord of the flies

A Critique on Human Nature

Lord of the Flies will explore the different aspects of human nature

Each character represents a distinct part of humanity

Locke Tabula Rasa: Blank slate Can people be born evil?

Nature vs. Nurture What is society’s role in shaping human

nature?

What is an Allegory?• A simple story that holds a much deeper meaning• The use of symbols to portray a moral or message• Fables or parables are short allegories with one

definite messageo Example: “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” In this fable, the boy is an allegory for

children who do not tell the truth and are not believed in the end

Allegory A work of fiction carrying two levels of

meaning:- 1) a surface plot/narrative (literal)- 2) symbolic/metaphorical meaning

in which everything in story symbolizes something greater

Symbols in the Novel

•The Conch- Civilization and orderThe Beast- The fear that separates man from God

•Piggy’s Glasses- Reason, science and insight

•Lord of the Flies- Evil

•Fire Signal- Hope, salvation

Philosophical Influence

•John HobbesoEnglish Philosopher: 1588- 1679oMan is by nature selfishly individualisticoMan constantly at war with other menoFear of violent death is sole motivation to

create civilizationsoMen need to be controlled by absolute

sovereignty to avoid brutish behavior

The World Golding Knew

•WWII 1939- 1945

•The fall of France to Nazi Germany in1940

•Britain feared an invasion and evacuated children to other countries

•1940- A German U-Boat torpedoed British ship carrying children killing the boys, thus suspending the overseas evacuation program

Major WWII Events •1939- Britain joined France in war against Nazi Germany

•1940- Fall of France

•1940- Fascist Italy joins the Axis with Germany

•1941- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor causing USA to declare war on Japan and enter the world war

•1944- D-Day Normandy Landings

•1945- Bombing of Dresden

•1945- European victory celebrated

•1945- Atomic Bomb dropped in Hiroshima immediately killing 60-80,000

people (final death toll 135,000 people)

•Death and destruction abound!!!

Modern Day Allusions

•Allusion- (n.) an indirect reference to something

There are many, many modern day allusions to Lord of the Flies in popular culture.

For example….

The Simpsons

•The Simpson’s episode titled Das Bus is a parody of Lord of the Flies.

Survivor

•MarK Burnett’s CBS island show is said to have been inspired by LOTF.

Sponge Bob Squarepants

•The episode Club Spongebob is a spoof of LOTF.

Popular Music

•Bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Nine Inch Nails, AFI, Iron Maiden, and Pink Floyd have written songs about or have alluded to LOTF in their music.