Structural Analysis of Lord of the Flies

Contents:

1. Introduction_______________________________________________2

2. Author’s biography_________________________________________3

3. Key Facts_________________________________________________ 5

4. About the novel____________________________________________ 6

5. Plot Overview_____________________________________________ 9

6. Character List/ Analysis_____________________________________11

7. Themes, Motifs and Symbols_________________________________ 14

8. Conclusion________________________________________________ 18

9. Citation page and references_________________________________ 19

10. Annotated Bibliography_____________________________________ 20

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Lord of the FliesBy William Golding

Introduction

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”1

Albert Einstein

W. Golding’s first successful and most famous novel for the first time was published in 1954. The author wrote this book mostly as juxtaposition to the renown classic, “The Coral Island” written by R. M. Ballantyne, a Scottish author in 1858. Lord of the Flies was written as a response to this book, which is referenced at the end of Golding's story, when the naval officer says, "I know. Jolly good show. Like The Coral Island."2

Golding, despite enjoying the book many times as a child, massively disagreed with the views that The Coral Island held, and Lord of the Flies depicts the English boys as savages themselves."3

Both novels have a similar setting of islands with plentiful fruits and animal forms but the nature of protagonists is described in a completely different view. Whereas the main characters of The Coral Island are the embodiment of a civilization and moral values and preserve them, in Golding’s book we see a steady degradation of moral and behavioral values in British schoolboys, as representatives of a highly civilized society.

Whereas in the former one the civilized boys bring civilization and human values to the savages, in Golding’s we see that they are constantly eroding and the boys turn to savages themselves without any external influence. They have this savagery or evil within them.

The central theme of the novel was described by the author himself as follows:” The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical and respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue in the end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in reality enmeshed in the same evil as the symbolic life of the children on the island.”4

1 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/329.html 13 Mar 20112 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 2023 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island 10 Mar 20114 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 204

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We have to be aware that Golding had not only experienced WWII, but took active part on it and was an eyewitness to the atrocities inflicted on men by his fellow men. The brutality of war and its destructive effects not only on human level but also on the nature itself through allegory and symbolism are depicted in “The Lord of the Flies.”

It is safe to assume that his war experience changed his attitude towards mankind forever.As his biographer John Carey explains in his book about the author, up until Golding joined the Royal Navy he was an atheist. He places man at the center of his own destruction and suffering as is said by him: "I must say that anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head."5

It is worth noting that he is not the only one to deal with inner capacity for evil in men. Just like Joseph Conrad in his “Heart of Darkness”, so does Golding in this novel focus on the primal nature of man, which if not restrained and kept in check, is undoubtedly capable to cast us back to the savage level of social and moral values. The individual himself must constantly fight it if we are to maintain our civilization.

Author’s biographyWilliam Golding

William Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor in Cornwall, England, in 1911. His father, Alex, was a schoolmaster, while his mother, Mildred, was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement (the movement for women's right to vote). As a boy, his favorite authors included H. G. Wells (1866–1946), Jules Verne (1828–1905), and Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950). Since the age of seven, Golding had been writing stories, and at the age of twelve he attempted to write a novel.

Golding remained an enthusiastic writer and, upon entering Brasenose College of Oxford University, abandoned his plans to study science, preferring to read English literature. At twenty-two, a year before taking his degree in English, Golding saw his first literary work published, a poetry collection simply titled Poems.

After graduating from Oxford in 1935, Golding continued the family tradition by becoming a schoolmaster in Salisbury, Wiltshire. In January 1938 he started his teaching practice at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, Salisbury. In September, he also took up a post at Maidstone Grammar School. The same year he met Ann Brookfield, and in September 1939 they were married in Maidstone Registry Office.

His teaching career, which he actually hated, was interrupted in 1940, however, with the outbreak of World War II (1939–45). September the same year his son David was born and in December Golding joined the Royal Navy. He served five years in the British Royal Navy and saw active duty in the North Atlantic, commanding a rocket launching

5 "Nobelprize.org". Nobelprize.org. 10 Mar 2011 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1983/presentation-speech.html

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craft. He finished the war as a Lieutenant in command of a rocket ship, which was off the French coast for the D-day invasion, and later at the island of Welcheren. In July1945 the Goldings’ second and last child, Judith Diana, was born. In September Golding left the navy and returned to Bishop Wordsworth’s School, and was there when his first novel, started at 1952, (originally titled Strangers from Within), Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954. The success of the novel enabled him to finally give up teaching in 1961. Two years later Lord of the Flies was filmed by Peter Brook in 1963. Golding listed his hobbies as music, chess, sailing, archaeology and classical Greek (which he taught himself). Many of these subjects appear in his essay collections The Hot Gates and A Moving Target.

William Golding, the novelist, poet, and playwright, today is best known for his novel Lord of the Flies. He was also awarded the Booker Prize for literature in 1980 for his novel Rites of Passage; the first book of the trilogy To the Ends of the Earth (which also includes Close Quarters and Fire Down Below).

His writings include the following novels: The Inheritors (1955), Pincher Martin (1956), Free Fall (1959), The Spire (1964), Darkness Visible (1979), Rites of Passage (1981), Close Quarters (1987), Fire Down Below (1989), the play The Brass Butterfly (1958), a book of verse called Poems (1934), and two previously mentioned essay collections: The Hot Gates (1965) and A Moving Target (1982).

In his works Golding often presents isolated individuals or small groups in extreme situations dealing with man in his basic condition stripped of trappings, creating a quality of a fable. His novels are remarkable for their strikingly varied settings, several of them historical.

In 1983 he was awarded Nobel Prize for Literature and five years later he was knighted in 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II. He died at his home in the summer of 1993. The Double Tongue, a novel left in draft at his death, was published in June 1995.In 2008, The Times ranked Golding third on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

It is worth mentioning that Golding refused to let anyone write his biography that is until he finally came to an agreement with Faber and Faber and they published William Golding: The Man and his Books. A Tribute on his 75th Birthday, edited by John Carey. The second biography with more details and more complete was published in 2010 William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies again by Faber and Faber and edited from the same editor, John Carey. (The 2010 edition is a must read).

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Key Facts

Full title  ·  Lord of the Flies Author  · William GoldingType of work  · NovelGenre  · Allegory; adventure story; castaway fiction; loss-of-innocence fictionLanguage  · EnglishTime and place written  · Early 1950s; Salisbury, EnglandDate of first publication  ·  1954 Publisher  · Faber and FaberNarrator  · Third-person narrator who conveys the events of the novel without commenting on the action or intruding into the story.Point of view  · The narrator speaks in the third person, primarily focusing on Ralph’s point of view but following Jack and Simon in certain episodes. The narrator is omniscient and gives us access to the characters’ inner thoughts. Tone · Dark; violent; pessimistic; tragic; unsparingTense · Immediate pastSetting (time) · Near futureSetting (place) · A deserted tropical island somewhere in PacificProtagonist · RalphMajor conflict · Civilization vs. savagery.Rising action · Ralph’s election as chief and subsequent Jack’s hunting parties disregarding Ralph’s insistence about the priority of signal fire. Introduction of the inexistent beast finally leads to a split in two groups. Climax · Simon’s realization about Lord of the Flies, in the forest glade and his subsequent death.Falling action · Killing Piggy and destroying the conch shell; Ralph’s escape and the naval officer on the beach.Themes · Civilization vs. savagery; individualism vs. community; the nature of evil; men vs. nature; dehumanization of relationships; the loss of innocence; the negative consequences of warMotifs  · Biblical parallels; the bullying of the weak by the strong; the outward trappings of savagery (face paint, spears, totems, chants)Symbols  · The conch shell; Piggy’s glasses; the signal fire; the beast; the Lord of the Flies; Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, and RogerForeshadowing  · The rolling of the boulders off the Castle Rock in Chapter 6 foreshadows Piggy’s death; the Lord of the Flies’ promise to have some “fun” with Simon foreshadows Simon’s death

Note to the Professor: The Key Facts section model was borrowed from Sparksnotes at: http://www.sparknotes.com

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About the novel

The novel was written in 1954, nine years after the WW II. At this time the author, who was an active participant of it, has come to know the fragility of human civilization. This experience will haunt him for the rest of his life altering forever his views on humanity and its capacity for evil. "World War II was the turning point for me," he said. "I began to see what people were capable of doing.” …Another time he said: "Look out," he said, "the evil is in us all."6

After 21 rejections, "Lord of the Flies" was finally issued in 1954 as Golding’s first published book, and it remains his most popular.7 This novel, which when first published was regarded as merely an adventure novel with a bad taste, with passing of time became a major influence in art. It was nearly a miss until Charles Monteith (editor at Faber and Faber – A. X) reversed the decision of a professional reader (hired by Faber and Faber) who pronounced this verdict: "Time: the Future. Absurd & uninteresting fantasy about the explosion of an atom bomb on the Colonies. A group of children who land in jungle-country near New Guinea. Rubbish & dull. Pointless."8

Besides the play there have been two film adaptations: Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook and Lord of the Flies (1990), directed by Harry Hook.

To him the adventure books, which as a child were a constant delight and entertainment full of heroes and adventures propagating human values of a civilized society, have lost their magic. And this is how Lord of the Flies came to be.

After reading a bedtime boys’ adventure story to his small children, Golding wondered out loud to his wife whether it would be a good idea to write such a story but to let the characters "behave as they really would." His wife thought that would be a "first class idea." With that encouragement, Golding found that writing the story, the ideas for which had been germinating in his mind for some time, was simply a matter of getting it down on paper. 9

In numerous books and novels, children were always imagined and portrayed as the very embodiment of innocence, like in the novels of the 19th century. Generally they are incapable of horrors or committing any serious crime. Or are they?

According to Mr. Michael Wessells, PhD. (professor of psychology at Randolph-Macon College):

6 Lambert, Bruce http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0919.html (March 10, 2011).7 Ibid 8 http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/11/entertainment/la-ca-william-golding-20100711/2 (March 26, 2011).9 "Lord of the Flies: Author Biography." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 March 2011. http://www.enotes.com/lord-of-the-flies/author-biography

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“Most evidence suggests that ordinary children, faced with the extraordinary circumstances … are capable of learning to kill and to kill repeatedly.”10

By fictionally portraying children in a situation where they have to fend for themselves, the author echoes his concern of our self-destructive tendency as a dominating species on our planet. On a larger scale this novel more or less deals with the duality of human nature stressing the capacity of evil lurking in our inner nature. The story, or more appropriately the tragedy, takes place and unfolds in an isolated island somewhere in Pacific. We see Ralph and Piggy, and especially Simon, try to preserve and cling to the vestiges of humanity and social norms even in wilderness. On the other hand Jack, an ex- leader of the choir boys, steadily declines towards savagery, idolatry and paganism. The basic human foundations such as social and religious norms are the first human values to be sacrificed to the savage and animal primal instinct. Selfishness overrides the community social values. We see the boys give themselves to fun and play, and later hunting, rather then taking care of each other and working towards common good. The further degradation is seen in attitude towards the “littleuns”; most of the time they are left to take care of them-selves and subjugated to servility by Jack and his “tribe”. This brings up another aspect of our true nature. Unfortunately, it looks like we have an inbred trait of cruelty; we have the seeds of evil within ourselves. We see the boys kill a pig first and a sow later. And it is a real slaughter. The boys not only kill the sow but they exalt in their joy that they managed to “impose their will” on nature by symbolically defiling it.

Talking about nature we must remember that when their plane crashed they found a real paradise. Now the boys have defiled and polluted this nature and now they are destroying it, first accidentally by fire, and later by willful and conscious acts. By killing the mother sow, they have left the piglets without a source of nourishment. As one thing leads to another the boys enact the killing of the sow and almost kill another boy (Robert) in their frenzy, and later suggest about substituting a “littlun” for their game. This expression of extreme violence and cruelty is becoming much easier to them now. This marks the state of their civility which is in a steady decline where they are having problems distinguishing between pigs and their own kind; finally they break this last barrier and they actually deliberately kill Simon and Piggy. This is not a game anymore and this is where everything literally goes to hell.

Upon crashing the children find an unpolluted and unspoiled island; when finally leaving it resembles more hell than paradise. Nothing is as before the crash; attitudes are changed forever. The damage done to the island is minuscule compared to the inner damage to their souls.

Furthermore at the time the novel was written the whole civilized world was engaged in Cold War, which was a constant threat for decades. At the end of WW II Nazi Germany was finally defeated but the price was too high and instead of resolving issues new ones emerged such as the Cold War with the most blatant example of dividing Germany into two separate countries. It was the result of a more terrible threat, that of Soviet Russia.

10Wessells, Michael Child Soldiers: From Violence to protection http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=6684 March 13, 2011

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As if the effects of WW II were not enough of a reminder, humankind was in a brink of final nuclear disaster as witnessed in 1963 during the Cuban missile crisis. It was literary the West against the Reds.

"Nuclear catastrophe was hanging by a thread ... and we weren't counting days or hours, but minutes.” This was said by Soviet General and Army Chief of Operations, Anatoly Gribkov. 11

In this light it is easier to imagine the state the author was in when he wrote this novel. In the novel a Nuclear War is what causes the evacuation of children from civilized society; symbolically it is at the base of unleashing the destructive and bestial power in children; and they are incapable of fighting the evil part of their inner nature on their own thus disregarding social norms and order and plunging in a savage state. The same goes for the human kind in general. The whole world is suffering. Earth is transformed into a living hell both on the island and in global proportions. What is really terrifying is that it is not the uncivilized people only who commit atrocities but also there are atrocities committed by civilized people as is the case with WW II:” They were atrocities committed with cold professional skill by well-educated and cultured people - doctors, lawyers and those with a long tradition of high civilization behind them.”12

While often the subject of diverse psychological, sociological, and religious interpretations, Lord of the Flies is consistently regarded as an incisive and disturbing portrayal of the fragility of civilization.13

As to the cost of war, the greatest price was paid by Jews who were literally hunted down and executed. They were dehumanized and marked and used for inhumane experiments acting as guinea pigs for years. But they were not the only victims, also “The Nazis targeted Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists, twins, and the disabled.”14

It is quite easy to observe that Jack Merridew has certain Hitler’s personal traits. Just as Roger was Jack’s most loyal companion so was Joseph Goebbels to Adolph Hitler during the dark age of German history. Just as the hunters after the raid say that “the Chief has spoken”15 so did Goebbels say "When the Führer speaks it is like a divine service".16

11 http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html March 13, 201112 "Lord of the Flies: Author Biography." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 March 2011. http://www.enotes.com/lord-of-the-flies/author-biography 13 "William Golding." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (March 10, 2011). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702538.html14 Rosenberg, Jennifer http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm March 10, 2011 15 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 14116 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/joseph_goebbels.htm March 10, 2011

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But then again Stalin was no better than Hitler, and maybe this is the reason why the novel was rejected to be published for more than 21 times. Stalin’s methods were looked as a lesser evil, until it was literally too late to do anything about it. Unfortunately from the above mentioned examples and comparisons it is to be deduced that Golding’s paranoia was not really without foundation. Quite in the contrary, he could not imagine all the hideous crimes we are capable of committing as individuals and a civilized society.

Plot overview

The story takes place in an uninhabited island somewhere in pacific during an “atomic” war. The passengers of the plane which was shut down during an attack, are all children aged from 6 to 12. A fair haired boy Ralph is met by a fat boy with spectacles nicknamed Piggy. To their delight they realize that there are no adults present. As they make their way through the jungle to the beach, they find a conch shell which they blow to see if there are any other survivors. We find out that there actually are other children and as they show up, Piggy tries to remember their names. Shortly another organized group of black clad boys shows up. They are members of a choir led by Jack, the red haired boy. Afterwards at Piggy’s suggestion they decide to have a meeting to elect a leader, which turns out to be Ralph to Jack’s chagrin who is in turn appointed as the group’s hunting party leader, consisting mostly of his choir friends. Ralph is mandated to search for a solution to be rescued and Jack to provide meat for the group.

Soon after they decide to go and explore the island so a group of three consisting of Ralph, Jack and Simon go for this “adventure”, whereas Piggy stays behind with an “important” mission to learn all children’s names. During this tour they happen upon a piglet caught up in wines but they hesitate to kill it. Instead they dislodge a boulder and send it flying to the ocean. During this mini-adventure Ralph, Jack and Simon have a good time.

Upon their return another meeting takes place and Jack is appointed, this time officially, the meat hunter. They set up a basic set of rules so they can maintain a decent civility among themselves until they are rescued. With Piggy’s glasses they start a small fire which gets out of control and a small boy disappears. It is the same boy who let the group know that he was afraid of a snake like beast. So within twelve hours the boys managed to mark the island by dislodging the boulder, setting a portion of the island on fire and breaking the tranquility of the island with the blows from conch shell.

Several days pass and Jack is more and more dedicated to hunting while Ralph is trying to improve the living conditions of the group and taking care of the smaller boys, who in turn are getting more and more afraid of the snake thing aka the Beast. Jack admits to Ralph that he knows how the littleuns feel implying that he is also afraid.

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Thus life goes on day by day and the boys get used to the situation and everyone more or less does what they like. Jack is completely dedicated to hunting, Ralph with building shelters and so on. It was agreed upon that the hunters would maintain the signal fire but one day Ralph realizes that there is a ship nearby the island but the fire is out. Jack and his crew have omitted their primary mission and they are not rescued.

So Ralph confronts Jack about his lack of responsibility to the group who in turn has managed to kill a pig. In their excitement they start a wild dance enacting the hunt with Maurice acting as a pig.

Piggy reprimands Jack, who in turn hits Piggy across the face and breaks his glasses. Jack apologizes reluctantly to Ralph but not to Piggy. After they have eaten half raw pig, Ralph, who is becoming self-conscious about degradation of their civil manners, calls another assembly and reminds the boys that they are not working as they should. Jack has taken to painting his face with clay and the littleuns are infecting the older boys with their fear from the unseen beast. Piggy tries unsuccessfully to dissuade them from fear but they, especially the little boys are insistent that there is a beats hiding in the water.

That same night when all the boys are asleep a parachute with a dead pilot ends up in the island. Not even the fire watch, Sam and Eric, notices the battle taking place nearby the island as they were also asleep. In the predawn light when they wake up they see a silhouette and mistake it for the beast. They run in terror to the rest of the group to give them the news. Jack and Ralph, the hunt leader and the chief respectively, with a group of boys go to investigate and hunt the beast, but convinced that there is no beast. As they take their time all day long in idle adventure and chase a pig (when they almost kill Robert in the frenzy of bloodlust as he was acting the pig in the ensuing dance) they find no trace of a beast during daylight. Later, in a poor dusk light only Ralph, Jack and Roger are left looking for the beast. As a result of poor light they see an ape like creature from a distance bobbing his head up and down, and they mistake the human corpse of the pilot for the beast. All three of them flee in terror from the dark forest and when they get to the beach they inform the rest of the boys about their findings. Ralph realizes that they can’t have the signal fire at the mountain anymore and he is about ready to give up hope. Jack on the other hand calls an assembly in which he tries to take Ralph’s place as a chief but he is not successful as nobody votes for him.Jack humiliated runs from them on his own only later to be joined by some of the older boys, mainly his old choir group. Ralph, on Piggy’s suggestion, starts a fire on the beach. Thus we have now two groups of boys in the same island.Jack with his hunters organizes another hunt and they manage to kill a sow while still feeding piglets and they put her head on a sharpened stick and jam it into earth as an offer to the beast to appease it. Simon has left the group earlier and gone to an opening in the forest where he faints from heat. When he wakes up he sees sow’s head and it looks to him like the Lord of the Flies is talking to him and telling him that it is a part of them. Terrified Simon wanders to the mountain and sees the dead pilot kept in place by his entangled parachute. Thus solving the mystery of the beast he staggers to where the fire is seen, that is Jack’s camp. Jack has raided the beach camp and stolen fire from Ralph’s

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group and he has invited the other boys for a feast. Ralph and Piggy allured by meat are the last ones to go and as Simon stagers to the camp he happens to walk into a wild dance where all the boys are participating, even Ralph and Piggy. At first the little boys mistake Simon, who is covered in blood and mud, for the beast and everybody attacks him and they finally kill him and his body is washed away by the sea. Ironically the dead pilot is also carried by wind to the sea after a storm and wind has started.Next morning Ralph remorseful expresses his remorse and tells Piggy that they have committed a murder, who in turn vehemently rejects any culpability. This denial is also accepted by Sam and Eric but only superficially as they are perfectly aware of what they have done.In the meantime Jack tries to convince his tribe that it was the beast in disguise whom they have killed last night and that it might come again so they must be prepared. As he is faced with the problem of lighting a fire he decides to raid Ralph’s camp again for Piggy’s glasses with Roger and Maurice. That same night they act on their decision and steal Piggy’s glasses who is completely helpless now. In the morning Piggy insists that they have to get his glasses back and Ralph must do something about it. So all the four boys leave for Castle rock to retrieve Piggy’s glasses and reason with Jack. As they get there Piggy is killed deliberately by Roger with a boulder, the conch shell shattered and Sam and Eric are overtaken by the hunters. Ralph is all alone and after a physical confrontation with Jack he manages to escape. Thus Ralph becomes a prey and he can’t even stop to think in order to save himself. He hides in the forest and by accident finds the sow’s head on the stick. He breaks the head and takes the stick with him. As night descends he is afraid all by himself and goes to castle rock again where he finds the twins watching the gate. Sam gives him some roasted meat and tells him that Jack and Roger are planning to kill him and put his head on a stake. Ralph hides in some bushes to spend the night and with the first morning light he wakes to the sounds of hunt for him. He hides again and they try to flush him out with rocks first than with smoke and fire. Finally Ralph gets what he wants but unfortunately the same fire is meant to burn him alive. He runs in total disregard as fire rages all around him only to stumble and roll over by the beach where he sees a naval officer who has come to investigate the smoke on the island.

The officer, who happens to be British, asks for an explanation from Ralph, who in turn informs him that they are British too and admits that they have killed two other boys. The officer is surprised at first but takes this news in stride and Ralph breaks down crying..Major Character list

Ralph- “He was old enough, twelve years and a few months, ... You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.”17

Ralph is the “golden” skinned boy with "fair hair" and is about twelve years old. He is a son of a naval officer and well behaved. He is the one who establishes a rudimentary society where everybody is to work towards a common goal, rescue. He is the one to

17 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 10

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blow the conch shell and to be elected chief. He is a responsible boy who thinks about signal fire, shelters and shared responsibilities. He leads by example and although he is only a boy of twelve he distinguishes priorities (signal fire over hunting for meat). He is a political leader and aware of his own rival’s usefulness and that is why he tries to cooperate with Jack when he agrees to appoint him as the leader of the hunters. In other words Ralph is a civilian leader whereas Jack is a military one. He is the only boy who is able to confront Jack and to a certain degree keep him under control. He does this through civil means such as assemblies and compromises. He is not afraid to confront himself and others when they kill Simon. At the end we see him break down and cry for the loss of innocence and loss of life. We don’t know which is harder for him. He is scarred for life as he has taken a human life.

Piggy- “He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat. He came forward, searching out safe lodgments for his feet, and then looked up through thick spectacles.”18

Piggy is the fat boy with glasses and the only one with asthma. He is an intelligent young boy who clings to Ralph and supports him. Piggy’s ideas are expressed through Ralph. He is completely aware that he is not a leader and he lets Ralph take over from the very start. He does this because he knows that Ralph is a better leader than Jack even though Jack is a stronger one. He is smart enough to realize that he can protect himself better under Ralph’s leadership. Jack several times objects to his laziness and deems him useless but Ralph on the other hand comes to realize than Piggy is essential to their survival. He shows Ralph how to blow the conch and how valuable it is. Although Piggy is almost always shouted at by others he is the constant fountain of good ideas. His physical appearance renders him vulnerable but his reasonable way of thinking makes him un-valuable for Ralph and the group in general. His practical and scientific mind proves to be a great benefit to the group; so do his glasses. Even his handicap, through his glasses, is vital to the group’s survival. He desperately wants to belong and to be treated as an equal but to his misfortune Ralph realizes this too late. He is nicknamed Piggy and true to his nickname when he dies he twitches like one.

Jack Merridew- “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”19

The red haired boy, who wants to be chief at any cost is the main antagonist of Ralph. Ex-leader of the choir boys he thinks he should be chief as he can sing C sharp. From an onset of the novel he is the power hungry boy who goes on his own and splits the original group in two different tribes. By accident he recognizes his true nature and becomes obsessed with hunt, killing and blood. He is also a leader but his leadership resides in cunning, willpower and pure strength. Even Roger, the most bloodthirsty and cold blooded savage defers to Jack. His authority is never challenged by his savages. He is cunning where Ralph and Piggy are smart and intelligent. To appease his bestial cravings he renders everything else secondary to his savage nature. He is the destructive force of

18 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 719 Ibid p 22

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nature and civil society. He leads the dances and encourages the kills, even that of his own species. He is the first one to be taken by bloodlust and to cajole others to join him in his savage behavior. He is the one to paint himself and ask the others to do the same. He realizes the power of hiding behind the mask in subjugating and controlling the others. He feels no remorse nor is he inclined to give up his leadership or his position. He requests total obedience and to achieve it he resorts to violence and not reason.

Roger – “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry— threw it to miss.”20

The quiet boy who keeps to himself is Jack’s lieutenant, Roger is the embodiment of terror for the twins. He is a true sadist as he reveals his true nature through his actions first when defiling the sow with a stick and later when killing Piggy. He revels in torturing other living things including his own species. We see him throwing rocks at Henry but deliberately miss and then again later in cold blood throwing a boulder at Piggy. The experience with the sow gives him an idea to do the same thing to Ralph. He is thirsty for the pain of others. Roger, as opposed to Piggy, chooses Jack for his leader because with Jack he can unleash and appease his sadistic appetite for cruelty. He is a natural killer very much opposed to social restraints of society. We come to realize that if it wasn’t for social restraints imposed upon his actions by the society which is in ruins he would think as nothing stoning little Henry playing at the beach. He is highly motivated to torture and killing the weaker ones and the ones with disabilities. The twins’ terror of him reminds us of the Arian dogma as preached by Goebbels towards the “impure races”.

Simon – “Now that the pallor of his faint was over, he was a skinny, vivid little boy, witha glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse.”21

The skinny boy with bright eyes with an unselfish nature and completely dedicated to the good of the group. Always helpful and hardworking for the rest of the boys he is sometimes described as “batty”. It is to be assumed that he is suffering from an illness that makes him faint from time to time as pointed out by Jack, and again at the forest glade when he is face to face with Lord of The Flies. All his traits bring to mind a sacrifice for others, including his death by the very boys he wants to enlighten; just like Jesus was killed by his own people so is Simon killed. Simon is just like the other boys; he likes adventure and fun and is full of love towards other boys. He is one of them in that regard. What makes him different is the fact that he is the only one who does not succumb to hunter’s instinct, not even once. He is afraid but he still goes to explore and find out about the beast. There is nothing to defile his purity and he is repulsed by impurity.

Sam and Eric (Samneric) – “They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication. They breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital.”22

20 Ibid p 6221 Ibid p 2422 Ibid p 19

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The two identical twins are two bodies acting as one. They are the last among the big boys to join Jack’s hunting group and even then under Roger’s threat of violence. They betray Ralph but not willingly but they do so because they want to stay alive.

Littleuns – Are the younger boys who are generally related to as the littleuns. Biguns on the other hand are all the older boys.

Lord of the Flies – Is a character of a different kind. It has many faces and different ways of acting, and of course, different meanings. At first it is only the sow’s head on a stick. Later to Simon it becomes an antagonist at the forest glade. To the boys it serves as an offering to the beast. The flies around the head are the decay of human values and nature. To Simon it becomes the beast which is a part of them.

Themes, Motifs and Symbols

ThemesThe major theme as described by the author himself is the human nature but this major theme can be broken down to several such as: Civilization vs. savagery; Individualism vs. Community, The Nature of Evil, Men vs. Nature, Dehumanization of Relationships, the Loss of Innocence and The Negative Consequences of War23

Civilization vs. Savagery “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts—then you go off hunting and let out the fire—”24

The most obvious representatives of civilization and savagery are Ralph and Jack respectively. Both of them are leaders but whereas Ralph is committed to the good of the community, and as a priority has the rescue and social civilized behavior such as taking care of the little ones, building shelters, using latrines and sharing responsibilities, Jack is given more to his animal impulses of hunting and bloodlust. Ralph is annoyed with his degraded physical appearance and dreams about civility and proper bath. Jack gives himself to painting his face like a savage and his only concern is the total subjugation of the group. Ralph tries to maintain law and order through the conch but Jack tends to ignore the conch as much as possible. Jack impales the sow’s head in a stick in earth thus regressing from a choir boy to idolatry and paganism but is opposed by Ralph who is repulsed by such an act and breaks it in two and thus destroys it.

Individualism vs. CommunityMost of the boys are given to their own pleasures and interests but the few like Ralph, Simon, Sam, Eric and Piggy try to work for the benefit of the group. Jack on the other hand follows his own agenda to finally separate himself from the group. He has no

23 Ross, Jeremy. A. Kimball, December 8, 2006, and A. Kissel, ed. *Lord of the Flies Themes*. GradeSaver, 18 August 2007 Web. 10 March 2011. http://www.gradesaver.com/lord-of-the-flies/study-guide/major-themes/

24 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 70

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compassion whatsoever but invites the others to join his group so he can have a more effective hunt. He is not interested in shelters and rescue is not his top priority.

The Nature of Evil The author pretty convincingly has introduced a new kind of devil who is not Satan and does not reside elsewhere but in our inner self. It is part of us. Just like Simon’s “interview” with the Lord of the Flies is self explanatory so is the nature of this evil. It resides within us. Unfortunately to a certain degree author makes his point through the novel. Even Ralph and Piggy partake in the dance when Simon is killed. The first step to confront and face it is to accept this reality as does Ralph when he discusses Simon’s murder with Piggy and the twins.

Men vs. Nature When the plain with the boys crashes, it leaves a scar in the jungle foliage to be followed by Ralph, Jack and Simon when they throw a boulder into the sea. The arrival of the boys disrupts and later completely destroys the natural harmony in the island as seen when they set the whole island on fire trying to flush out Ralph. Nature provides food and shelter for the boys but they abuse this privilege and destroy everything.

Dehumanization of RelationshipsAs the hunters enact the hunts they use one of their own to act like preys. The hunters paint their faces and hide behind this paint to undertake the cruelest actions against each other. Simon when killed is referred to as the beast in disguise. Piggy refers to himself as a dog that has to be led (when Jack steals his glasses) and we never know his name as he is constantly addresses as Piggy.

The Loss of Innocence When first encountering the stranded pig Jack cannot bring himself to kill it. Later it becomes his obsession to kill a pig and when he does he experiences a new feeling which marks him forever and he becomes addicted to it. Roger from deliberately missing Henry when throwing stones at him, by the end of the novel is a cold blooded murderer. Simon’s imagined interview with the Lord of the Flies marks the end of brightness from his eyes. His subsequent murder by the other boys changes totally the outlook in life for the whole group. Ralph is terrified by what he has been part of. He is not simply a boy anymore but a man who has taken another man’s life.

The Negative Consequences of War We come to realize that because of a raging war the boys are evacuated at the last moments from school and their plane is shut down by enemy planes. If it wasn’t for this war they would still be singing in a choir or attending classes, but it is as it is. Left to fend for themselves they completely regress to the most basic instincts which have taken mankind thousands of years to subjugate. But unfortunately warring is a constant throughout the history of mankind.

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Motifs

Biblical parallels One can not but notice how certain sections of the novel depict Biblical motifs such as Simon’s confrontation with the Lord Of The Flies, which according to E.L Epstein, is a translation of the Hebrew Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek)25 which in Christian sources appears as a demon and the name of one of the seven princes of Hell,26 island’s beauty described as paradise, the snake like beast prowling the island invokes the Satan from Eden, Simon’s confrontation with Lord Of The Flies at the glade reminds us of Christ’s confrontation with devil in the desert, and finally Simon’s nature and his murder by his friends.

The Bullying of the Weak by the Strong Piggy is always Piggy, we never learn his name because he can not fight other biguns when they taunt him. It is evident from the way the other boys treat Piggy and later how they treat the little ones. Maurice throws sand in the eyes of the little ones. Roger intimidates the twins. Jack punishes one of his own at the end of the novel.

The Outward Trappings of Savagery The hunters paint their faces, dance wild dances, enact hunts, and by the end of the novel they ululate and are constantly dirty. The paint mask helps them hide and release their animal side within them. They become something else.

Symbols

The Conch Shell – “I bet you can hear that for miles.”27

It is the central symbol of civilization on the island. It is used to call assemblies and to maintain order during meetings. It represents rule of law (its blowing means assembly and whoever has the conch has the right of speech). In the beginning it is pink and later it fades to a dull white color loosing its beauty in direct proportion to the loss of civility and increase of savagery of the boys. Finally it is shattered when Piggy is killed and there is no going back. There is no trace of civility left in the island anymore.

Piggy’s Glasses - “I got to have them specs. Now I only got one eye. Jus’ you wait—”28

They represent the intellectual side of Piggy as well as his physical limits. Without them the chances for survival would be very low. They use them to start fires, both for food and rescue. As individual Piggy is handicapped without them and as a group both fractions must have them in order to maintain supremacy and ensure survival. Also glasses serve as a symbol in another level. They symbolize the scientific progress of

25 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 20526 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub 24 Feb. 201127 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 1728 Ibid 72

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mankind and when Piggy and Ralph use them they are used for the benefit of the individual and community, but in the wrong hands they cause destruction.

The Signal Fire It is a symbol of hope and also rescue. Its priority in the agenda of Ralph’s and Jack’s fraction respectively determines the level of civility in each group. As long as they keep the fire alive it means they are determined to be rescued and when the fire is left unattended it is obvious that the desire to be rescued is low if not inexistent.

The Beast “Pig’s head on a stick.” “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head.”29

It is the imagination of the little ones later to be adopted by the bigger boys. It is a result of primal irrational instinct; it has no external substance but what the boys give it to. The steady the decline in civility among the boys, the more palpable it becomes. Piggy reasons with the others that there can not be any beast but is overwhelmed by the rest of them.

The Lord of the Flies “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”30

This symbol has multiple meanings starting as a title for the novel as a translation from Hebrew depicting a demon (Beelzebub), then as an offering to the unknown beast symbolizing Jack’s regress to paganism and idolatry, Simon’s enlightenment, which at the same time foretells his death symbolizing an omen. In other words the simple sow’s head becomes a face of the beast which is in fact our dual nature or capacity for evil. It is surrounded by flies representing filth and decay.

Ralph – Symbolizes values of civilization and fair leadership. He is a democratic leader. He calls assemblies and uses conch shell to keep a kind of law and order.

Piggy – Is the embodiment of human knowledge. He is rational and pragmatic. He shares his ideas with Ralph and willingly acknowledges Ralph’s superiority.

Jack – Symbolizes the animal side of humanity. He lets his savage instincts over ride his rational side. He is power hungry and unscrupulous. He is a totalitarian leader. Simon - Human unselfishness and pure goodness is symbolized through Simon. He will share with others everything he has; he helps those in need and constantly works for the benefit of the group. He sacrifices and does so willingly. He is in a total harmony with nature.

29 Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979 p 14330 Ibid

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Roger – Deliberate cruelty, primal animal drive in human nature is conveyed through Roger’s character. He revels in the pain and suffering of others. Inflicting pain on other living things is pure ecstasy for him. Conclusion

From reading the book one can conclude that the author was very pessimistic about human nature and extremely suspicious as to our true instincts. Considering his extensive background on sciences it would be an unjust dismissal of the book as a mere adventure story. He knew exactly what he was doing when he started to write the book. While researching about the influences on the author I came to realize that he was relying on his own experiences and his darker nature as explained in John Carey’s biography about Golding. Golding himself has admitted many flaws in his character and concerning his behavior, but to give him credit, at least he spoke about them openly and did not try to portray himself as a saint. As a man he has won my respect for this matter.

As to his book, I don’t think he would ever think it possible that it would have this influence it has had for decades. A book that started more like a story for children turned out to be “one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005”31 chosen by Times magazine. Unfortunately just as he had described, and foreseen in a manner, the hunters’ atrocities and men killing each other has been a constant follower of mankind during the last century. And the beginning of this century doesn’t look any better. Only during Rwandan genocide of 1994 there were close to one million people butchered like the mother sow in the novel; in Balkan wars there were more than 300.000 people killed, thousands still missing and disappeared and more than 3 million people displaced, making it “the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.”32

Even today the situation does not look promising considering the unrest and conflicts raging in Middle East and Africa. It looks like Jack Merridew and his hunters are having “jolly good time”.

Another “prophetic” aspect of the novel is the devastation of the island but this time in a global scale due to global warming caused, again, by our own total disregard for the harmony in nature. It looks like the Lord of the Flies has dominated the better part of our souls or nature. We have left the signal fire go out and been hunting ever since. Now we are being hunted, but this time by our own actions.

The only achievement that we can be proud of so far is that we haven’t had an all nuclear war as of yet. But we are still hoping that we will cast the beast away once and for all so we can all live in peace and harmony with each other and with nature. Only time will show whether we will stay civilized and cooperate to be rescued or we will burn completely our island. But our rescue depends on us and no one else. Citation page and references

31 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies 13 March 201132 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War#Breakup_of_Yugoslavia 13 March 2011

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1. (Cit 1) http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/329.html 13 Mar 2011

2. (Cit 2, 4 , 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29) Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979

3. (Cit 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island 10 Mar 2011

4. (Cit 5) “Nobelprize.org". Nobelprize.org. 10 Mar 2011 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1983/presentation-speech.html

5. (Cit 6, 7) Lambert, Bruce http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0919.html (March 10, 2011).

6. (Cit 8, 11) "Lord of the Flies: Author Biography." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 March 2011. http://www.enotes.com/lord-of-the-flies/author-biography

7. (Cit 9) Wessells, Michael Child Soldiers: From Violence to protection http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=6684 March 13, 2011

8. (Cit 10) http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html March 13, 2011

9. (Cit 12) "William Golding." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (March 10, 2011). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702538.html

10. (Cit 13) Rosenberg, Jennifer http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm March 10, 2011

11. (Cit 15) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/joseph_goebbels.htm March 10, 2011

12. (Cit 22) Ross, Jeremy. A. Kimball, December 8, 2006, and A. Kissel, ed. *Lord of the Flies Themes*. GradeSaver, 18 August 2007 Web. 10 March 2011. http://www.gradesaver.com/lord-of-the-flies/study-guide/major-themes/

13. (Cit 25) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub 24 Feb. 2011

14. (Cit 30) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies 13 March 2011

15. (Cit 31) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War#Breakup_of_Yugoslavia 13 March 2011

Annotated Bibliography

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1. Golding, William “Lord of The Flies” Notes on the Lord of the Flies by E.L. Epstein - A Perigee Book published in New York 1979

2. http://www.william-golding.co.uk/ (March 10, 2011).

3. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Lord of the Flies.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

4. "William Golding." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (March 10, 2011). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702538.html

5. “Nobelprize.org". Nobelprize.org. 10 Mar 2011 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1983/presentation-speech.html

6. Lambert, Bruce http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0919.html March 10, 2011

7. "Lord of the Flies: Author Biography." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 9 March 2011. http://www.enotes.com/lord-of-the-flies/author-biography

8. Ross, Jeremy. A. Kimball, December 8, 2006, and A. Kissel, ed. *Lord of the Flies Themes*. GradeSaver, 18 August 2007 Web. March 10, 2011http://www.gradesaver.com/lord-of-the-flies/study-guide/major-themes/

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub 24 Feb. 2011

10. http://childhood.camden.rutgers.edu/children_war/speakers.html March 13, 2011

11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island 10 Mar 2011

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