William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Similar to most literary classics, William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies contains allusions to the Christian Bible and character archetypes that convey universal ideas. Golding’s story focuses on a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an island and ultimately succumb to their innate savage tendencies. Literary analysts often compare components of Lord of the Flies to various aspects in the Christian Bible. For instance, the setting in Lord of the Flies is often linked to the Garden of Eden, and some characters are thought to have religious-inspired names. Critics believe Simon’s name originates from Jesus Christ’s disciple, Peter, whose name was originally Simon. Biblical allusions exist throughout the novel associated with

Literary devices are techniques often used by authors to portray in-depth analyses of major characters, storylines, and central themes, which take place in a story. These analyses help readers understand a message the author is trying to convey. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses different literary devices in order to demonstrate the boys’ struggle against the lack of society and law on the island, as well as the consequences that have transpired due to this loss. This conflict is evident through the different instances of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism that occurs throughout the novel.

First Ralph was voted to be the leader or chief on the island for the time being. During the vote for chief Golding points out the fact that Ralph shows the qualities of a leader out of all the boys. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out. . . and most obscurely yet most powerfully there was the conch” (Golding 22). Ralph was seen as the best fit for the new role based the current circumstances. After all isn’t a leader supposed to create a sense of unity? Once the so called “beast” has been discussed, Ralph to restate the plan to be rescued. During a meeting that is then called, Golding talks about how Ralph has to actually wave the conch to grasp everyone’s attention. “The simple statement, unbacked by any proof but the weight of Ralph’s new aurhority, brought light and happiness. He had to wave the conch before he could make them hear him” (Golding 37). The conch has shown much more power of leadership and control than Ralph. If he were to call a meeting without the conch little to nothing would happen, but more frustration of Ralph. Coincidentally this starts to happen when new

Ralph the courageous leader from Lord of the Flies who is the primary representative of civilization tries his best to keep the boys in an appropriate manner. Ralph is a natural leader, and all the boys at the start of the book elect Ralph as the chief since they see him to be the most responsible person among them all. All the boys on the island face several problems throughout the novel, one of the problems was that one of the little kids thought there was a beast on the island. At that moment everyone thinks that it was just the boys imagination, and so they continue on to do their regular jobs. Ralph who believed in civilization, he too became in contact with savagery when he goes out to look for the beast with Jack, and his hunters, and they all spot a pig. during the hunt for the pig Ralphs becomes so enthusiastic in the hunt that he is eager to kill the pig, at that moment ralph doesn't realize that he was a savage. When they all reach the spot where the beast was, they all runaway since they think the beast is real, even though the beast was really just a dead parachuter. At this moment in the book the kids have been divided into two groups one was Jacks, and the other

Throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph, the fair leader, responds to his unique setting in many ways. At first, Ralph is ecstatic to be on the island and to have freedom from society’s rules, adult oversight, and authority. However, he soon finds that an irrational fear of a beast threatens to cause chaos amongst the boys. When all rules are forgotten and savagery reigns without authority, he takes it upon himself to enforce the island’s laws in an effort to maintain order and morality. In the end of the novel, Ralph starts to lose the specific character traits that define him as a productive leader as the boys around him turn savage and civilization fades from their society. As the novel progresses, Ralph takes a turn for the worse as he forgets his core principles and is tempted by savagery.

How does being stranded on a remote island sparsely populated with young boys who trying desperately to establish and maintain order reflect our society? In fact, William Golding holds important messages for the reader about how the purpose and peril of government remain relevant as metaphors of modern politics. Today, government substantially influences our lives in many aspects for the better or in some instances for the worse. In Lord of the Flies methods of control, propaganda, along with opposing militant governmental ideologies instill fear upon the boys which eventually lead to their downfall. Military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military.

“Which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (Golding 180). This quote, uttered by Piggy during a last ditch effort to heal severed ties among the boys of the island, is the epitome of the struggle that humans have had to face for perpetuity while attempting to find the ideal system in which to regulate a body of people. British novelist William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, beautifully chronicles the differing governing structures of both democracy and anarchy. Throughout the duration of the story, the beneficial sides, as well as the pitfalls of each authoritative method, are revealed through the various consequences that result from the decisions made. While both the democratic and anarchic governing styles were employed by the misplaced island refugees, the democracy style of management was built around the basis of structure and order while the anarchy approach to regulation lacked any form of organization or discipline. As both forms of government were showcased amid the same congregation of boys, many contrasting ideas and beliefs between the two became immensely distinguishable. Some of the disparities of the systems that are exhibited through the course of the book include varying rationale used in decision making, the contrasting character the leaders of each movement possessed, as well as divergent symbols that represent each methodology.

There are certain traits in individuals that seem to be passed down from generation to generation and, regardless of the number of studies and discoveries established, they have a way of showing up in our environments. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys find themselves stranded on an island and in a series of events, their behavior is altered and they become very malicious. It is questionable whether the reason for this alteration in their behavior is due to their circumstances or to their human nature. It is most probable that both of these options played a part in the boys’ immoral decisions but stronger evidence supports that their behavior was situational. Stanley Milgram dedicated himself to study behavior, bringing forth results that indicated that the majority of people will behave unethically when they are in a situation that calls for it. Relating this to Lord of the Flies, one is able to see the influence that Jack had over the other boys towards the end of the novel and this is an interesting concept to explore.

Ralph is the protagonist of Lord of the Flies. He is elected for the position of chief by all the boys apart from the choir, who vote for Jack in an act of "dreary obedience". Golding associates Ralph with democracy by showing his leadership style and contrasting it with Jack's. The first thing Ralph does after accepting the vote is distribute the power. He tells Jack, "The choir belongs to you, of course," and allows Jack to choose the role he and the choir will take on. This instantly instigates impartiality in Ralph’s ideas. Ralph is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the novel. He reproduces social predation in England. Ralph keeps the boys under order through the meetings which he holds. At

In the nineteenth century, Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud researched and presented his analysis of the three parts of the human personality. He determined that the personality consisted of three parts: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id represents the primary component of personality, present from birth, that contains a person’s needs and desires. The Ego illustrates the conscious mind that balances a person’s desire with aspects of reality. The Superego divides into two parts: the Ego Ideal and the Conscience. The Ego Ideal contains the morals for ideal and acceptable behavior, which correspond with emotions such as pride and honor. In contrast, the Conscience contains the morals for bad behavior, which correspond with emotions such as guilt and regret. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Golding represents the three parts of Freud’s personality theory through the characters of

William Golding, the author of Lord of The Flies, included adults for only a brief time throughout the novel, playing only a minor role at the end. The absence of adults exemplifies how children require the structure and guidance that only parents can provide, this can be seen how nations newly freed from the British Empire’s control would be better off under English colonial power to survive and maintain order before deteriorating into anarchy.

Lord of the Flies is a really unique and interesting story, William Golding had unquestionably written an extremely thought-provoking and interesting novel. I personally enjoyed reading Lord of the Flies for a number of reasons. Firstly, I generally like the settings and themes of the book; it is set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world. Next, I enjoyed this novel due to Golding’s pessimistic views on human nature conveyed throughout the story.

William Golding was born on September 19th 1911 in Cornwall, England. As a child he had an interest in literature but his parents wanted him to learn about natural sciences and he did so until his second year at Oxford when he changed his major to English literature. After college he worked as a teacher, director, theater actor, and wrote poetry. He also entered into the Navy during World War II. The Navy gave him insight to the evils of the world he lived in. When he left the Navy, he began writing novels and teaching again.

On September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England, William Golding a world renowned novelist was born. At the early age of 12, he attempted to write a novel but was unsuccessful and later found that he ‘would describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people”’ (Biography). After primary school William attended Oxford University where his father wanted him to become a scientist but his choice was to study literature. In 1935, he began teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury, after college, which inspired his novel “Lord of the Flies”. After writing this, he temporarily abandoned this profession to join the Royal Navy to fight in World War II, where he served

The creator of this fantastic novel is not other than Sir William Gerald Golding, or better known as William Golding. Golding was born in September 19, 1911 in Newquay, Cornwall, England, UK. However, he passed away in June 19, 1993 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England, at the age of 81. Golding’s career was based as being a school teacher, a novelist, playwright, and a poet. He is better known by his novel called Lord of the Flies. In addition, he was knighted by Elizabeth II back in 1988 and he won two honorable awards, the Noble Prize in Literature in 1983, and the Booker Prize in 1980.