Lord of the Flies A fable and an allegory

Written by William Golding Born in England in 1911 In his works, Golding makes use of allusions and Christian symbolism.

22 years later Britain was again involved in ANOTHER WAR As a child, Golding witnessed WWI, which was referred to as “the war to end all wars.” HOWEVER, 22 years later Britain was again involved in ANOTHER WAR to end all wars, which caused more devastation than was imaginable.

About the novel Golding wrote this book less than a decade after World War II When the world was in the midst of the Cold War.

The events that influenced the writing of LOTF World War II The Cold War

The atrocities of the Holocaust, the horrific effects of the atomic bomb, the ominous threat of Communism, and technology’s rapid advances were all present in the minds of many including Golding.

Golding’s driving question: Left to their own devices, would a group of people enforce civilization or would they be overtaken by chaos and become barbaric?

Theme The theme examines the conflict between humanity’s innate barbarism and the civilizing influence of reason.

Golding’s writing style This novel contains both realism and modernism.

Realism (1875-1890) When the writer tries to see the world as objectively as he can. Everything was to be expressed as close to reality as possible.

Modernism 1914-1965 Two world wars and a huge industrialization movement had led to despair and wonder about the progress in society. Is progress good or bad? Modernist created a new way of writing in which they used symbols and metaphors instead of saying things the way they were.

This book is realistic because most of the events on the island could happen, but there are many symbols and metaphors in the book making it modern as well.

Symbolism Person, place, thing or event that stands both for itself and something beyond itself.

People who are symbolic in this book Jack Ralph Piggy Sam and Eric Simon Roger

Things that are symbolic in the book The beast The signal fire The conch shell Piggy’s glasses The Lord of the Flies

Tour of the island

Allusion Reference to a statement , a person, a place or an event from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science or the arts.

Foreshadowing Hints or clues of events to come.

Irony Occurs when an effect is produced that is different from what might have been expected.

What do you think? After viewing the slides and taking notes, what predictions can you make about Lord of the Flies? Write 5-6 sentences about what you believe might take place in the book.

http://shmoop.com/video/lord-of-the-flies/

Ask yourselves - What does it mean to be civilized? What does it mean to be savage? Give examples from history when people/groups of people acted in a savage manner.