Microcosm and Macrocosm Mrs. King—Fall 2010

Microcosm and Macrocosm Ancient Greek schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of reality Pythagoras—golden ratio Golden mean—a pattern that was reproduced throughout reality Greeks saw reality as a whole and noticed patterns that were repeated throughout all the levels of reality.

Microcosm and Macrocosm Macro- (large) Micro- (small) Cosom- (Order, world, or ordered world) “Cosom” also comes from the idea of the cosmos or the universe

Microcosm and Macrocosm Simply put, it is the recognition that the same traits appear in entities of many different sizes, from one man to the entire human population.

Applied to Lord of the Flies Macrocosm—the entire world at turmoil during the 1940’s (World War II) Microcosm—the small island where the boys are stranded. The behaviors of the boys and their “society” begin to take on, or mimic, the behaviors of the larger society (the world as a whole).

Critics of Lord of the Flies Dramatizes the history of civilization Explores issues such as original sin and the nature of good and evil Criticism of the political and social institutions of the West Explores the problems and questions universal to the human experience