Lord of The Flies Background and Information

Lord of the Flies ► Setting  Near Future  Nuclear War – Attack on England  Plane Crash  Group of Children – Boys  Total isolation from outside world  No adult “supervision” ► Characters  Ralph  Jack  Piggy  Simon  Roger  Sam and Eric Tristan de Cunha

Sir William Gerald Golding ► 1911 – 1993 ► Won Nobel Prize 1983 ► British Writer – educated at Oxford ► 1934 – Published book of short stories – prior to earning his BA in English. ► Married Ann Brookfield – had two kids. ► WWII – Served in the Royal Navy – Blowing up of Bismarck in ► “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.” – Intrigued by the dark side of humanity. ► Long time teacher – resigned in ► After 1961 – Full time writer  The Spire  Rites of Passage  Close Quarters  Fire down Below – 1989 ► Knighted in 1988

LOF Cont. ► Symbolism  The Conch  The Glasses  The Island  The Lord of the Flies  The Scar  The Beast  The Characters ► Themes  The importance of society  Abuse of power  Fear of the unknown  The degradation of others  The consequences of our decisions

LOF – General Info ► Published 1954 ► Turned down by 21 publishers ► Allegorical in nature ► Film Versions – 1963 and 1990 ► Based on R.M. Ballantyne’s Coral Island  Jack  Ralph ► 1 of 100 greatest English Works 1923 – Present – Time Magazine ► Translated into many languages. ► King Lear - "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods, — They kill us for their sport.” King Lear

Chapter 1 – Discussion Questions ► How did they come to be on this island? ► Describe the scar. How was it created? ► How do people seem to treat Piggy? Why? ► Describe your first impression of Jack. ► Why do you feel Ralph was chosen to be chief? Do you think he will prove to be an effective leader? ► Describe the conch shell. What value do they find in it? ► Explain the expedition on which they set forth. Who goes on this trip? ► What might be the significance in the tumbling of the large rock off the mountain? ► Describe the encounter with the pig. What might we learn from this? ► Choose something from chapter 1 that you feel could be symbolic in nature. Explain what this item / character might symbolize and why.