1. Welcome to Your Novel Study Unit:
Lord of the Flies
By William Golding

2. Biography of William Golding 1911-1993

3. Early Life Born on September 19, 1911 in Cornwall, England
(In his grandmother’s house!)
His father, Alec, was a schoolmaster (science) at Marlborough Grammar School
His mother, Mildred, worked in the suffragette movement
He and his brother, Joseph, attended the school where his father taught
His father was a socialist with a strong commitment to scientific rationalism
Golding was passionate about writing and began writing at the age of 7

4. Academic Life
1930 Golding attended Oxford University where he studied Science for 2 years (at the wishes of his parents)
He transferred to English Literature and received a B.A. From Oxford in 1935
It was earlier that year that his first book, Poems was published in London

5. Marriage and Family Life
From Golding worked as a writer, actor, producer and a settlement house broker.
1939 he began teaching English and Philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School
Golding married Ann Brookfield on September 30th, 1939
They had 2 children, Judy and David
He entered the Royal Navy shortly after he was married in 1939 when WWII broke out
After the war Golding came home to his family and returned to teaching and writing

6. Golding’s Work & Achievements
Lord of the Flies was turned down by 21 publishers before it was finally accepted!
It finally won Book of the Year award and in the late 1950s became a bestseller among American readers
The novel was a great success for Golding and he became more focused on his writing
In 1961 Golding resigned from teaching and devoted himself entirely to writing

7. Golding’s Work & Achievements
In 1965 he received the honorary designation Commander of the British Empire (CBE)
In 1983 he won the Nobel Prize for literature
In 1988 he was knighted
Golding died on June 19, 1993 after just finishing the draft of his last novel The Double Tongue

8. Golding’s Subject Matter
Golding’s writing focuses on:
the inherent evil in human nature
human’s lack of free will
human’s inability to find meaning in life
isolation

9. Golding’s Bibliography
POEMS, 1934
LORD OF THE FLIES,
INHERITORS, Perilliset (suom. Eila Pennanen, 1985)
PINCHER MARTIN, radio play in 1958
ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY, 1956 (in Sometime, Never: Three Tales of Imagination)
THE BRASS BUTTERFLY, 1958 (play)
FREE FALL, Vapaa putoaminen (suom. Leevi Lehto, 1986)
MISS PULKINHORN, 1960 (radio play)
THE ANGLO-SAXON, 1962
BREAK MY HEART, 1962 (radio play)
THE SPIRE, film in production 2008, dir. Roger Spottiswoode, screenplay Helen Edmundson
THE HOT GATES, 1965

10. Golding’s Bibliography (con’t)
THE PYRAMID, Pyramidi (suom. Rauno Ekholm, 1987)
THE SCORPION GOD, 1971
DARKNESS VISIBLE, Näkyvä pimeys (suom. Kersti Juva, 1983)
RITES OF PASSAGE, 1980 (Booker Prize) - Merimatka (suom. Eila Pennanen ja Hanno Vammelvuo, 1981)
A MOVING TARGET, 1982
THE PAPER MEN, Paperimiehet (suom. Kersti Juva, 1985)
AN EGYPTIAN JOURNAL, 1985
CLOSE QUARTERS, Laskusilta (suom. Eila Pennanen ja Hanno Vammelvuo, 1990)
FIRE DOWN BELOW, 1989 (republished under the general title TO THE END OF THE EARTH in 1991) - Laiva tulessa (suom. Eila Pennanen ja Hanno Vammelvuo, 1991) - TV mini-series 2005, prod. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), dir. David Attwood, screenplay by Tony Basgallop, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Brian Pettifer, Victoria Hamilton, Jamie Sives, Sam Neill, Jared Harris
THE DOUBLE TONGUE, 1995

11. Word Association
LORD
FLIES
and

12. Lord of the Flies
Let’s Make some Predictions...

13. Lord of the Flies

14. Questions to ponder Is it better to have too many rules or too few?
What are the qualities of a good leader?

15. Forms of Government Authoritarian The rule of the few Anarchy
Absence of organized government
Democracy
The rule of the many

16. Lord of the Flies
Story takes place on a deserted island in the South Pacific
A plane crash occurs and only the children survive
The boys create their own society—a world of freedom
Can they survive without any adult control?.....
YOU WILL HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT!

17. Themes…

18. Themes in Lord of the Flies
Role of fear
The evil within
Leadership
Rite of passage—Child to adult/innocent to experience
Survival
The cruelty of children
The nature of democracy

19. The South Pacific Ocean