1. Lord of the Flies Novel Notes

2. William Golding  Born in Cornwall, England, on Sept. 19, 1911.  Father was a schoolmaster and mother was an advocate for women’s right to vote.  Worked as a writer, actor, and producer before becoming a teacher in 1939.  Married Anne Brookfield in 1939 and joined the Royal Navy in 1940 to fight in WWII.

3. Golding’s Epiphany  Joining the Royal Navy was a turning point in his personal philosophy.  Being at sea gave him the time to study Greek writers and evaluate their pessimistic view of mankind, which he compared to the brutality he saw about him, including being part of D-Day— storming the beach at Normandy.

4. Golding’s Postwar Success  After the war, he became a schoolteacher, where he gained the insight into children reflected in LOTF.  In the beginning, Golding wrote to please others, which was he came to see as futile.  He began to write in order to please himself, and LORD OF THE FLIES was the result.

5. Golding’s Later Years  Up until his death in 1993, he lived in Wiltshire, England, where he steered clear of organized structures of society.  He belonged to no organized church, though he viewed himself as a religious person.  His purpose as a writer was to “get people to understand their own humanity, in order that we may be able to deal with the true nature of our inner selves.”

6. LOTF is an Allegory  Definition:  A story with more than one level of meaning:  literal meaning  one or more symbolic meanings  Characters become symbols of abstract ideas.

7. Historical Connections  This novel was written right after World War II, so look for similarities with characters and events.  The title of the novel Lord of the Flies comes from the Greek word Beelzebub which means the devil.

8. Themes of the Novel  Man is inherently evil.  Man is insensitive to others, their feelings, and their welfare.  Most people live in a fantasy world that is set against reality.  In life, there is always an inevitable loss of innocence.  Man’s inhumanity to man is constant.  Humanity always seeks to destroy nature.

9. Symbolism in the Novel The conch shell Law and order, civilization The Lord of the Flies The devil, man’s inherent evil fire Hope, hope of rescue, it divides civilization from savagery Piggy’s glasses Man’s ability to perceive and to think, it separates man from the animal world, technology

10. Characters as Symbols  Ralph: common sense, responsibility, and order  Jack: irresponsible authority, the animalistic element in man, yet the “man of action”  Roger: Jack’s henchman and the sociopath in society  Piggy: ineffective intellectual in society  Simon: Christ-figure who tries to bring salvation to his world