Lord of the Flies William Golding: Biography

Novel Lectures Year: 2019-2020

Prepared by: Forth Stage

Assist teacher Taghreed Saleem Lord of the Flies William Golding: Biography

1. William Golding was born on September 10.1911 in Saint Columb Minor, England. His mother, Mildred, was an active Suffragette who fought for women's right to vote. His father, Alex worked as a schoolmaster.

2. William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School. When William was just 12 year old, he attempted, unsuccessfully to write a novel.

3. After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His father hoped he would become a scientist, but William opted to study English literature instead.

4. In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry entitled Poems. The collection was largely overlooked by critics.

5. After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. Eventually, he decided to follow in his father's footstep.

6. In 1935 Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. Golding's experience teaching unruly young boys would later serves as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies.

7. Golding joined the Royal Navy and fought in the world war II. While in the Royal Navy, Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea.

8. Like his teaching experience, Golding's participation in the war would prove to be fruitful material for his fiction. In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing.

9. On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Cornwall, after Golding died; his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.

10. Among the most successful novels of Golding's writing career were Rites of Passage (winner of the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize), Pincher Martin, Free Fall and The Pyramid. While Golding was mainly a novelist, his body of work also includes poetry, plays, essays, and short stories.

Lord of the Flies: Introduction

In 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. Lord of the Flies explored the savage side of human nature as the boys, let loose from the constraints of society, brutally turned against one another in the face of an imagined enemy. Riddled with symbolism, the book set the tone for Golding's future work, in which he continued to examine man's internal struggle between good and evil. Since its publication, the novel has been widely regarded as a classic, worthy of in- depth analysis and discussion in classrooms around the world.

In 1963, the year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel. Two decades later, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for literature. In 1988 he knighted by England's Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1990 a new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released, bringing the book to the attention of a new generation of readers.

Lord of the Flies: Summary

William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island. They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a 'civilizing' impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal. In the context of the novel, the tale of the boys' descent into chaos suggests that human nature is fundamentally savage. Two boys, Ralph and Piggy, meet near a lagoon, and Ralph finds a conch shell while swimming. At the urging of Piggy, Ralph blows into the conch, summoning the other boys. Once everyone is assembled, they decide to hold an election. Ralph becomes chief due to his age, charisma, and role as the blowers of the conch. Jack Merridew, who also sought leadership, is appointed to turn his group of choir boys- such as Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon- perform the majority of the work, whereas the younger boys "littluns" prefer to play. The tittluns also become afraid of a "beast" which the older boys dismiss as the product of nightmares.

After exploring the island, Ralph decides that the boys should try to build a fire in order to signal passing ships. The first attempt ends in disaster. The fire, lit using Piggy's glasses, burns out of control and destroys a large part of the island, and a littlun goes missing in the blaze. After Piggy scolds them for their recklessness, the boys learn from this

3 mistake, and Jack's hunters agree to maintain the signal fire. However, Jack becomes increasingly obsessed with hunting, to the point of donning face paint, neglecting the fire, and squandering a potential rescue in favor of killing a pig. Ralph and piggy scold Jack, who proceeds to hit Piggy, breaking one of the lenses of his glasses. Ralph calls an assembly in order to further scold the hunters, but Jack uses the hunters, but Jack uses the younger boys' fear of the "beast" to garner support for his cause.

One night, while the boys are sleeping, the corpse of a parachutist lands on the mountain where the boys make their signal fire. Samneric mistake the corpse of the parachutist for the beast. Ralph, Jack, and Roger search for the beast and investigate a new part of the island, with Jack noting its potential as a fortress. They climb the mountain and find the corpse of parachutist, but they all flee in terror, believing it to be the littlun's beast. At the next meeting, Jack attempts to stage a coup, calling out Ralph's cowardice while confronting the alleged beast. However, the boys refuses to vote Ralph out of office, so Jack, in tear, leaves the group. Shortly after leaving, he convinces his hunters to leave Ralph's group.

The novel ends with naval officers arriving on the island. The one that spies Ralph and the savages who chase him, at first sees the boys as dirty children involved in fun and games. When he learns from Ralph what has happened on the island, he is amazed that the civilized British children could sink to such a low level of humanity. Ralph and the boys listening to his scolding and break into tears that quickly become sobs. They are crying over the horror of their experience and relief over returning to civilization. As the boys weep, the naval officer simply looks out to sea to allow them to regain their composure. The ending is abrupt, appearing almost contrived.

The naval officer fails to see the significance of the boys' experience. His not realizing what has happened on the island mirrors his own inability to recognize evil within himself and all humankind. When he mentions fun and games, the reader is jerked back to reality. These are children who should be innocent and should be playing games. Instead, they have become the reality in all of us… not that of innocence, but of evil.

It is ironic that the naval officer while appearing civilization and rational society actually represents the evil present in civilization just like the boys themselves. He is a soldier who fights wars, which is certainly civilization at it's worst.

Title of the Novel

Lord of the Flies refers to Beelzebub, another name for the devil who is also called the Lord of Filth and Dung. Throughout the novel, the children grow dirtier and dirtier, an outward reflection of their inner state. As their savagery and evil increases, the seek a symbol, a god to worship. When Jack and his hunters kill a pig, they have their opportunity; they leave the pig's head hang on a stake on a stake as an offering to the beast. The head is soon rotting and covered with flies. The head, referred to as the "Lord of the Flies" then serves as a symbol of the evil and savagery of jack's tribe of hunters. At the end of the novel, Ralph with disgust, knocks the pig's skull to the ground and seizes the stick to use as a spear. He understands the evil that surrounds him in the person of Jack, and he seeks to destroy it. The phrase "lord of the flies" is often associated with the mythological figure of Beelzebub.

The name Beelzebub, from the Hebrew, literally translates to mean "lord of the flies" and this figure is depicted in mythology as a demon in the form of a fly. More specifically, Beelzebub is a name used for "the

5 devil" in some ancient Jewish and Christian texts (and the name is associated with the enemy god, Baal).

Beelzebub or Beel-Zebub /bi:lzibub/ , and in Arabic: Baal adh- Dhubab, is a contemporary name for the devil. In Christian and Biblical sources, Beelzebub is another name for the devil.

The title in Lord of the Flies actually refers to the boar's head idol that Simon envisions, which surrounded by flies. It also metaphorically refers to the rot and decay of society represented by the break-down of the boy's civilization.

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies

Understanding symbolism in Lord of the Flies by William Golding depends on one's appreciation of the novel.

.The top 10 Symbols in Lord of the Flies 1.The Conch: Ralph and Piggy find the conch shortly after landing on the island. It soon becomes the symbol of authority and law and order. The conch is used to call assemblies and only the person holding the conch could speak at the meetings.

Ralph and especially Piggy respected the symbol of the conch until it is smashed to bits by Roger, one of Jack's followers. The destruction of the conch symbolizes the destruction of what little civilization the boys possessed.

2. Piggy's Glasses: the glasses symbolized the ability to see and understand things clearly. Piggy is the only boy, besides Jack, who really sees how things should be done. The cracking of the lens symbolizes the boy losing sight of what they need to do. The glasses are also important in so much as they are needed to start the fire.

3. The Signal Fire: the signal fire symbolizes the boys connection to civilization. The fire, initially, is important in the novel. As the boys grow more savage, the fire becomes less important to them. Jack and the hunters let the fire go out in order to hunt. Ralph's efforts to keep the fire going are consistent but unsuccessful, in the same way his efforts to restore order are unsuccessful.

Golding uses the signal fire also to symbolize hope, something which Jack destroys as the novel progresses. At times the signal fire rages out of control, symbolic of the boys themselves.

4. The Beast: the beast represents the inner savagery of the boys and all mankind. The boys personify it by calling it a giant snake and mistaking a dead parachutist for it. Simon is the only boy who understands that they are all beasts inside.

5. The Lord of the Flies: this is the pig's head that Jack impales on a wooden stake in sacrifice to the beast. In one of the chapters, Simon believes the Lord of the Flies to speak to him explaining the nature of evil. The Lord of the flies is both a physical representation of "the beast", as well as a symbol for Satan himself. "Lord of the Flies" is a literal translation from Hebrew and means Beelzebub.

6. The Dead Parachutist: Piggy looks for a sign from the adult world. He gets it the very same night. Miles above the island, a plane is shot down. A dead man floats onto the island and becomes lodged in rocks and trees. The dead parachutist symbolizes the adult world and its inability to maintain peace. Piggy's desire to learn civilized behavior from adults goes unfulfilled. The dead man also becomes the beast.

7. The Plane Crash: The plane crash symbolizes the breakdown of modern society. The boys leave England to get away from the war and are shot down by the enemy.

8. The Scar: the scar left by the plane crash, symbolizes the damaging encroachment of humans in paradise. The vivid imagery that Golding uses to describe how the scar smashes into the jungle illustrates the affect humans have on the earth and how devastating man can be.

9. The Island: the island symbolizes the Garden of Eden before the arrival of the boys. After the boys arrive it becomes corrupted and destroyed.

10. The Boys: the boys also stand as symbols: Simon represents goodness; Ralph and Piggy symbolizes law and order; Jack and Roger stands for evil; the big kids represents the ruling classes; and the littluns symbolize common folk.