Back when I was studying for my O level English Literature examination, in the mid 1960s, Lord of the Flies was required reading. Our English teacher, the unforgettable Mr Gough, got us all enthused about reading it, and I will never forget that experience. This was never just an average adventure book for kids, which the overall story-line might have suggested, in as much as a plane crash on an uninhabited island leaves a group of reckless school boys to fend for themselves. Once you begin to read this engrossing, if relatively short novel , what ensues might just send shivers down your spine. It is easy to suppose that a group of young men with such freedom would have a whale of a time, but it soon becomes apparent that without some kind …show more content…
His motley grew are constantly picking fault with Ralph's decisions, and bullying his best friend, the glasses-wearing, overweight Piggy who is a real wimp. Jack has a burning desire to take control, and it does not take long for the situation on the island to become very unpleasant. The author manages superbly well to gradually ramp up the tension, and you begin to appreciate, as this ever more unsettling tale unfolds, that at the heart of the story is not the rivalry between the two opposing camps, but the steep learning curve upon which all the boys have had embark. The brilliance of the writing is that it shows Jack and followers as horrific visions of what true evil is, as the innocence of childhood is stripped away, to be substituted with instincts that far more primitive. There are scenarios described that leave the reader questioning the sanity of the whole concept, but putting the book down is simply not an option, as William Golding skilfully weaves his incredible fiction web. By the time you reach the end, you feel as if you have seen the entire lives of the main characters laid out for you, yet in truth it was but a few months in
Lord Of The Flies is possibly one of the most complex novels of the twentieth century. This complexity and depth is evident when the characters are compared to the psychological teachings of Freud. The book shows examples of this psyche in the characters Jack, Piggy and Ralph and how they change during their time on the island.
Jack is the leader of the boys choir group in civilization and he is the complete opposite of Ralph. Jack wants to be leader and won’t let anyone stand in his way he rules through fear and shows signs of militarism and dictatorship. He is cruel, sadistic and preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs to help the rest signal for help. His sadism only gets worse throughout the novel, and eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack pretends to show an interest in the rules of order on the island, but he views the differently because they only allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents greed, savage and the anarchic aspects of man.
William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies is a novel based on a group of schoolboys that were flying on a plane to escape World War II and were shot down. They were shot down over a deserted tropical island in Britain. The boys suffered a large fire that burned the island, little food, and a boy that is out to kill everyone by the end of the book.
In viewing the aspects of the island society, the author William Golding's Lord of the Flies as a symbolic microcosm of society. He chooses to set the children alone in an unsupervised world, leaving them to learn ' the ways of the world' in a natural setting first hand. Many different perspectives can also be considered. Golding's island of marooned youngsters becomes a microcosm. The island represents the individual human and the various characters represent the elements of the human psyche.
The author, William Golding uses the main characters of Ralph, Jack, and Simon in The Lord of the Flies to portray how their desire for leadership, combined with lack of compromise leads to the fall of their society. This desire for leadership and compromise led to the fall of their society just like multiple countries during times of wars.
The classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exciting adventure deep into the nether regions of the mind. The part of the brain that is suppressed by the mundane tasks of modern society. It is a struggle between Ralph and Jack, the boys and the Beast, good and evil.
Humans are inherently evil in nature and without law will unknowingly let this vile aspect of their own person be revealed. The depravity of actions in humans is expressed in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, by a group of English boys that are stranded on an island, and disconnected from society. The fear from violation of laws that holds people to their morals and rationality in their society vanishes, and a growth of savagery is present in all the boys. Savagery, an element innate to humanity, can only be repressed by the laws of society; the lack of regulation removes all inhibition, and therefore, exposes the beast representing evil from within.
Jack 's appearance is not the most attractive, in fact he is "ugly without silliness."(27) This could lead one to believe that Jack could be insecure within himself. Being surrounded by other boys who attain characteristics that he does not adds fuel to his insecurities. For instance Piggy who is the voice of reason and advanced intellectually or Simon who is honest and has wisdom beyond his years. Golding 's characterization of these boys gives readers an understanding as to why Jack may be jealous of them. Jealousy has been known to make people do things they would not normally do. Jack craves power to show superiority over others which makes him feel better about himself. However Jack 's envy and hunger for power ultimately ends in both Simon and Piggy 's demise. The forest fire at the end of the novel results from Jack trying to get rid of Ralph who is the only boy left that Jack is threatened by. Ralph is attractive in appearance and is appointed chief at the beginning of the novel, which are two characteristics Jack is jealous of. The fire is meant to kill Ralph, yet it also damages the island which was destined to be destroyed from the start. The terrifying part of Jack 's behaviour is that he must of learnt it from someone. That someone most likely being a parent or adult figure in his life. Children learn by mirroring behaviours they see, so if Jack learnt his immoral behaviour from "the majesty of adult life" (117) what does that say about the adult world? Perhaps that it is not as majestic as the boys believe it to
The author has made sure to keep the reader informed, while still confused throughout the book. However, despite the ambiguity in the book, nothing has been left unexplained and the reader can wander off to interpret the entire story in several ways. The author has used foreshadowing strikingly, and it has been done so skilfully, that the reader finds himself awestruck with the connections that can be made once the book has been read.
During the novel, the reader becomes increasingly aware of Jack’s dominating and violent tendencies. Specific actions taken are when Jack suggests using one of the younger children as a substitute pig, ties up Wilfred, and hunts Ralph. Things begin to get out of hand when the group’s game turns into a cruel beating. Not long afterwards, Jack suggests that the group
It has come to my attention that the book I read, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has appeared on a number of banned book lists in schools and libraries across the country. Many have also tried to challenge this book, for a number of varying reasons. In this essay, I will talk about what the novel represents, where and why this American classic has been shot down in many schools across the country, and why I believe we should change that.
William Golding’s book, The Lord of the Flies is a wonderful, fictional book about the struggle and survival of a group of boys trapped on an uninhabited island. This book kept me very interested and made me want to keep reading. The characters were very diverse and each had very appealing qualities in themselves. The setting is brilliantly described and the plot is surprisingly very well thought out. Many things like these make this book such a classic.
... cooperation. The civilization starts to deteriorate as distrust propagates, mainly between Ralph and Jack, the need to survive develops, and tribal alliances finally occur. The novel stresses the worries one may have regarding the fall of a structured society from children’s points of view – the point of view of innocence. Lord of the Flies is a very descriptive and monumental book that has been studied and treasured for decades, since it is an extremely convincing story regarding the breaking of civilization, and will linger as one of the most treasured novels for a myriad of years to come.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel and portrays just how the society surrounding us can corrupt our once pure nature No one is born a killer, no one is born with an intense compulsion to kill, the island that the boys are stranded on has a very unusual, corrupting society; A society that erodes the boys innocence through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph, readers see the transfer from innocent to savagely through the hunting and Piggy’s death.
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Great Britain: Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire, 1954. Text.