Skye Miller

How Can One Author Be Better Than Another?

Literature allows us to see many various aspects of human nature. Some texts do a better job at getting their message across than others. In both Lord of the Flies and “I Only Came To Use the Phone” the authors are trying to convey that when someone is put into a foreign situation that stirs up fear, they will begin to act unlike themselves. Golding is able to better portray this message through his characters, style, and setting by showing that life or death situations will cause a person to do whatever is necessary to survive.

Innocence is usually associated with children, so Golding made the right decision in not having adults on the island with the boys. “The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns” (Golding 7). The way Golding first describes Piggy allows the reader to see the innocence his character has. “Naked” makes a person think of vulnerable, which ties into innocence. “Plump” brings about images a baby fat and babies are very innocent, so the reader sees that Golding’s characters are in fact innocent. Marquez, on the other hand, used a young adult to get the message across. Since adults are not seen as innocent as kids, he was not very successful. Golding’s characters have not done wrong to anyone else before put into their situation, but Maria, however, has walked out on her husband before, so the reader sees that she is not someone that can be trusted.

Another way Golding uses his characters to his advantage is by having the boys begin to turn on one another due to the underlying panic the beast has planted in the boys. “The circle moved in and round. Robert squealed in mock terror, then in real pain” (Golding 114). Th...

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... husband and from that he is able to visit her without any trouble. The boys on the island, however, have no technology what-so-ever and have no means of communication with the outside world other than a fire on top of the mountain, which is a very barbaric, uncivilized way to get ahold of a ship passing by. By making the boys very separated from civilization, Golding is able to better demonstrate his theme.

Therefore, the use of character action, author’s style, and setting are three crucial ways to establish a strong theme to an audience. When comparing William Golding’s methods in Lord of the Flies to Garcia Marquez’s in “I Only Came To Use the Phone” you see Golding is able to get his message, fear corrupts innocence, across better than Marquez because of his more fitting use of the three vital ways to build a well-founded theme.