Tag Archives: Lord of the Flies

Literature essays

Lots of essays on moodle for you to view. Here is the start of one on Lord of the Flies. You will find the rest on the Year 11 page on moodle.

Describe an important idea you learned about in the text. Explain why this idea was worth learning about.

An important idea in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the idea that evil exists within all men. This idea was worth learning about because it is Golding’s attempt at explaining the atrocities of World War Two, and it helps us to understand the importance of laws and rules in our society.

William Golding experienced firsthand the horrors of World War Two, and Lord of the Flies was written to warn us that ‘what happened in Germany could happen anywhere. It could happen here.’ Golding shows us that evil exists not just in those who commit awful crimes, but in all of us. In his novel, a group of young schoolboys are stuck on an island, without adults, and without rules. At first this is an exciting prospect for them; a world without rules is paradise. But the boys start having nightmares about a strange beast. And very quickly, their behaviour begins to deteriorate. At first, Ralph diplomatically leads the group. But Jack decides to create his own tribe, and by the end of the novel Simon and Piggy have been killed, and Ralph is being hunted.

The relevance of Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies is a timeless piece of work following the central theme of the journey from boyhood to manhood. William Golding described writing his novel as ‘like lamenting the lost childhood of the world’.

Here is how the Marcus Romer the director of a play version of Lord of the Flies described his vision of Golding’s work.

Golding wrote this play in the aftermath of the Second World War. He saw the horrific things that people did to each other when they found themselves in desperate situations. As a writer he had to find a metaphor, the behaviour of young boys, to stand for the behaviour of all mankind. Golding’s dystopian view of things going terribly wrong, is coming true, and we can see for ourselves that extreme situations do bring out extreme reactions. All sorts of atrocities are played out on our screens, from Afghanistan and Iraq, from Hammersmith to Columbine. There’s a number of programmes that have been created in the shadow of Lord of the Flies, from I’m a Celebrity and to all those Castaway type programmes. There was even a reconstruction of a mini Lord of the Flies when a group of children were left alone in a large house. We have a fascination with wanting to see how people react in those situations. Lost is a very similar idea as a piece of TV drama. In this century, since 9/11, we seem to be living between something. We’ve had the start of something and we haven’t had the final chapter. This affects the kind of drama people are writing: things that are apocalyptic and, like Lost, don’t have any end. We are living in an uncharted, unstable world under threat from climate change, food shortages, terrorism and war. In the novel, the cataclysmic event, which the boys believe has happened to the rest of the world, is the atom bomb. Young people today wonder whether there will be a world for them to grow up into. It is easy to see how a group of boys then, just as now, could believe they might be the only people left alive in the world.

“after the war…I had discovered what one man could do to another… [what could be done] skillfully, coldly, by educated men, doctors, lawyers, by men with a tradition of civilisation behind them, to beings of their own kind.”

William Golding in his essay “Fable”

Lord of the Flies Revision

On the William Golding site there are materials for students. I have put an extract below on the character Simon. Go here to read more.

Golding has marked Simon out as different – he’s epileptic and is the one who dramatically faints as the choir wait for orders. He stands out in other ways: look at the description in “The Sound of the Shell”: “The boys round Simon giggled….”

  • Simon has a confidence which enables him to go off on his own
  • He is a reliable helper – “Simon. He helps.”

Look at what Ralph says about him when talking to Jack. Clearly Simon LIKES to go off on his own: look at the passage where he goes in to his secret hiding place in “Huts on the Beach”. Check also the passage where he returns to this place in “Gift for the Darkness”. Remember that he volunteers to cross the island alone with the message for Piggy.

  • Simon has a level of understanding which is almost other-worldly:

“I don’t believe in the beast.” Crucially Simon says “… maybe it’s only us”.

Another important passage in which Simon is shown to have this strange knowledge is the one in which he and Ralph are talking (“Shadows and Tall Trees”), and Simon says “I just think you’ll get back all right.” It is worth looking closely at the conversation that Simon has with The Lord of the Flies at the end of “Gift for the Darkness”. Look at Golding’s use of language here.

  • Simon discovers the simple truth about the monster/ beast; he possesses the detail of its true nature – a casualty from the grown-ups’ war from which the children have been evacuated. As Simon frees the lines of the parachute from the rock, he gains the knowledge which could free all the children from fear.
  • Look again at the death of Simon and think about IRONY. Simon has the crucial, urgent knowledge that he runs to deliver to the others: but he is not allowed to deliver it.

Simon is a fascinating character, then. Golding shows Simon as having knowledge about the beast at two distinct levels (1) it is in us, and (2) it is merely a dead airman whose parachute  is entangled.

Lord of the Flies Essay

Here is an essay question specific to Lord of the Flies. Go here to BBC Bitesize to work through some activities that will help you produce a 5 paragraph essay.

Question

At the start of the novel, we are told:

“Ralph and Jack smiled at each other with shy liking”

Yet by the end, they are mortal enemies. What happens to ruin their friendship?

Samneric

Why are Samneric important? Why did Golding create this double character?

Here are a few ideas:

  • they seem to stand for loyalty
  • they work hard
  • they are keen to keep the fire going
  • they are supporters of Ralph.

They are also used to help the build up of fear. In “Beast from the Air”: “Neither of the boys screamed but ….” And then when they have run back to the shelters, they report back what they have seen. Samneric are the last to change sides, to defect to Jack and the camp of fun. When they do, it is because they are forced to. The twins are a source of information for Ralph:

  • Jack’s plans
  • a stick to be sharpened at both ends

Here is a description of Samnericwhen they first respond to the conch being blown – “The two boys, bullet headed and with hair like tow….”

In “Fire on the Mountain”- “Now the twins, with unsuspected intelligence….”

In “Beast from the Air”, when Samneric are re-kindling the fire and are terrified at the noise of the parachute in the wind.

Their imaginations run wild in their description of the beast – and this confirms the terror, leading to a “real hunt”.

After the killing of Simon, the twins still operate with some sort of conscience. They do not wish to admit to being involved -“Yes. We were very tired,” repeated Sam, “so we left early.”

The twins are helpful, loyal or scared in the novel but there is more to them as:

  • They show understanding of Jack and his followers when they talk of his being painted.
  • They show understanding of what Roger has become: “He’s a terror.”