In ‘Lord of the Flies’, we are introduce to the to mostly the entire large cast that is on the island like Ralph, Jack and Piggy. Dickens’ shows Ralph through mostly his actions like when he “stood on his head and grinned” at Piggy or when he “jerked his stockings”. These actions show he is very adventurous but at the same time is very decent because during that time, pupils were made to pull their stockings up if they fell down in school. Although he is not in School, I think it is an automatic ‘habit’ that Ralph pulls up his stockings. Golding describes Piggy through his speech and dialogue; “All them other kids” This is a good example of why Piggy doesn’t fit in on the island. It shows he is a lower class to everybody else due to his grammatical mistakes in his speeches and conversations. His appearance is probably the first reason why he finds life on the island difficult; “He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat…and then looked up through his spectacles” The glasses and his weight shows him at a disadvantage because he is unable to do anything active when the boys start to play. Also, he has asthma which nearly makes him ‘immobile’ other wise if he does active things, he could start suffering because he would be out of breath or his glasses would break leaving him nearly ‘blind’ for they rest of their stay. Golding puts Jack across to the readers by using his dialogue and appearance. From Jack’s dialogue, it shows that he is very commanding and should have been the natural leader; “Choir! Stand still!” This shows although they are miles away from home, Jack is still able to control his choir. His appearance makes him look quite evil during the beginning of the story. He had “red hair” and wore a black coat with a silver cross on the left breast”. The red hair could show that he had a fiery temper like when he found out there was no “man” on the island; “… frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.” The choir, who were all dressed in black, from a distance they were described as “something dark” and “the creature” The colours used were black and red, which could be linked with evil and anger.
Images and setting are used to make the author’s idea stronger or to think things in their point of view. The ‘Great Expectations’ setting shows its secluded shows it’s secluded, dark and cold; “…and that dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates… was the marshes.” I think Dickens sets the first setting in a dark churchyard because the reader would start to wonder why a small boy is doing in a dark churchyard and would try to find out what happens next. The setting is also made vivid by the way Dickens adds features to the countryside like “beacons” or “batteries” which connect with war and death making the place too dangerous for Pip to be there. There is a dark atmosphere created in the opening because Dickens wants to give the audience an exciting opening, which will interest his audience.
The setting in ‘Lord of the Flies’ is completely different to ‘Great Expectations’. It is set on a tropical island where places like the lagoon show that it is a place, which could be safe for children to swim and play in for example. The island is made into a kind of paradise that could be similar to the Garden of Eden where in the beginning it was perfect but human presence made the Garden worse. Although quotes show the island is a paradise, there is still an element of evil on the island with the “witch-like cry”. The atmosphere in this opening is completely different. I feel that there is a more ‘celebratory’ atmosphere created here because there are no parents to supervise them and they could do anything they want. Also, they are away from any signs of war or conflict with another country because this story was set during the Cold war. Although there are signs when the atmosphere will change like when Ralph becomes the surprise leader when it should have naturally gone to Jack. We are able to sense a bit of Jack’s anger; “… and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification”
Golding shows this is not another adventure story because of differences on the island where Jack, the obvious choice for leader, wasn’t chosen to be the leader but Ralph was. Disagreements could lead from Jack modifying Ralph’s rules and creating his own group or ‘tribe’: the “Hunters”.
Dickens also doesn’t give away the plot but it is possible that Pip will find himself in trouble after stealing the food and the file.
I felt that ‘Lord of the Flies’ has succeeded in persuading me to carry on reading it because of the way it is able to combine good characters with a good setting. I also find that it is able to give the story on two levels, in a literal story level and also a moral level showing us an examination of evil within human nature in the form of the small group of little boys. I also found ‘Great Expectations’ has also succeeded in persuading me to read on because of good characters and vivid descriptions of actions. There is also a slight sense of humour added to the story as well.
