Discuss the pessimism that Golding and Garland present in the novels Lord of the Flies and The Beach. Show how both writers have a pessimistic attitude to human nature.

Nicole Ryan

Lord of the Flies was written in 1954, a time when commercialisation was not an issue and media hype only had subtle effects on society. The Beach was written in 1996, American globalisation had begun and the media played a massive part in society. The different times affect the novels in different ways. For example the technological jargon language used in The Beach is very different to the Standard English used in Lord of the Flies.

Both novels are similar in some ways yet different in others, although either way they always have hints of pessimism. One of the ways the novels are different is genre. The Beach at first seems to be travel writing, so the reader expects to learn about the journey and culture of the back-packing land of Bangkok, yet the main character Richard travels to an isolated island, where there is a lot of different cultures and races and no one shares the same value systems, traditions, customs or beliefs so the genre seems shift slightly.

With Lord of the Flies it’s apparent at first that Golding may have been influenced by the novels Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and R. M. Ballantyne’s Coral Island. All are castaway’s novels. There is a reference to Coral Island the officer who finds the boys nods “Jolly good show. Like the Coral Island.” Golding wrote in 1954 after the war as a realist answer to The Coral Island. In the 20th century book we find the same two characters, Jack and Ralph both stranded on an uninhabited island without adult supervision. Their reaction to freedom and the unknown is absolutely different from Ballantyne's two young adventurers. Instead of bringing civilization, they create chaos, terror and death. The different reaction Golding’s characters illustrate a novel for the more mature reader as an adventure novel, which confounds the reader’s first expectations.

The most obvious resemblance between the novels is the setting and isolation. Although at first glance the islands seem idyllic, both writers plant seeds of evil, within the description of the paradise so cracks can be seen.

In Lord of the Flies personification is used to describe the ideal setting “palm fronds would whisper,” this creates a sense of calm. Again the image of beauty is shown through the use of a metaphor to describes palm trees, “their green feathers” high in the air. The Beach is very much the same in its setting and description of magnificence “around me were banks of coral, brightly coloured pagodas, melted and sprawling in the hot tropical waters.” The reader really feels the breath-taking surroundings because of the imagery Garland chooses to use. “The cliffs, caught in the low morning sun, the jagged edge of the fissure glowed white against the black granite.” Both descriptions imply that this is the very ideal of paradise yet other descriptions suggest otherwise.

Both writers show a civilisation that is evil, and this flawed setting casts a shadow of doubt in the readers mind as to what will come. Together the novels are described as ‘Eden.’ Eden was God’s creation, his own paradise, yet this in itself became flawed with Eve eating the apple, this is a bad omen in terms of how things will turn out in future.

Early on in the Lord of the Flies when the boys are searching the island and discovering it’s beauty Golding uses words like “wrenched” and “shattered.” This language is not really what ...

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Early on in the Lord of the Flies when the boys are searching the island and discovering it’s beauty Golding uses words like “wrenched” and “shattered.” This language is not really what is expected of a description of paradise, this insinuates that maybe it isn’t such a delightful place.

Nature appears to not want any adventurers on its islands and seems to warn off the characters. The “Skull-like coco-nuts” and birds are described to have “witch like cries” leads the reader to believe that maybe the young boys should respect the island.

In The Beach the “Sand soon turned to jagged rock” which denotes that nature is hostile towards man and is a sign that maybe they aren’t meant to get to where they want to go. “Ivy-chocked space rockets” and “leaves that sliced like razors” convey the image that this is not the paradise they expect.

A recurring theme in both novels is the loss of identity. In Lord of the Flies many of the boys haven’t even been asked their names and are classed as “littleuns.” Also the reader never learns Piggy’s real name, which stresses the loss of individuality. In The Beach Richard explains how from a distance “Neutralized by wet hair and dark skin, each of the six swimmers looked like a carbon copy of the other” again insinuating the loss of identity.

Richard moves to an already constructed society so there is a somewhat more optimistic view of the outcome because the boys of Lord of the Flies have to create a successful community from the beginning and being so you there is a pessimistic outlook of what will happen.

Golding is famous for his pessimistic view of human nature. He believed that all humans were born savages and nurtured by society into what is classed as a humane person. Jack’s description allows the reader to realise his savage personality as he gets angered so easily. “Tall, thin and bony; and his hair was red beneath a black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of his face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.” Jack also wears a black cloak, the reiterative image of black and the bad temperament makes the reader aware he may be apart of the downfall in the novel.

The Beach is highly reflective of ‘normal’ life as it’s an adult world, it has rules and people who want to stick together, although, mimicking life in society means there will be rebellion, this is why we depend on policing. Garland believes that there is an underlying evil in all humans, which is why Sal loses her morals so easily. Lord of the Flies has no actual adults, and so is not reflective of ‘normal’ life. Children live for the moment and do not think things through for example Jack only thinking about food instead of survival. “Hands up” insinuates the school-like tendencies and haven’t yet grown up.

What splits the group is when Richard refuses to help Bugs in a desperate situation. During the course of the food poisoning Bugs is clearly in distress: “No!’ He wailed, then his legs buckled and he slipped backwards.” The destruction from just one spoiled squid insinuates that it wouldn’t take much to devastate the island, especially if people react like Richard, “Look at yourself, who the fuck do you think is going to clean this mess up?”

Many ‘castaway’ novels glamorise the event of being stranded on a beautiful island, both novels conflict this as even though they are on this apparent perfect and picturesque island and seem to be having a wonderful time they all have had to compromise freedom to be there. The characters fail to benefit from constraints of not having adults in Lord of the Flies and not having family or shared customs in The Beach, which isn’t giving the reader an optimistic viewpoint.

In both novels there is a loss of morals and disintegration of the mental state, which leads to the destruction of the societies, all Jack can think of is killing the pigs. He does not realise that this is not the only factor in survival. “the madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill.’” This obsession with killing the pigs allows the reader to relate the pigs to Piggy. When the first pig is killed it seems a part of Piggy dies and so he dies soon after, which doesn’t give the reader an optimistic viewpoint.

The face paint symbolises a mask, which liberates the boys. They become a part of their personality, which has been suppressed in their lawful home of England that Golding believes everyone holds within himself or herself.

It is unrealistic to believe that the characters in The Beach could maintain the lifestyle they are desperately trying to pursue. They are hidden under a “camouflage” of branches “intertwining to form a cavernous ceiling of wood and leaves” because of a fear to be seen from the air. This hiding indicates that they want to distance themselves from reality, although this cannot be completely done as in the future inevitably age which get to them all and they will need prescription drugs or care, which they cannot get on the island.

In The beach the language is very different to that used in Lord of the Flies. This is mainly because of the different times the novels were written in. In 1996 television and games consoles had taken lead to the conversation and family time that was very important in 1954. Richard is clearly obsessed with Vietnam War movies and the technological jargon he uses emphasises this. The constant reference to the media is very noticeable “Boom-Boom” is slang for sex in Vietnam War movies, “FNG” is someone who’s starting their first tour in Vietnam, “Through early morning fog I see” this is the opening line from the theme tune of ‘M*A*S*H’, there is also chapters in the name of sayings used in the Vietnam war films such as “Incoming” called by soldiers when there was missiles or gunfire and “in country” which refers to the soldiers on patrol in the Vietnamese jungle.

Golding has placed an adult on the island in the form of Piggy; a critic claimed he is “the perpetual voice of the adult world”. He is terrified by the idea of having no grown-ups to take charge and tries to cling to civilisation as much as possible. He continually refers to his “auntie” who has brought him up in lawful England and taught him to rely on logic and reason. This is why Piggy is so obsessed with the fire. It represents order, which he relies on so much in society at home. Piggy are the fire are the only symbols of order in the novel and when the fire goes out Piggy can’t cope mentally.

The pessimism shown in terms of Piggy is that he cannot maintain his purpose as the adult on the island as he lacks any social skills. It is obvious Jack doesn’t like him from the moment they meet. “you’re always scared. Yah-fatty!” even when Piggy has the conch he cannot get the respect from Jack. Piggy lacks social skills because he is a different social class to the other public school boys, this is evident through his language. Piggy doesn’t speak in the Standard English that the other boys do. “can’t catch me breath. I was the only boy in our school what had asthma” and “them fruit” demonstrates Piggy’s inability to speak in the proper manner emphasises his lower status in England and on the island.

The dialect in The Beach is a lot more slang than Lord of the Flies, which highlights the different times. Americanisation had set in and is obvious in The Beach “Hey man, it cool,” “no worry” explain how society has evolved even through media as Richard speaks of the “A Team” which is a television programme and a chapter is called “television heaven.” Society has changed from Golding’s time when Standard English was used. The only slang the young boys speak is public school jargon: “Wizzoh!”

Lord of the Flies has a Standard English third person narrator because of this we do not feel or know what any characters are thinking we only know actions of people and so we miss a familiarity and understanding of characters and are unable to build a relationship.

The beach is written in first person narrative and is autobiographical of it’s persona so there is a much more intimate relationship between the reader and Richard. This allows the novel not to be chronological as we can look at Richards’s memories and past experience. The memories Richard thinks allow more characterisation, we learn a lot more about him for example when he thinks back to “a trip to India, seventeen years old, more dope than sense.”

The pessimism throughout both novels suggests that nothing is always as it seems and shows cracks from the very beginning. In Lord of the flies the word devil is mentioned as early as the fifth page, which reflects the characters. Both writers do not suppress their prejudicial feelings toward human nature.