Lord of the Flies
"Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story." Argue against this statement. It may look as if Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story. However, there is also a truth concealed deep inside the novel where Golding uses symbolism effectively so that readers are able to become conscious of certain issues. The issues it concerns are: society, human nature, good vs. evil, ecological balance and cooperation. Lord of the Flies reveals a multifaceted story beneath an effortless storyline. In the novel, Golding takes the time to explicate to readers that man and women are who they are because of their childhood, that if they were not brought up well they will grow to be uncivilized. Take this for example Piggy continuously talks about his auntie saying, 'my auntie-'this and 'my auntie-'that, remembering everything that his auntie told him, what was right and what was wrong and understands that,' grown-ups know things.' This shows that without care and guidance that children receive from parents, guardians, or anyone at all, children will regress back to the roots of savagery of their fellow ancestors. Nonetheless, if you look in-depth into the story there is more than meets the eye. Thus claiming that Lord of the Flies is just a children's adventure story is incorrect, the story exposes a more intricate plot. At the beginning, the boys were ordered and
Lord Of The Flies - Ralph Monologue
Lord Of The Flies Ralph Monologue (A boy stood adjacent to a fire on an island, looking resentful) Should never have let this happen. Should never have let this happen. (Ralph shaking his head) Jack's an idiot, bloody idiot. Divide and rule. What does he think he's playing at? Does nobody want to go home? I miss my family. Don't they miss theirs? I just can't understand (sighs). What's wrong with him? It's his fault we're still here on this stupid island. He should have watched the fire like we said, not disappear off into the jungle. Showing off, "I cut the pig's throat." So what. Who cares! We can all do that if we want to, anyone can be a hunter. It's so pointless, he did it on purpose we were nearly there. He did it on purpose, I know he did. (Ralph quietens down momentarily appearing thoughtful) If only Jack had done as he was told we would never missed that ship. Stupid face painting, do that at six not at his bloody age. (Kicks the ground in exasperation, throws his hands around his head grabbing his hair) When we worked as a team, couldn't Jack see the benefits of that. He must have had rules at home. If only they'd obey the rules like they used to. (Reaches for the conch) The conch, obey the conch. That's what we had agreed, obey the conch! (Shaking his head) Piggy should have some ideas but he's lazy and weak. Jack scares him. Jack the bully. Jack
law and order lord of the flies
Law and Order One of the first characters to emerge as a distinct personality is Piggy, who represents law and order. One of Piggy's first inspirations is brought about by the sight of a conch in a pool. When Ralph retrieves the conch, Piggy realizes that: "We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting". Piggy's first instinct is for organization, and the conch which he spots becomes a symbol of the fragile system of order that the boys create. Piggy is critical of the kind of freedom that leads to disorder and chaos. When the boys agree to build a fire on the mountain to send a smoke signal, the first meeting breaks up as everyone rushes towards the mountain. Like the crowd of boys, the fire quickly gets out of control, and one of the younger boys appears to be missing -probably trapped in the burning jungle. Piggy tells the others that they have acted "like a pack of kids!" and asks, "How can you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper?" The only salvation Piggy can envision comes from behaving in an orderly manner. The degree to which he values this vision of order is shown by his reverence for the conch, which he attempts to protect from Jack later on in the book. Even when the majority of the boys have abandoned the original, organized society, Piggy clings to the shell, stubbornly believing that the beauty of order cannot be denied.
What is the importance of Simon in Lord of the Flies
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMON IN LORD OF THE FLIES The character of Simon is featured heavily in the novel, but his personality is quite a mystery to the reader. This essay aims to explore and explain the importance and significance of Simon in the novel, and various viewpoints and connections with him and other characters. Firstly Simon's importance will be considered in relation to the plot of Lord of the Flies. Generally Simon is on the outskirts of the goings on in the novel, such as meetings or when the three boys climb the mountain to find the beast, but occasionally he speaks out, to the sound of much ridicule from the rest of the children. One such occurrence is on page 159 where, after much prompting he manages to say: ' "I think we ought to climb the mountain" ' then a few lines later he whispers: ' "What else is there to do?" '. These apparently irrational ideas are in fact those of a much more intelligent mind and in truth are not as unusual as the boys imply, but on the island he is generally regarded as weird. Up until his death, Simon is often ignored and left to himself in the novel, with only Ralph and Piggy really taking any notice, such as on page 64 only the Ralph and Simon are working on the shelters when Jack appears, and Simon suddenly enters the conversation: ' "They're hopeless. The older ones aren't much better. D'you see? All day I've
Violent Society in Lord of the Flies
Why does the society on the island collapse into violence in 'Lord of the Flies'? 'Lord of the Flies' is an allegorical novel by William Golding in which he employs the scene of a deserted island and the cast of a group of English schoolboys to serve as a framework, through which he explores the themes of his book. The major themes that Golding tackles are the conditioning of behaviour vs. the malicious inclination of human nature and the spectrum of civilisation and savagery. The violence on the island is generated for several reasons, major ones being the loss of conditioning, the transformation from civilised to savage and the conflict between Ralph and Jack. Conditioning is the learning process by which our behaviour becomes dependant on an event or action occurring in our environment. The boys have been constantly conditioned by schoolteachers and parents to follow the conduct of the English society, and not to do wrong or be immoral, as if they were disobedient, they would have been given punishments from authority: in this period, corporal punishment would have been common. The point in the book which clearly demonstrates the conditioning of the boys is when Roger throws stones at Henry in chapter four: 'Roger gathered a handful of stones...a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins.' (page 78). Here, Roger is incapable of throwing the stones directly at
The Beast in Lord of the Flies
The Beast in the Lord of the Flies Patrick Thompson Throughout the book the boys are constantly living in fear of some sort of wild beast which they believe inhabits the jungle. This beast is present among the boys from the very first day when a littlun informs them of a "snake-thing" that lives in the jungle the older boys dismiss this as a nightmare but the littluns are not convinced. Ralph tries to convince the boys that no such beast exists after a young boy has said that the beast comes from the sea and even Simon says their may be a beast undermining Ralph in front of the others which leads to even more fear of the so called beast. When a dead parachutist lands on the island the twins Samneric hear his parachute flapping in the wind they believe it is the beast and rush to tell the others about it at which point Jack suggests they hunt the beast, he is attempting to use their fear to get his own way but this time Ralph's common sense is supported over Jack's savage plans when he asks them "don't you want to be rescued" the boys still listen to common sense for now. Then the older boys go off to explore the area of the island which they have not ventured to yet. This is the area in which the dead airman is suspended in mid air. When the boys finally reach the corpse the wind is strong and as Ralph approaches the airman a gust of wind pushes the corpses
Explore How Evil Is Represented In Macbeth and Lord of the Flies.
"MACBETH" AND "THE LORD OF THE FLIES" EXPLORE HOW EVIL IS REPRESENTED IN "MACBETH" AND "THE LORD OF THE FLIES" ANALYSE THE CHRACTERS RESPONCES TO THIS 'Macbeth' is a play, which was written by William Shakespeare between the reigns of Elizabeth 1 and James 1 in 1606. William Shakespeare had written many plays and poems during his era. Macbeth is one of the most popular amongst his works and is now recognised as a classic. Macbeth is a character in the play that is overcome by evil desires on his way to becoming king. The book explains what happens to Macbeth and how evil causes him to commit such actions, and how he fights to keep his throne as king. 'The Lord of the Flies' is a novel, which is also a classic that had been written by William Golding. It is based during the Second World War, when a group of young boys are fleeing England to safety, but on their way, their plane crashes down onto a deserted island. Miraculously all the Children survive but all the adults had died. The book explores how these children no older than thirteen or fourteen live on the island until rescue arrives. Evil is represented in the novel by the fight for leadership between two rivals, Jack and Ralph, and how the other children live with this. Both the play and the novel have evil themes within them, which is reacted to by the characters. I will be comparing the ways evil is represented
Lord of the flies- what are the main themes within the novel
English coursework (what are the main themes within William Golding's novel 'Lord of the flies') At first glance, 'lord of the flies' is a simple tale of a group of boys stranded on an island. Its not until you really get into the novel and read between the lines that the many different themes begin to emerge. Golding himself regarded it as "a modern fable which can be enjoyed on more complex levels." I believe the themes in the novel are the most important factors when analyzing the novel. Lots of themes emerge in the first few chapters that are very relevant to the rest of novel. The main themes in the novel is civilization v savagery. Also I have identified many other relevant themes for example the need for political democracy, evil in mankind and that people are inherently evil. Golding strongly believed that people were inherently evil and he put this in to his novel very well through the character of Jack-allusion to Hitler and in this essay I will explore the many other themes within the novel. Civilization is the refinement of thought, manners, and taste in society. It has taken thousands of years for people to become civilized. If we were not, there would be much crime, violence, and hatred among people. Civilization is a common practice today, from something as simple as holding the door open for someone, to as complex as the American economy. In Golding's work,
What is the importance of Simon in 'Lord of the Flies'
What is the importance of Simon in Lord of the Flies? Write about: - The importance of the part Simon plays in the plot - How Simon is different from the other boy's - What Simon might represent - The ways the writer uses Simon to convey his ideas. 'Then one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up.' Even at this point, the very first mention of Simon in The Lord of the Flies, Simon is marked out as something different. Throughout the book, he is the outsider. Inhabiting the 'dubious region' between biguns and littluns - he is singled out for his faints, as Jack says, 'In Gib.; and Addis; and at matins over the precentor,' and, like Piggy, is often the subject of group ridicule. For example, when on page 92 he admits to being out at night, his mumbled excuses are put down with Jack's dismissive 'he was taken short' - and he is crushed by 'the derisive laughter that rose.' He also seeks solitude, not companionship - but somehow is never afraid, unlike the other boys - who are all afraid at one time or another. In due course, as the story progresses, he seems to become even more of a social recluse - even Ralph, who Simon generally seems to support, confides to Jack that 'He's queer. He's funny.' And this is without the one important, most drastic difference between Simon and the others - which only the reader finds out about - Simon's
How does William Golding show evil at work in Lord of the Flies?
How does William Golding show evil at work in 'Lord of the Flies'? In the novel, Golding concentrates a lot on the subject of evil and how the children are evil on the island. I believe that he does this to show how humans can have evil within them, and how it can be brought out in certain situations. I also believe that he has focused on evil a lot in the novel as he has entitled the novel 'lord of the flies' which is the means 'Beelzebub' which is commonly used as a word to describe the devil. In the beginning, Golding immediately brings in the subject of evil as early as when the 'party of boys', known as the choir joined the group of children, they were wearing 'long black cloaks' when everyone else had taken there clothes off because of the heat, they were described as a 'creature', a 'shadow' and that they looked like 'darkness'. I believe Golding has used this sense of black to suggest that they are evil. Another thing that I believe that Golding has used in the novel to show how some humans are evil is that Jack took an instant dislike towards Piggy as Piggy was 'intimidated by this uniformed superiority', before he knew anything about him and then went on to bully him throughout the rest of the novel. Jack constantly called him 'fatty' until he found out about the name Piggy and made everyone laugh at him. Piggy was always an outsider after that incident. I
