Lord of the Flies. The Events of the novel suggest that Golding had a negative view of Humanity

The Events of the novel suggest that Golding had a negative view of Humanity, How far do you agree? Golding gives us the implication of him having a negative view of Humanity in many different ways such as savagery, fear and conflict. The boys are stranded on an island which has no human existence and we see them reaching their extremities that are caused by the nature and humanity that surrounds them leading us to believe Golding has a negative view of humanity. Golding represents savagery in a harsh way. We see the boys slowly turn away from civilisation and towards savagery and barbarity through many ways, one being humanity. As we know in the book there civilisations vs. savagery, good vs. evil or in other words evil being a negative issue. Also Golding uses fear widely throughout the book. He does this by using the beast which symbolises fear, this gets more terrifying for the boys as it begins to believe it but also makes them even more savagery. This gets us thinking that the way Golding involves fear and savagery together that he has a negative state of mind to come up with this idea. There's a great greed for power going on through the novel. As jack wanting to be chief and losing this opportunity at the beginning it sets off rivalry. It is this that causes Jack to be a dictator and Ralph a pleasant democratic which shows both positive and negative side of humanity

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What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies?

What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies? The author William Golding uses the character of Piggy to relates to certain themes in the novel. He is linked closely with civilisation, time and the conch which itself represents order. As savagery becomes more intense in the novel, Piggy begins to suffer more injustices and eventually loses his life speaking out against it. Piggy is described by Golding as 'short' and very 'fat'. This has earned him the nickname 'Piggy' in his previous school. It's no coincidence that Piggy's nickname is such, it relates to the overwhelming emotion Jack and his hunters feel when they feel the urge to 'kill the pig'. This indirect metaphor suggests that the boys are killing a part of Piggy each time and that their aggression is directed at him. In fact, while Jack and his gang continue to kill more pigs, the logic and reason which Piggy symbolizes progressively diminishes with the pigs. Piggy's appearance alone has made him an outsider, because the other boys look down on him. He has asmtha and doesn't do much physical work on the island. He is not welcomed on their first exploratory trip of the island. "We don't want you," Jack says to Piggy. It is his academic background and his isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from his primitive experiences on the island.

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Effectiveness of death of Simon

The effectiveness of the death of Simon At the beginning of the chapter, Simon realizes that the boys have mistaken the parachutist for the deadly beast that has plunged their entire group into chaos. Adding to his Christ like figure, he frees the parachutist from the rocks, and then, anxious to prove to the group that the beast is not real after all, Simon staggers down the mountain toward the distant light of the fire at Jack's feast to tell the other boys what he has seen. Golding uses the weather throughout the chapter to show the build up of tension on the island and then a release of all the built up tension. He opens the chapter with a sinister description of the odd weather on the island, with the "brassy glare" of the sky where "colours drained" and "nothing prospered". During the climax and the killing of Simon, the weather stimulates the confused frenzy as a streak of lightning is described as a "blue white scar" above the boys and the "dark sky shattered". Simon's death brings about the use of weather again used as a downpour erupts, as though the weather were responding to the boys' actions and because Simon is always very closely connected with nature, so the rain may represent tears - "the clouds opened...poured" Golding uses this thunderstorm as a means of terror and the result is that the fear drives the boys together. In the rain, Ralph asks Jack how

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Lord of the flies: How does Golding Present the Loss of Innocence?

Lord of the flies: How does Golding Present the Loss of Innocence? In Goldings' Lord of the flies, the boys slowly loose their civilisation and become savages as they also loose their innocence as their original sin is revealed represented by the 'beast'. He slowly describes them in ways to show us the change from what we know as good to evil. As Golding unveils the boy's original sin, he slowly begins to refer to the boys as savages and even devils. He writes "...behind the tribe and the anonymous devils' face swarmed across the neck." This is very effective as it indicates to the reader that Golding now I confirming the boys are drenched in Original sin as he labels them 'devils' after they have killed Piggy. The innocence of the boys is lost as two of the boys are killed by other boys on the island. Piggy is killed when Roger releases a very large rock and it plunges him to his death. It says "...Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back...his head opened and stuff came out and turned red." In this quote, Golding uses quite colloquial language to describe Piggys' death. By using the word 'stuff' rather than the distinctive language he used to show us the meaning of Simons' death, the effect of this is that although Piggy was a main character, he did not have a special meaning in this book. At the start of the book were Jack was faced with the challenge of killing a

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Discuss How On The Island, The Boys Return To A State Of Barbarianism

Painted Faces and Long Hair: Decent Boy to Savage In Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are many examples of how all of the boys change from polite, well-mannered boys of civilisation to savages, who rely on their primitive instincts to survive... The book begins with revealing how the boys arrive on the island; the general atmosphere at this point is very upbeat. Ralph and Piggy are the first of the boys to meet, and upon meeting they find a conch, this conch goes on to represent all of the order on the island. He uses this conch to call any other boys that may have landed on the island, thus creating the first assembly. Throughout the book, the boys enjoy the assemblies as they are a time when they are all together and can make decisions about things together. This shows how the boys almost liked the idea of being civilized at the beginning of the book. At the very first assembly the boys agree on how they will have rules. They also follow with the general idea of democracy by voting someone as leader. However, early on as this in the book there are also telltale signs of how savagery will edge its way into the island. When the choir are seen from a distance they are together described as "the creature". When meeting Jack there are also a lot of signs of his savagery, his red hair and his surname (Merridew - Devil) are just a few of them. When Ralph is

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Lord of the flies- english coursework how well does chapter one prepare us for the rest of the novel.

Lord of the Flies coursework (How well does chapter one prepare us for the rest of the novel?) William Golding's novel 'Lord of the Flies' was published in 1954. The novel explores the need for democratic organization, and tackles many themes including evil in mankind, people are inherently evil and the need for political democracy. The novel was inspired by many experiences of Golding's life; William Golding was an English teacher at an all boys school for a few years and in one of his English classes he tried to debate with the boys, it ended very badly with the boys fighting and showing they can not control themselves, this is also very relevant as this would have provided Golding with enough knowledge of schoolboys and their behavior, for this novel to be so realistic. William Golding also served in the Royal Navy and the novel was published during WWII. These past experiences are linked to the themes in which Golding choose to tackle in his novel, for example evil and savagery. Also this novel is said to be very similar to the book 'Coral Island' by R.M Ballantyne. Although Golding takes the character's names and story line, he changes it in many ways as he projects the evil and savagery onto the boys. The opening chapter of LOTF is very effective in introducing the characters, themes and symbols, and in this essay I shall explore how Golding does this. Golding

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Less Obvious Symbols in Lord of the Flies

How does Golding use the less obvious symbols 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 more obvious symbols in the book appear to be the conch shell, which symbolizes order and civilisation, and Piggy's glasses, which symbolize science, intelligence and clear-sightedness. However, there are some symbols that are less obvious but still play a key role in revealing the major themes in the novel. These less obvious symbols are the action and movement of the boys, the shelters and the use of light imagery. The action and movement of the boys tracks their energy and physical ability, and this leads onto understanding their ability to persuade and control others. The shelters are the basis for their civilisation. The light imagery is used not only to describe the way that the light seen, but is symbolic of the very central theme of civilisation versus savagery, or perhaps the more universal good versus evil. The movement and action of the boys, as aforementioned, is important in understanding how physically able the boys are, but it seems as though the more physically able boys gain the control and authority over the weaker and less physically able boys. It is as

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A view to a death - Chapter 9. A view to a death is the chapter in which Simon is killed.

A view to a death A view to a death is the chapter in which Simon is killed. It is symbolic that in the beginning of the chapter, the weather is described by Golding as, "...the air ready to explode... a brassy glare had taken the place of clear daylight... Colours drained from water..." because it is as if all nature is siding with Simon. No real nature or beholder of beauty wants to see the death of Simon or the death of truth, thus each one hides away to create a gloomy day ready to mourn Simon. In fact when Simon is finally murdered, "The water bounded from the mountain-top, tore leaves and branches from the trees, poured like a cold shower over a struggling heap on the sand." The rain grew from its initial spitting and mourned his death aggressively; symbolically avenging his undeserved death. However ironically, it was the same initial rain that invited Jack's tribal dance which led to Simon's death; therefore alternatively, the heavy rain could reflect tears of regret for assisting his murder. Through this, Golding could be implying that humans may have good intentions but sometimes do not realise that their inherent bad may overtake; resulting in deep regret. Simon completes his purpose as he tries to tell the boys about the beast while being ravaged. "Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill." At this point, Simon's character succeeds as the readers

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How is fear presented in Lord of the Flies?

How is fear presented by Golding in Lord of The Flies? Fear is an elemental part of the boys' life, it coexists with them throughout the novel, contorting and evolving at the hands of the boys' imagination. This fear mutates, it grows from being just a singular emotion to a catalyst of events; it lives almost a life of its own upon the island, feeding off the lonely isolation of the boys and giving birth to ever more engulfing notions of the emotion. Ever developing the fear is never suppressed, never 'washed to away from the island', until the cleansing hand of civilization once again takes responsibility of the boys-this being the arrival of the navy ship and 'a uniform'. At first fear is merely the speech of the littlest children, harmless to those who were older and 'mature' enough to give it no heed. Maturity, it would seem, within the novel appears to have a definition that implies that the longer one has been in the bosom of society, educated and disciplined by her, the more mature they are. 'He says the beastie came in the dark' tells us far more than just the first incarnation of fear. The quote gives us the idea of the beastie, incidentally a 'snake-thing' (see Adam and Eve). It introduces to us how the fear of the creature is amplified by the inability to see it, given by inclusion of the word 'dark', This is a running theme, without being able to 'see' the beast

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Why does Golding choose to set his story on an island? Why is the is land important?

Why does Golding decide to set his story on an island? Why is the island important? Golding may have had many motives for making the setting of his novel 'Lord of the Flies' an island. The seclusion of the setting exemplifies how the children have been left to their own devices and the nature of the island highlights the way it is perceived, firstly as a good place before changing. These are both important themes in the novel. Golding chose to set his novel 'Lord of the Flies' on an island as it was a way to exemplify seclusion and being alone. Although the initial reaction of the character Ralph is that "no adults" may have negative connotations, he abruptly becomes aware "of a realized ambition" and feels that no adults may actually be a positive thing. However, as the novel progresses it becomes acutely apparent that the lack of adults may be a negative thing. Although the boys attempt to create a civilised community holding meetings "every day, twice a day" and constructing shelters, the childish nature of the youths overcomes them resulting in a devolution into savagery. Golding focuses mainly on the characters Piggy, Ralph and Jack, who represent between them what most of the other children are like. While Ralph and Piggy cling desperately to civilisation for the duration of the novel, Jack is found to be "hunting" and killing, a very changed character from the "chief

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