In Oliver Twist Dickens Uses Environment to Reflect Feelings, In The Lord of The Flies, Golding Uses it to Form Them. Discuss.

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Tom Harrison 5D

In Oliver Twist Dickens Uses Environment to Reflect Feelings, In The Lord of The Flies, Golding Uses it to Form Them. Discuss.

In each of the books, there are instances that contradict the title statement, but on the whole the books seem to follow the pattern set in the title. Historical context, language and point of view all express the ideas behind the stories. When Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, he wanted to exemplify the corruption of a civilized world. When Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, he intended to show the true “darkness of man’s heart.”

Having been a schoolmaster with first hand experience with boys, Golding knew how evil they could become. In the post-war era, after the atrocities of the Nazis, people were very much aware of what cruelty the human personality was capable.  In his book, Golding wanted to show that society is judged by its weakest members, or in this case, a society’s goodness.

Oliver Twist was written early in the nineteenth century, at a time when children were usurped, maltreated and trapped into a life of crime. As the son of a pauper, Dickens himself was exposed to poor treatment, and his intentions were to show people the reality of the society they lived in, but also his hopes that they could redeem themselves. He wanted to show, “In Oliver, the principle of good surviving through every adverse circumstance, and triumphing at last.”

        In many ways, the books seem to come together. They both identify the root of evil at society’s heart. Both authors use character and environment to show this, and both books have a character representing evil and good. In Lord of the Flies, Simon represents the wholly good part of the group. Much like Oliver, he is victimised and bullied at the hands of the assembly, because his sense of right will not let him follow them.

        When Simon disagrees with the crowd on the subject of the beast, the rest of the gathering interrupts him. Golding uses the small phrase, “The storm broke” to show, in a metaphorical and literal sense, that Simon’s words are drowned out by the noise of the group.

“Simon’s effort fell about him in ruins, the laughter beat cruelly at him…”

This gives the impression that Simon feels compelled to disagree with the evil, which is the basis of his world, but is beaten down by what he cannot contend with. This excerpt demonstrates that the good part of the assembly cannot be reached, because it is too difficult to go against the evil, which is so easy to get caught up in. The environment affects Simon because he is dragged along against his will, with things going out of control. This results in his death. Conversely, he creates a niche in the undergrowth, which Golding describes as ‘Simon’s Cathedral,’ which is a place of sanctity where he can escape the evil. Here, he is changing his environment. Golding has made Simon virtually the only one who manages to escape from the atmosphere, and form it to suit his own needs, which shows a quality of good that is demonstrated only by him.

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        Oliver escapes in a similar manner.

        “He [Oliver] only cried bitterly all day; and when the long, dismal night came on, spread his little hands before his eyes to shut out the darkness, and crouching in the corner, tried to sleep.” This gives the impression of the inescapable evil that surrounds Oliver, which tries to get into his wholly good spirit, and corrupt it. Dickens uses the language to personify the darkness as a creature, that tries to penetrate the cracks in Oliver’s defences – represented by his fingers.

        Dickens has made Oliver a character that contradicts the title statement. ...

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