Summary English GCSE Grade 9 - quotes & analysis on the setting of Lord of the Flies
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
Grade 9 English Literature (AQA) GCSE table with two pages of quotes and in depth analysis on the setting of Lord of the Flies. Includes AO3 context and generic essay intro/conclusion. Can be used for revision and to help with essay writing.
Generic intro: Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is a dystopian novel that takes place on
an uninhabited, tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, during a fictional worldwide war in the
late 1950's. Even though the novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human evil is
partly based on Golding's violent, real-life experience in the navy in World War II. In the
novel, a group of young boys arrive on the island when an airplane evacuating them
crashes. Free from the rules and structures of civilization and society, the boys descend into
savagery. The island therefore is a microcosm and arguably a political and religious allegory,
a metaphor for the workings of adult and human society; reflected by how everything in the
novel represents something or someone from Golding's world, such as behaviours of boys
and teachers from the boy’s Public school he taught at, politics, the government and
democracy, British civilisation and supremacy. The novel, alongside challenging these ideas,
responded as a parody to the 19th century book: The Coral Island by R.M Ballantyne. This
employs a similar plot, although the boys behave sensibly and as admirably as adults would,
unlike in Lord of the Flies, which uses shocking, violent events to present ideas about human
nature.
Quote Analysis
Setting
“Sun gazed down like an angry eye” The verbs and simile suggest the sun is
a weapon attacking the boys and they
“Heat seemed to increase till it became a are slowly suffering under the heat
threatening weight and the lagoon attacked which they cannot escape from. As the
them” / “the heat – as though the heat builds, then the storm at Simon’s
impending sun’s height gave it momentum death marking the turning point into
became a blow that they ducked” violence. The pathetic fallacy and
semantic field symbolise the boy’s
temptation of evil.
“No houses, no smoke, no footprints, no They’re away from all civilization and
boats, no people… no other people on it” free from rules so they can decide how
to live and treat each other. The
repetition creates the idea of a blank
canvas to show how the boys really
behave, no society or government can
be blamed for their behaviour.
"Long scar smashed into the jungle" The boys' crash-landing left a scar on
the island. The imagery of a flesh
wound, symbolises the destructive
nature of humanity and serves as a
warning of man's innate capability to
destroy. Also divide foreshadows the
clash on the island e.g good vs evil,
democracy vs dictatorship.
“On two sides was the beach; behind, the Diverse location represents different
lagoon; in front, the darkness of the island” characteristics of the boys. It possesses
two natures: a civilized, kinder side, and
“jungle”, “forest”, “mountain” an unknown, feared, savage side. The
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