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Summary Lord of the Flies
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Lord of the fliesWilliam Golding
William Golding was born in 1911. He went to oxford and became a
teacher. This could have lead to the choice of settling teens on an island.
In times of WWII William Golding was a navy officer witnessing cruelty
and the nature of men. The violence in WWII led to him writing this
book, questioning what the true nature of humankind is and how they
react when there are no rules. This novel was also written in the shadowy
history of British colonialism. This era was marked by enormous
territorial expanses and the exploitation of resources and landscape. This
can be seen in the novel as the island-bound boys seek to dominate and
the island and each other. According to Golding, the catastrophe in WWII
could as easily have happened in Britain or another country. In a
interview he told: “Nazi germany was a particular kind of boil which burst
in 1939. That was only the same kind of inflamed spot we all of us suffer
from, and so I took English boys and said, ‘look. This could be you’”.
Golding thinks savagery is in the nature of humankind and that can be
seen in his novel.
Title explanation
Lord of the flies refers to Beelzebub. In the New Testament Beelzebub is
the prince of demons and can be seen as the devil. When the boys on the
island grow dirtier and become more savage-like, they search something
to warship. When Jack and his followers kill a boar, they leave the head
impaled on a pike. This is an offer to the beast. When the head starts
rotting, it becomes covered with flies. Later on in the book, the head will
be referred to as the lord of the flies, which serves as a symbol of the
savagery of Jack and his hunters.
Characters
Ralph: Ralph is the protagonist of the novel. He is one of the older boys
and his confidence and looks make him a natural leader. He is the one
that finds the conch, what will be the symbol of democracy. While
blowing on it he summons the others and inspires them to elect him as
the chief. Ralph becomes the symbol of civilization and a democratic
government. Ralph displays some moments of savagery, but he refuses to
give himself over to savagery. Only when he is hunted, he priories
survival over civility.
Jack: Unlike Ralph, Jack is described as tall, thin and ugly. Jack is the
antagonist of the novel. He is the leader of the church choir and tries to
be elected. When Ralph is elected Jack is very jealous. In response Ralph
makes him head of the hunters. While Jack loses sight on the goal of
being rescued because he is obsessed with hunting, he is challenged by
Ralph due his priorities. Jack tries to get support by creating fear for the
beast and tries to get elected. When he fails, because Ralph gets elected
again, he runs away and forms his own tribe. Jack represents savagery
and chaos, which leads to him in being a ruthless tyrant. He also paints
, his face to become a fearless hunter, what he wants to be. Jack is
furthermore very good in making people become scared, which he uses to
get followers.
Piggy: Piggy is a overweight boy, with no good looks, and his is
asthmatic. This leads to the fact that he is the prime target of jokes.
Besides that Piggy is very intellectual, is never tempted to savagery and
insists on the need of rules. Because Piggy can’t hunt, or explore, due his
asthma and physic, he thinks a lot and becomes a close friend and
eventually the advisor of Ralph. Piggy represents adulthood.
Simon: Simon is one of the younger boys of the bigguns. He begins as
one of the choirs boys, but does not join Ralphs hunter team. He is mostly
concerned about the Littluns, helping them. He is also the one eventually
talking to the lord of the flies. Furthermore he is often described as a
Christ-like figure because of his love of nature and his skill of predicting
the future. He also is the one who finds out the beast is inside everyone.
He also don’t need to be told what is right and wrong. His overall
goodness is placed in opposition to the might of the lord of the flies.
Sam and Eric: Sam and Eric are twins. They are normally appointed to
tend the signal fire. They are also the ones who will mistake the dead
parachutist for the beast. They are the only bigguns aside from Piggy and
Simon who remain loyal to Ralph. Together they symbolize social unity.
Roger: Roger becomes very cruel very fast. To showcase his sadism, he
drives a sharpened stick in a pig’s anus. Roger becomes Jacks second-in-
command and becomes his executioner.
Bigguns: The older schoolboys.
Littluns: The younger schoolboys.
Plot
Exposition: In the exposition a group of English school boys crash with a
plane on a inhabited island. When the boys swim to the coast they find a
conch shell. Ralph blows on the conch. In reaction the boys come to him.
Conflict: Because the boys on the island are free from any rules that
adult society brung, there is an enormous struggle with the conflicting
human instinct. Some of them work towards civilization and order, while
the others are descended into savagery, violence and chaos.
Rising action: In the rising action the boys assemble at the beach to
elect a chief. In this election Ralph is chosen as the chief. Jack, who
wanted to be chief too is furious. As a response Jack is chosen as the
leader of the hunters. While exploring the island tension grows between
Jack, who seems to be obsessed with hunting, and Ralph, who thinks
building shelters and maintaining the signal fire is more important.
Furthermore there are rumours that there is a some kind of beast on the
island. Jack uses the fear for the beast to get more followers. When Ralph
speaks with Jack about his priorities, Jack wants a new election. Again he
loses this. Jack runs away and starts a new camp, led by him. They give
themselves over to savagery and cruelty.
Climax: In the climax Simon encounters the lord of the flies, the pig
head. He speaks with him. At this moment he realizes that the beast is
not a physical entity but something that exists in each boy. When Simon
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