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THE LORD OF THE FLIES William Golding (1911-1993) - Coggle Diagram
THE LORD OF THE FLIES
William Golding (1911-1993)
BIOGRAPHY:
before the World War
he believed in power of civilization to check the evil instincts of man
during the World War
he joined the Royal Navy
after the World War
he was horrified by *what war revealed about people's capacity to harm their fellow humans (THE EVIL IS INHERENT IN HUMAN NATURE, WHATEVER CIVILIZATION MAY HIDE IT)
he was apalled (sconvolto) by:
concentration camps
the way the Japanese mistreated their prisoners
British and American mass bombing against civilians
but WHAT HIMSELF DID AS ANAVAL OFFICER
**he came to believe that man is naturally evil. Society keeps man's evil under control with its laws and istitutions. When man is far from society and in touch with nature, the evil which is in him emerges without restraints (autocontrollo)
THEMES
Things breaking down: everything degenerates, even the language
Violence: it starts as a game but grows more horrific throughout the novel
Relationships: all the friendships and relationships on the island break down (bullying, violence and death) ------ see a Passage to India
The Lord of the Flies: the title of the novel comes form the arabic word for one of the ,manifestations of devil: Baal_Zebub (it means "Lord of the Flies)
Loss of innocence: at first they are well-behaved but they become bloodthirsty and lost the sense of innocence
Man's inherent evil: the main characters are young boys but evil is present also in them, even in small children (example: Jack)
SYMBOLS
Conch
: it represents order and democracy, it loses importance during the novel and at the end it is destroyed (loss of order and civilization)
Beast
: dead parachadutist, snakes, pig's head and noises heard in the night , it represents the primordial desire for violence, power, savagery present in every man
(it can be represented in a religious way or in Freud's view)
Light/ dark
: light represents freedom and innocence, while darkness shows fear and uncertainty; the island is seen as a microcosm of the world and the good side is where there's Ralph, while Castle Rock (where ther's Jack) is the bad part
Glasses
: Piggy's glasses represent intelligence and clear thinking, they are completelhy destroyed when Piggy dies (and Golding wants to represent the further fall of the boys into chaos and darkness)
Fire
: the fire has good and bad uses (it can be destructive as we see in the last part of the novel)
Summary from chapter 1 to 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10 and 11