The Lord Of The Flies By William Golding Essays -

The Lord of the Flies By William Golding The Lord of the Flies By William Golding 1. The Author and His Times William Gerald Golding was born on September 19, 1911 in Cornwall England. His father was a schoolmaster and his mother was a suffragette. His parents had wanted him to study science, so he did from grammar school until the second year of college. After his second year of college, he abandoned the study of science in favor of English literature. He wrote poetry and worked in amateur theater for a while before becoming a teacher where he was at the beginning of World War II. At the start of World War II, he entered the Royal navy and served with distinction on mine sweepers, destroyers, and rocket launchers. He believed that the horrors of World War II can be based on some innate evil which he explores in Lord of the Flies. After the war, he returned to teaching and writing, although had little success getting published. He was able to get Lord of the Flies published and it experienced great success. 2. Form, Structure, and Plot The Lord of the Flies contains twelve titled chapters. The plot is simple and rarely splits into more than one plot lines, although it does sometimes. Occasionally, the story separates from the general group and follows one child. For example, the story followed the first of Jack's hunts into the jungle, and also Simon's wanderings to be alone. One of the techniques he uses in organizing plot is foreshadow. Through the use and manipulation of many symbols, he gives the reader and idea of what is to come foreshadowing future events. 2.5 Outline of Events Exposition - The exposition is basically all of chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2. The characters are introduced and so is the problem. The readers learn that because of the war, the children was taken to be transported someplace by plane when the place was attacked and crashed on the island. Ralph is made the leader of the entire group and Jack is made the leader of the hunting party. Piggy tries to maintain order. This takes the period of 1 day. Rising action - The rising action starts in the middle of chapter 2 where the boys attempt to make a signal fire but it rages out of control. One of the boys are lost. After this, order is slowly lost and chaos slowly takes its place. Climax / Crises - The climax occurs when order is completely lost, the conch is crush, and Piggy is killed. Jack takes over the group. Falling action - The falling action is the brief period between the time where Jack takes over and the officer arrives. We see the innate evil within the boys which is a reflection of the evil within the entire mankind. Resolution - The jungle catches fire and a naval ship spots the smoke. An officer comes ashore just as Ralph is being hunted by the other boys and all are rescued and taken back into society. 3. Point of View Golding write the novel in the third person perspective. There is one omniscient narrator. Although the book generally follows Ralph, it occasionally breaks off and follows another character for a time. This entire book is autobiographical in that it tells us something the author wants to show us. Golding tries to teach us and warn us of the evil nature of mankind. He says through the book that we are evil and that it is only society that keeps us from committing crimes. 4. Character Golding's characters have a depth and are believable for the somewhat unbelievable situation they are put in. Each character has his own fully developed personality. He does this while maintaining a certain symbolism in the characters. Each characters, while being their own person, symbolizes some idea, but not to the point where the characters are flat. Ralph - Ralph is 12 and one of the older boys on the island. He is the leader throughout most of the book being determined, rational, and understanding. He is dressed as in a typical school uniform, but not as the choir boys. He tries to understand the problem and the people on the island trying to give rational solutions. However, psychologically, he loses faith in the boys and decides that he has little hope to restore order into the island. His purpose is to show the reader through his eyes the degradation of the society on the island, and thereby show the innate evil within man. "This expresses his understanding and caring side." Jack - Jack is also one