The Lord of the Flies
Pre-reading Lecture Notes
About William Golding
•
_________ novelist
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Born on September 19, 1911, died 1993
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Studied Science and English at Oxford
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Fought in Royal Navy during__________
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Participated in invasion of Normandy on D-Day
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At war’s end, returned to teaching and writing
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Earned the_________ in Literature
The World Golding Knew
Events of WWII
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1939- Britain joined France in war against Nazi
Germany
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1940- Fall of France
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1940- Fascist Italy joins the Axis with Germany
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1941- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor causing
USA to declare war on Japan and enter the
war
•
1944- D-Day Normandy Landings
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1945- Bombing of Dresden
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1945- European victory celebrated
•
1945- Atomic Bomb dropped in Hiroshima
immediately killing 60-80,000 people (final
death toll 135,000 people)
•
WWII _________
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The fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940
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Britain feared an invasion and
____________________________________
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1940- A German U-Boat torpedoed a British ship carrying children, killing the boys, thus
suspending the oversees evacuation program
Inspiration
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Golding once allowed his class of boys
__________________________ in a debate, but had to
intervene as mayhem soon broke out
•
____________________________________
•
Critical response to _________________________by
R.M. Ballanytyne
Philosophical questions about human nature
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John ____________________________________
“It was simply what seemed
sensible for me to write after
the war when everyone was
thanking God they weren’t
Nazis. I’d seen enough to
realize that every single one
of us could be Nazis.”
--William Golding
–
English Philosopher: 1588- 1679
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Man is by nature _______________________
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Man constantly at war with other men
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Fear of violent death is ____________________________________
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Men need to be controlled by absolute sovereignty to avoid _________________
Facts about the novel
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Rejected __________ times before it was published
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It was his first novel- published in 1954 / Not successful until the early 1960‘s
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On the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books
of 1990-2000.
Story Synopsis
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Set in mid __________when Europe was ____________________
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A plane carrying British school boys is mistaken for a military craft and __________
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Only the boys survive the crash and try ____________________
Golding’s Message
As a child, Golding had witnessed __________, which was referred to as “the war to end all
wars” HOWEVER, 22 years later Britain was again involved in ANOTHER WAR to end all
wars, which caused more devastation than was imaginable Through LOTF, Golding is making
the statement that we cannot escape our ______________________________
Multiple Themes:
•
_____________
•
_____________
“The theme is an attempt to trace
the defects of ______________
•
_____________
to the defects of ___________.”
•
_____________
-William Golding
•
_____________
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Duality of man
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Nature Vs. Nurture
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Good Vs. Evil
Allusions:
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Use of the names Ralph and Jack as the main characters from _____________
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Simon from the Bible “Simon called Peter”, Peter was the other boy’s name in The Coral
Island
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Mention of Coral Island and Treasure
Island
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Numerous biblical allusions throughout
Terms to Remember:
The Title
“__________________” a Hebrew word for
_________________________
However, the literal translation of “Beelzebub”
into English is ________________________
•
________________________ = A small
world that represents the world at large
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________________________ = Eden like,
paradise like, a setting that has not yet been spoiled by man
Summary of the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden:
Literary Techniques
and
Character List
Golding’s Literary Technique:
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Irony
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Abundant imagery and sensory detail
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Figurative Language (Simile Metaphor Personification)
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Heavy use of symbolism:
_____________________ = The last surviving evidence of the lawful, structured world
_____________________= New democracy on the island
_____________________ = Evil…reference to the serpent in the garden of Eden
_____________________ = The imaginary evil projected onto the island by the boys’ paranoia
_____________________ = Pig’s head on a stick / the physical acceptance of evil on island
Character List:
1. Ralph
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Main character described as ________________ having
“broad shoulders…[like a] boxer’s,” and has a face that
“proclaims no devil”
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Committed to _____________________________
2. Piggy
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Described as “fat,” “intellectual,” asthmatic, and needs
glasses
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Represents
__________________________________________
3. Jack
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Described as having_______________, wears black with a snake clasp, ugly
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___________________________________
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Represents our savage instincts played out
4. Simon
5.
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Described as a skinny, vivid little boy, who _________________
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He faints, which some cultures have believed is a sign of connecting
__________________________________________Seems to be connected with
nature, and he has an innate, spiritual goodness
Roger
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Silent and ________________;
seen when he targets the “littluns”
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The only one to___________________________
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Kills without conscience
6. Sam and Eric (Samneric)
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Twins
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Represent the ___________________________
7. “Littluns”
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The__________________________
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Representesent the common folk, who easily follow the lead of others into
savagery when there is no enforced structure in society