William Golding

1911-1993

Author BackgroundBorn: Cornwall,

England Fought in Royal

Navy during WWIIWar’s end returned

to writing and teaching

Earned Nobel Prize

The World Golding Knew

• WWII 1939- 1945• Britain feared an invasion and evacuated

children to other countries

Questions About Human Nature

• Golding once allowed his class of boys total freedom in a debate, but had to intervene as mayhem soon broke out

• Critical response to Coral Island by R.M. Ballanytyne-Parodic

• Does man have a sinful nature?

Rejected 21 times before it was published

It was his first novel- published in 1954

Not successful until the early 1960’s

Golding’s Style

Heavy use of symbolism

Irony

Abundant imagery and sensory detail

Figurative Language

Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Golding is a master of all of these stylistic features

Facts About the Novel

• Rejected 21 times before published

• Not successful until the early 1960’s

• On the American Library Assoc. list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.

Whom Do We Think We Are?

“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

Themes in the Novel

• Civilization vs. Savagery

• Loss of Innocence

• Original Sin

• Fear that separates one from God

• Nature of Good and Evil

• Goodness is rare and fleeting

Allusions

• Use of the names Ralph and Jack as the main characters from The Coral Island.

• Simon from the Bible: Simon Peter (called Peter), was the other boy’s name in The Coral Island

• Mention of Coral Island and Treasure Island

• Numerous biblical allusions throughout

Symbols in the NovelThe Conch- Civilization and order

The Beast- The fear that separates man from God

Piggy’s Glasses- Reason, science and insight

Lord of the Flies- Evil

Fire Signal- Hope, salvation

Sponge Bob Squarepants

The episode Club Spongebob is a spoof of LOTF.

The Simpsons

• The Simpson’s episode titled Das Bus is a parody of Lord of the Flies.

Survivor

Mark Burnett’s CBS island show is said to have been inspired by LOTF.

Popular Music

Bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Nine Inch Nails, AFI, Iron Maiden, and Pink Floyd have written songs about or have alluded to LOTF in their music.

Golding’s Message

“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.”

--William Golding

Themes

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."

- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Chapter 12