WILLIAM GOLDING LORD OF THE FLIES BACKGROUND NOTES

Instructions

• Get three pieces of paper from the front table.

• Get a syllabus.

• Get scissors (if there are any left).

William Golding Basics

• Full Name: William Gerald Golding

• Born: September 19, 1911

• Born in Cornwall, England

• Father Alec worked as a science teacher; He had strong political and scientific notions

• Mother Mildred worked on the suffragist movement

• Died: June 19, 1993 of heart failure

Golding’s Education

• Went to the grammar school where his father taught

• Began study at Oxford (Brasenose College) in 1930

• Original field of study was in the natural sciences

• In 1932, he changed his field of study to English Literature.

• Later in 1937, Golding returns to Oxford for a Diploma in Education

Influences on Golding’s Work

• Teaching

– taught English and philosophy at a number of grammar schools

– where he met his wife Ann

– studied how young children interacted with one another

Influences on Golding’s Work

• World War II

– Joined the Royal Navy

– Helped sink Germany’s Bismarck

– Was part of D-Day in France

– Changed his view of man – came to believe that everyone had an evil side

Influences on Golding’s Work

• Literary Influences

– Classical literature

– Mythology

– Christian symbolism

Other Life Events

• 1962 – resigned from teaching and focused on writing full time

• 1963 – Brook’s film Lord of the Flies was shown at Cannes

• 1983 – Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

• 1988 – knighted

Lord of the Flies Background

• Started from an idea he had while reading The Coral Island to his kids

– Golding believed that this idyllic setting/plot was anything but realistic

• Began working on it in 1952

• Originally called Strangers from Within

Lord of the Flies Background

• In 1953, he begins sending it to publishers, where it was turned down by more than 20 of them – sensitive subject matter

– no one wanted something so pessimistic to be published

• Finally accepted after changes to the text, and it was published in 1954 as Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies Themes

• Man is inherently evil: Each person has within himself both good and evil. The evil will override the good unless it is contained by the laws of society.

• The need for civilization: Humans need civilization to keep them in line. When laws, rules, police, and schools are not in place, humans revert to a more primitive part of their nature.

• Innocence and the loss of it: Golding implies that the loss of innocence has little to do with age but is related to a person’s understanding of human nature. It can happen at any age or not at all.

Lord of the Flies Themes

• The loss of identity: When civilization slips away man reverts to his more primitive nature, his identity disintegrates.

• Power: Democratic power is demonstrated when choices and decisions are shared among many. Authoritarian power allows one person to rule by threatening and terrifying others.

• Fear of the unknown: The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn people to either insight or hysteria.