Lord of the Flies - Mrs. Kelly's website
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Lord of the Flies
William Golding’s Masterpiece
1911- 1993
Author and Context
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911
in England
1940 Golding joined the Royal Navy
Participated in D-Day
Experience in WWII had a profound effect on his
view of humanity and the evils of which it was
capable.
His first and greatest success came with Lord of
the Flies (1954)
About the Novel
Set in mid 1940’s when Europe engulfed in
war.
A plane carrying British school boys is
mistaken for a military craft and shot down.
Only the boys survive the crash, and try to
form a society and govern themselves.
The Island
Themes
Civilization vs. Savagery
Loss of Innocence
Original Sin
Fear that separates one from God
Nature of Good and Evil
Goodness is rare and fleeting
Absolute Power
Allusions
– Reference to a well known “thing”
from history, literature, work of art
• Classical literature
• Mythology
• Christian Symbolism
Symbols in the Novel
The ConchPiggy’s Glasses-
Lord of the FliesFire Signal-
Religious Symbols
The Island . . .
The snake in the Garden of Eden
The parachutist and Piggy. . .
Jack and Ralph . . .
Simon . . .
Allegory
A work of fiction carrying two levels of
meaning:
- 1) a surface plot/narrative (literal)
- 2) symbolic/metaphorical meaning in
which everything in story symbolizes
something greater
Concerning the Title
Beel’zebub- Hebrew translation for Lord of the flies
The title is said to be a reference to the Hebrew
name Beelzebub ( ,בעל זבובBa'al-zvuv, "god of the
fly", "host of the fly" or literally "Lord of Flies"), a
name sometimes used as a synonym for Satan.[3]
Ba‘al Zebûb might mean 'Lord of Zebûb', referring
to an unknown place called Zebûb, or 'Lord of
things that fly' (zebûb being a Hebrew collective
noun for 'fly', thus the common lay translation 'Lord
of the Flies').
Modern Day Allusions
Allusion- (n.) an indirect reference to
something
There are many, many modern day allusions
to Lord of the Flies in popular culture.
For example….
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.
Sponge Bob Squarepants
The episode Club
Spongebob is a
spoof of LOTF.
Popular Music
Bands such as Taking
Back Sunday, Nine Inch
Nails, AFI, Iron
Maiden, Rolling Stones,
and Pink Floyd have
written songs about or
have alluded to LOTF in
their music.