Transcript William Golding - North Warren Central School

William Golding
1911-1993
Author Background
Born: Cornwall,
England
 Fought in Royal
Navy during WWII
Invasion at
Normandy during
D-DAY
War’s end returned
to writing and
teaching
Earned Nobel
Prize
The World Golding Knew
• WWII 1939- 1945
• The fall of France to Nazi Germany in
1940
• Britain feared an invasion and evacuated
children to other countries
• 1940- A German U-Boat torpedoed a
British ship carrying children, killing the
boys, thus suspending the oversees
evacuation program
Philosophical Influence
– Man is by nature selfishly
individualistic
– Man constantly at war with other men
– Fear of violent death is sole
motivation to create civilizations
– Men need to be controlled by
absolute sovereignty to avoid brutish
behavior
Golding’s Literary Technique
Heavy use of symbolism
Irony
Abundant imagery and sensory detail
Figurative Language
Simile
Metaphor
Personification
Published Works
1950s-1960s
 Fiction Novels—
the destructiveness
and dark side of
human nature.
Allegorical:
Characters and
events symbolize
truths of human
life.
1955
1954
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.
Story Synopsis
• Set in mid 1940’s when Europe was
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.
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
Symbols in the Novel
The 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
Modern Day Allusions
• Allusion- (n.) an indirect
reference to a well known
person, place, or event.
There are many modern day
allusions to Lord of the Flies
in popular culture.
For example….
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
The End
“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