Transcript Lord of the Flies - CMS Team 8b

The Lord of the Flies - by William Golding
Essential Questions:
• What is the nature of man?
• What are the qualities of effective
leadership?
• How do you effectively govern?
• Upon what, primarily, does survival most
depend?
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More Essential Questions…
• How are our human flaws revealed?
What do our flaws reveal about us?
• How does Golding use setting and
characters in Lord of the Flies to
express his ideas about people?
The Lord of the Flies – Title Significance
 “Beelzebub” is a Hebrew
word for Lucifer
 The literal translation of
“Beelzebub” into
English is “Lord of the
Flies”
REVIEWS OF THE NOVEL
"beautifully written, tragic and provocative...
“vivid and enthralling”
“completely convincing and often very
frightening”
“like a fragment of nightmare”
“a dizzy climax of terror”
"It is not only a first-rate adventure but a parable of our
times "
What should you come to understand by
the end of this unit?
• People’s baser instincts are often
stronger than their nobler ones in
creating human societies.
• The defects in society are related to
the defects in human nature.
• Novelists often use their fiction to
make statements about their personal
or political beliefs.
Draw two columns in
your notes
Words
associated with
instinct



??????
??????
??????
Words
associated with
the mind



??????
??????
??????
The Noble Savage
• In his early writing, Rousseau contended
that man is essentially good, a "noble
savage" when in the "state of nature" (the
state of all the other animals, and the
condition man was in before the creation
of civilization and society), and that good
people are made unhappy and corrupted
by their experiences in society.
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“Noble Savage”
• He viewed society as "artificial" and
"corrupt" and that the furthering of society
results in the continuing unhappiness of
man.
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Philosophical Background: Rousseau
• Contrary to his earlier work, Rousseau
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva
in 1712) claimed that the state of nature is
brutish condition without law or morality,
and that there are good men only as a
result of society's presence.
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“The Social Contract”
• Because he can be more successful
facing threats by joining with other men,
he has the impetus to do so. He joins
together with his fellow men to form the
collective human presence known as
"society." "The Social Contract" is the
"compact" agreed to among men that
sets the conditions for membership in
society.
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Nature vs. Nurture
• The nature versus nurture debates
concern the relative importance of an
individual's innate qualities ("nature“),
versus personal experiences ("nurture") in
determining or causing individual
differences in physical and behavioral
traits.
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“Tabula Rasa”
• The view that humans acquire all or
almost all their behavioral traits from
"nurture" is known as tabula rasa ("blank
slate").
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SIR WILLIAM GOLDING

1911-1993

Born in Britain

Was employed as a
schoolteacher

Served five years in the Royal
Navy during WWII

Lord of the Flies published in
1954
Sir William Golding’s Influences
As a child, Golding had
witnessed WWI, “the war to
end all wars”
In the decade before Lord of
the Flies was published, Britain
had been involved in two more
wars: World War II (which
Golding served) and the
Korean War
IMAGES FROM WWII
IMAGES FROM WWII
IMAGES FROM WWII
PLOT OF LORD OF THE FLIES
• Set at a time when Europe is in the
midst of nuclear destruction.
• A group of British school boys, being
evacuated from England, crash lands on
a tropical island.
• No adults survive the crash, and the
novel is the story of the boys' descent
into chaos, disorder, and evil.
In Golding’s day a popular boys
adventure story was…
The Coral Island
• Written in 1858
• A group of boys gets stranded
on a deserted, tropical island
• The major characters are
, and
• It’s an adventure story with a
happy ending
All of Golding’s novel takes
place on the remote tropical
island.
Microcosm
• A small community including human
beings, humanity, society, etc. that is
viewed as the epitome or miniature of the
world or universe
• Golding uses English boys to represent
the calculated makeup of society
Allegory
• An extended metaphor
• Objects, persons, and actions in a
narrative are equated with meanings that
lie outside the narrative
• Moral, social, religious, and political
significance
Allegory
• Characters are often personifications of
abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or
envy.
• Two meanings: a literal meaning and a
symbolic meaning
In preparation for reading the
novel, look over your
Anticipation Guide:
Name: ________________________________________
Directions: For each of the following statements decide whether you tend to agree or disagree. Place a plus (+) mark in the left
column next to each statement with which you agree. For those with which you tend to disagree, place a minus (-) mark. Look for
evidence in Lord of the Flies that either supports (+) or doesn’t support (-) each statement. Place the appropriate mark under the third
column. In the far right column record the page numbers to back up your findings.
Me
General statement
Lord of the
Flies
Text
Evidence
Being stranded on a tropical island would be paradise.
Children can naturally organize themselves.
Our environment can greatly impact the course of our lives.
Leaders rarely dominate weaker people.
People tend to follow a charismatic leader.
People often misjudge things they don’t understand.
Children act differently from grown-ups.
There is usually a clear-cut winner in most conflicts.
Follow-up: Choose five of the previous statements. Write a paragraph for each statement that explains whether Lord of the Flies
supports or doesn’t support it. Use quotes gathered from the text to back up the argument in each paragraph.
Character Analysis
1) Ralph- Main character described
as “fair haired,” having “broad
shoulders…[like a] boxer’s,” and
has a face that “proclaims no
devil”
Committed to civilization and
morality
2) Piggy - Described as “fat,”
“intellectual,” asthmatic, and
needs glasses
Represents scientific, rational side
of civilization, and social order
Character Analysis
• Simon - Described as a skinny,
vivid little boy, who
“meditates;” and he faints at
different times in the novel,
which some cultures have
believed is a sign of connecting
with the spiritual world
Seems to be connected with
nature, and he has an innate,
spiritual goodness
Character Analysis
• Sam and Eric (Samneric) ~
Twins
Described as barely having
enough skin to cover both,
bullet-headed, and they finish
each other’s sentences
The last to remain loyal to
Ralph
Represent the tug-of-war
within us to remain good
Character Analysis
• Jack - Described as having
red hair, malevolent,
aggressive, wears black with
a snake clasp
• Cruel and manipulative
Represents our savage
instincts played out
Character Analysis
Roger - “Silent” and sadistic
Targets the “littluns”
The only one to premeditate
murder
Kills without conscience
Pure evil
Character Analysis
• “Littluns” ~ The younger kids
Represent the common folk,
who easily follow the lead of
others into savagery when
there is no enforced structure
in society
THEMES IN LORD OF THE FLIES
Golding believes that we
cannot escape our savage,
violent tendencies… and
without social order,
society dissolves into
chaos and savagery.
SYMBOLS
1) Piggy’s glasses – the last surviving
evidence of the lawful, structured,
rational world
2) conch shell – order and democracy
on the island
3) The fire
4) The Island
5) The Beast
6) Jack’s mask
TERMS to REMEMBER
 Microcosm - A small world
that represents the world
at large
 Edenic – Eden-like,
paradise like, a setting that
has not yet been spoiled
by man
FILM CLIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvmi3oZ_vH8