1. Lord of the Flies
A fable and an allegory

2. Written by William Golding
Born in England in 1911
In his works, Golding makes use of allusions and Christian symbolism.

3. 22 years later Britain was again involved in ANOTHER WAR
As a child, Golding witnessed WWI, which was referred to as “the war to end all wars.”
HOWEVER,
22 years later Britain was again involved in
ANOTHER WAR
to end all wars, which caused more devastation than was imaginable.

4. About the novel
Golding wrote this book less than a decade after World War II
When the world was in the midst of the Cold War.

5. The events that influenced the writing of LOTF
World War II
The Cold War

6. The atrocities of the Holocaust, the horrific effects of the atomic bomb, the ominous threat of Communism, and technology’s rapid advances were all present in the minds of many including Golding.

7. Golding’s driving question:
Left to their own devices, would a group of people enforce civilization or would they be overtaken by chaos and become barbaric?

8. Theme
The theme examines the conflict between humanity’s innate barbarism and the civilizing influence of reason.

9. Golding’s writing style
This novel contains both realism and modernism.

10. Realism ( )
When the writer tries to see the world as objectively as he can.
Everything was to be expressed as close to reality as possible.

11. Modernism
Two world wars and a huge industrialization movement had led to despair and wonder about the progress in society. Is progress good or bad?
Modernist created a new way of writing in which they used symbols and metaphors instead of saying things the way they were.

12. This book is realistic because most of the events on the island could happen, but there are many symbols and metaphors in the book making it modern as well.

13. Symbolism
Person, place, thing or event that stands both for itself and something beyond itself.

14. People who are symbolic in this book
Jack
Ralph
Piggy
Sam and Eric
Simon
Roger

15. Things that are symbolic in the book
The beast
The signal fire
The conch shell
Piggy’s glasses
The Lord of the Flies

16. Tour of the island

17. Allusion
Reference to a statement , a person, a place or an event from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science or the arts.

18. Foreshadowing
Hints or clues of events to come.

19. Irony
Occurs when an effect is produced that is different from what might have been expected.

20. What do you think?
After viewing the slides and taking notes, what predictions can you make about Lord of the Flies? Write 5-6 sentences about what you believe might take place in the book.

22. Ask yourselves -
What does it mean to be civilized? What does it mean to be savage? Give examples from history when people/groups of people acted in a savage manner.