1. Lord of the Flies By
William Golding

2. William Golding Born 1911-1993 British novelist
Master’s degree from Oxford University
Became a social worker
1939 became a teacher
1940 joined the Royal Navy and became a lieutenant
1945 resumed teaching and writing
1954 published Lord of the Flies
1983 won the Nobel Peace Prize for literature

3. Themes in the Novel Need for civilization Loss of innocence Power
Fear of the unknown
Nature’s indifference
The nature of mankind

4. Setting
Tropical island
Time of war
Twentieth century

5. Main Characters
Ralph
Jack
Piggy
Simon
Roger

6. Microcosm: a little world
Allegory
A story intended to be read on a symbolic level. The characters, setting, and events are meant to have meanings other than their surface level meaning.
Microcosm: a little world

7. Discussion Prompt Golding’s warning:
“The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”
What does Golding mean in his statement of the moral of the novel?

8. Primitive vs Civilized State
Golding’s purpose in writing Lord of the Flies was “to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.”
Golding believes society is corrupted because of the nature of mankind.
French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theory is that science, art, and social institutions have corrupted humankind and that the natural, or primitive state is morally superior to the civilized state.