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READ THIS
A nuclear war has engulfed the world. Groups of boys from various schools in England are being
evacuated.
En route to their destination, their aeroplane is shot down and the boys find themselves on a tropical
island, with no adults to supervise them.
They gather together and elect a leader. Three of them thereupon explore the island.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lord of the Flies was first published in the early 1950s when the world was recovering from the
devastation of World War II. The horror of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini was still on everyone's mind.
At the same time, a significant event had recently happened -- the detonation of two atomic bombs over
Japan. The people of the world were transfixed by the devastation.
Furthermore, in 1949 Russia revealed that it too had the atomic bomb. The world suddenly had two
superpowers threatening everyone with a nuclear holocaust.
It was taken for granted that a nuclear war would soon erupt. One prediction for this event was 1964 --
the theme of Nevil Shute's novel On the Beach.
The fear of the atomic bomb is clearly revealed in a series of movies released during the early 1950s.
In the remake of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, America attempts unsuccessfully to destroy the
Martian invaders through the use of a nuclear weapon.
In Them, ants mutate into giants through contact with radiation and threaten to take over the
world.
Tarantula has a similar plot while in The Incredible Shrinking Man -- arguably the best
movie of this genre -- the hero shrinks to infinity after accidentally passing through a nuclear cloud while
at sea on a yacht.
These were the fears which were gripping the imagination at the time when William Golding was writing
Lord of the Flies.
The story is set in the very near future, at a time when new but strange aircraft travelled the skies.
In the plot, the next world war has indeed happened and the boys have had to be evacuated to Australia
because of the nuclear threat to England.
It is easy to conjure up yet another Hitler but in this case in the shape of the tyrant, Jack. Golding shows
what would happen within a small and closed community if such a tyrant were to succeed.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
Why does the story open with the characters of Ralph and Piggy? (4)
[Need help?]
The story will centre on Ralph, Piggy and Jack.
Ralph will represent commonsense and strength of character -- but he does not have too many good
ideas. These ideas come from Piggy.
In a sense, therefore, Ralph and Piggy make a unit and are therefore introduced first in order to establish
this unity of character.
Only once this unit is well established, the villain Jack makes his appearance.
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The opening paragraph describes intense heat. Why? (4)
[Need help?]
It was, of course, a tropical island but the heat has a number of other functions.
First, it forces the boys to rid themselves of their school uniforms which represent order and stability in
the adult world. The heat therefore causes an immediate degeneration of standards.
The heat could also be a metaphor for passion and anger, which will begin to overflow as the story
progresses.
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Which boy initially shows the greatest leadership qualities: Ralph or Piggy? Explain your
answer. (4)
[Need help?]
Ralph appears to have a natural authority about him. He is strong, athletic and independent.
Piggy, on the other hand, has some really good ideas but he lacks character. His unfortunate physical
condition of being fat, nearly blind and having asthma also prevents him from assuming any leadership
position.
Indeed, he becomes the butt of derision from the more senior boys. His very appearance prevents him
from being taken seriously.
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Fill in the following table:
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| Age
| Positive qualities
| Defects
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| Ralph
| ?
| ?
| ?
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| Jack
| ?
| ?
| ?
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| Piggy
| ?
| ?
| ?
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| Simon
| ?
| ?
| ?
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| Roger
| ?
| ?
| ?
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| Sam & Eric
| ?
| ?
| ?
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[Need help?]
RALPH: 12 years old, natural authority, athletic build, strength of character but difficulty in formulating
good ideas, often hesitant, showing little dynamic leadership.
JACK: 12 years old, charismatic, experienced leader but brutal and dictatorial, preferring adventure to
rescue, finding it difficult to accept anyone else's authority and subject to outbursts of hostility.
PIGGY: 11 years old, good ideas, clearly good with children, a motherly instinct but physical ailments and
whining ways.
SIMON: 6 years old, strange and a loner but with a clear philosophical nature, suffers from epilepsy.
ROGER: 12 years old, no positive characteristics, a bully, will follow any leader who will use his thuggish
behaviour.
SAM & ERIC: about 10, likeable twins, will follow directions, reliable, no strength of character, will
succumb to any social pressure.
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There is evidence that the children had in fact been on the island for several hours before the story
actually starts.
- Explain why one should reach this conclusion. (4)
[Need help?]
The story starts with the heat of midday. It seems clear, however, that the aeroplane was shot down
during the night.
There was a violent storm which managed to drag the passenger tube out to sea, presumably by tugging
at its parachutes. This storm has long gone.
The boys all had time to scatter, and there was time not only for them to eat fruit but for the fruit to cause
them to have upset stomachs.
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What significance is there in the fact that all the children are dressed in school uniform? (2)
[Need help?]
The uniforms indicate an organised background, a life in which order was an accepted fact. They were
used to authority, to rules, etc.
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The twins threw themselves at Ralph's feet and lay there "panting . . . like dogs".
- How significant is this statement? (4)
[Need help?]
In a sense, the twins remain lap-dogs throughout the novel. They are friendly kids but are followers, not
capable of withstanding pressure or threat.
They are incapable of thinking for themselves, unable to act independently. In short, they are like dogs:
friendly but totally obedient.
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Jack Merridew arrives last and at the head of a marching entourage of choir-boys.
- What idea does the author wish to convey by this? (4)
[Need help?]
Lord of the Flies was written shortly after World War II. Does the author therefore have Hitler's
Germany in mind, marching soldiers and the Hitler Youth?
Jack needs a Hitler to report to, not a friendly democrat like Ralph. Without a Hitler, on the other hand,
he himself will quickly assume that role by seizing control and becoming a tyrant.
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- Why is Jack the last to arrive? (4)
[Need help?]
Jack is the last to arrive so as to contrast him to Ralph.
First we have Ralph, strong in physique and democratic in leadership. Then come all the other boys.
Finally Jack arrives, the exact opposite of Ralph -- strong in will-power but hot tempered and brutal, who
would rule with military force.
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- What is the significance of the fact that, when the first hunt takes place, Jack is unable to kill the
pig? (4)
[Need help?]
Jack's inability to kill the pig indicates an initial softness in him.
As the novel opens, he is not yet a tyrant and cannot even bring himself to shed the blood of the pig.
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When all the boys are assembled, Piggy somehow takes the role of unifying the boys. How does he do
so? (4)
[Need help?]
In the first place, Piggy organises the little boys and acts like a mother to them.
At the same time, however, his obesity, his asthma and his whining ways tend to divide him from the
stronger boys, who perceive him as an irritating buffoon.
In the long run, these negative characteristics make it difficult for anyone to like him and even Ralph has
difficulty in protecting him from Jack.
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Why does the author often refer to the myriads of butterflies? (4)
[Need help?]
The author is presenting the island as some kind of Garden of Eden, a paradise as it was before the fall
of man.
The butterflies signify peace, a place of tranquillity and beauty. This paradise, however, will slowly be
eroded by the presence of the boys.
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