Things to think about and pay attention to while reading Lord of the Flies
Our questions:
Will the boys survive? How?
How will they make decisions? Will they form a government? What causes or prevents disagreements?
What causes violence? What role does fear play? Does violence lurk with in us or is it learned?
Our O’Maley Experiment:
Imagine you are back in the middle school. The teachers leave. You don’t know why. Then you are sealed inside the middle school with your peers and no adults. What would happen?
How motifs (how they are described, how they are used, etc.) are significant literally and symbolically in Lord of the Flies:
The appearance of the island (the scar, the weather, etc.); the appearance of the boys (uniforms, hair, faces, etc.); the shell/conch; rocks; the glasses; the fire; the pig/boar; the “beast”
How characters (what they look like, say, and do; what others say about them and do to them) are significant literally and symbolically in Lord of the Flies:
Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, Roger (other member of the choir), Sam and Eric (other older boys not in the choir), the littluns
How the titles of the chapters are significant literally and symbolically in Lord of the Flies.
(Thoughtful)
1. The Sound of the Shell
Compare and contrast the first chapter of Lord of the Flies with your thoughts about “The O’Maley Experiment”.
2. Fire on the Mountain
Explain the significance of the title of chapter two. Show that you have understood the relationship between the chapter and the title both literally and allegorically.
3. Huts on the Beach
Explain the literal and symbolic significance of the chapter’s title.
Explain the literal and symbolic significance of one of the characters in the chapter.
Explain the literal and symbolic significance of one of the motifs in the chapter.
4. Painted Faces and Long Hair
Write and respond to your own open-response question. Your question could relate to the O’Maley Experiment, the essential questions, the character you were assigned, the motif you were assigned, the chapter titles, or something else of significance. Your response should demonstrate both that you have understood what you have read and that you have thought about its significance to the work as a whole.
5. Beast from Water
Write and respond to your own open-response question. Your question could relate to the O’Maley Experiment, the essential questions, the character you were assigned, the motif you were assigned, the chapter titles, or something else of significance. Your response should demonstrate both that you have understood what you have read and that you have thought about its significance to the work as a whole.
6. “Beast from Air” and “Shadows and Tall Trees”
Write for ten minutes from the point of view of the character you were assigned. What have you seen over the past two chapters? What do you think about what has happened?
7. “Gift for the Darkness,” “A View to a Death,” “The Shell and the Glasses,” “Castle Rock,” “Cry of the Hunters”
Imagine that you are William Golding. From his point of view write a letter to the students of Gloucester High School explaining how a character and a motif (the ones you have been assigned) contribute to the meaning of the the novel, especially in the last five chapters. (You could write two letters one about the motif and one about the character, or you could weave the two together.)
While explaining how you, as the author, have used the character and the motif, cite at least three specific places where you, as Golding, use the character and three specific places where you, as Golding, use the motif. Make sure you explain how the parts -- the particular uses of the character & motif -- contribute to the novel as a whole.
(Tom asked the question, should we focus on the character's/motif's use overall or on specific scenes? I answered by saying you should have some big ideas about the character's & the motif's use overall and you should be able to support the big ideas with specific examples. Likewise you should be able to use the specific appearances of the character & motif to help you generate big ideas about how the character & motif contribute to the overall meaning.)
When thinking about Golding's point of view and Golding’s purpose in constructing the novel, consider some things Golding has written about the novel:
“The theme (of Lord of the Flies) is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of society must depend on the ethical mature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”
“I believe that man suffers from an appalling ignorance of his own nature.”
Also perhaps consider William Golding's life. The following is an excerpt from the Nobel Prize website. (Golding won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983.)
"Taught at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. Joined the Royal Navy in 1940 and spent six years afloat, except for seven months in New York and six months helping Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. He saw action against battleships (at the sinking of the Bismarck), submarines and aircraft. Finished as Lieutenant in command of a rocket ship. He was present off the French coast for the D-Day invasion, and later at the island of Walcheren. After the war he returned to teaching [until 1962], and began to write again. Lord of the Flies, his first novel, was published in 1954."
And for more of Golding's views you'll find his Nobel Lecture here.
Your letter(s) should be 600 words or so and must be posted in the comment box by pumpkin time Friday, December 18.
43 comments:
Jacklyn Linsky
Dear Readers,
In my book “Lord of the Flies”, I write about the character Simon. Simon plays a very important role in the book. He is an advisor and friend to Ralph. When living on the island he helps Ralph make the huts and sticks with him until the end. He also advises Ralph on how to be an effective leader and not to give up leading the boys. A good example of this is,”Piggy’s right, Ralph. There’s you and Jack. Go on being chief.” (94). Simon is also able to be the counter part of Simon. I made Piggy know everything about government and society. I was able to provide Simon who was able to be in tune with nature and learn about the island. As the book continued Simon’s knowledge of the island would come in handy to the boys however they ignore Simon since he can not take on the role of a confident leader. Their ignorance in the end would prove fatal. Simon with his knowledge is the only one able to piece together that there is no beast. As a reader you are able to see this on page eighty-nine when I have Simon say, “What I mean is…maybe it’s only us.” He is able to get to the core of my novel here which is that violence comes out as people retreat back to their primitive nature. As I place Simon in the island’s forest for the last time he meets the Lord of the Flies and the lord tells him that his friends will betray him. Simon faints there after because I wanted to show that the idea of so much knowledge or being the only one who knows something in the end will become too much pressure. When he wakes up he crawls out to the boys to tell them about the identity of the true monster, but they see Simon as the beast their primitive nature takes over and they kill Simon. Simon was like a sacrificial lamb so that Ralph would be able to realize the truth in the end. The death of Simon was the death of Ralph’s innocence, but was also the birth of Ralph’s wider knowledge of the island.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Jacklyn Linsky
Dear Readers,
The conch represents the idea of democracy and civilization. The conch is found early in the book by Ralph and Piggy. As time continues the conch becomes more than this to Piggy. The conch is the key to his bravery and it allows him to find his voice. As a reader you are able to see this on page one hundred and eighty when Piggy takes the conch and confronts Jack and his savages by saying,”Which is better- to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?” By having Piggy portray this I’m able to show that people will not revert to their animalistic nature if they have a symbol of their previous life to hold on to. Jack at first had no problem with using the conch at the assembly, but as I continued to write his character he became more animalistic and the conch became more of a threat to him. Jack becoming more animalistic causes him to lose the ties he had with society so therefore the conch no longer holds power over him because he has moved away from organized society. This is best seen on page ninety-one when Jack says,” ‘Conch! Conch!’ shouted Jack. ‘We don’t need the conch anymore.’” (101-102) Jack hates the conch not only because it reminds him of society, but also because it reminds him of his failure to become leader and that leads towards his resentment of Ralph. To Ralph the conch means a link to the society he one lived in and a link to keep everyone together. Once he finds the conch Piggy tells Ralph to blow on the Conch. The boys on the island hear the sound and follow it leading them to Ralph. The leader I have created. Young and naïve now, but born to lead. He begins a democracy amongst the boys and he is voted chief. The conch allows him to call assemblies and help the boys. In the end when the conch breaks Ralph realizes that the conch never held much power, but he did. Ralph’s use of the conch and his power is clearly seen on page seventy nine when he uses to conch to show his power by the following,” ‘… the group of littuns on the twister giggled and looked at each other-‘not for making jokes, or for’-he lifted the conch in an effort to find compelling words…” This shows that not only does Ralph take the conch seriously, but for the time everyone else did and that what brought them together. In the end however I have made society completely vanish and the conch is unimportant.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Dear 11th graders,
I put the Littluns into Lord of the Flies because they are a great way to represent the majority. I constantly represented them as the common people. They were the ones that first believed that the monster was real. The mulberry kid was one of the first to believe in monsters when he had the vision of the snake. Also Percival was constantly trying to remind himself of the life he used to have. I made him constantly repeat his name and address. The Littluns try not to forget where they came from but eventually resort to being primitive. Even Percival forgets where he lives and has a breakdown. I made it so that the Littluns would represent the overall general public. They are the ones that the older boys government. There would be no government if there were not people to govern and the Littluns make up those people. One example is that when jack and his hunters leave I say that all that are left are Ralph, Piggy, Samneric, and some of the Littluns. The Littluns are the cause of the monster idea. They were the first ones to start believing in it and then it spread to the older boys. Whenever the general public start believing in something it spreads and causes a domino effect. For example in my book it led to the death of Simon and the splitting of the group. The reason I liked putting them in the book was that it gave a name to the common people. The Littluns also represent my meaning of the book which is that once you are separated from society you eventually resort back to primitive ways, as you can see with Percival and the rest of the Littluns.
Dear 11th graders,
I used rocks in Lord of The flies as a reoccurring theme that represents primitive ways, death and shelter. One of the meanings of Lord of the flies is that after being separated from society for an extended period of time you lose all morals and modernization. I used rocks because they represent primitive ways and that is what the boys have to resort to when they are stranded on the island. The use of the rocks as shelter is represented by Castle rock. Jack and his followers used it as their new fort and community after they left Ralphs camp. I also used rocks as a way to show death and violence which also is related to the primitive ways. In primitive times they used rocks and sticks as weapons. In my book lord of the flies I show the boys using the rocks as weapons, throwing them and hitting their enemies. Rocks were also the cause of the death of Piggy. I showed that Piggy was the last hint of civilization the boys had left. He was the one that tried to keep the boys civilized and in line. So it’s ironic that I killed him with the most simple and primitive items on the island. I tried to make it so that rocks were around every corner. They were used as the material for castle rock, they were used as weapons, and they were used as primitive objects. I thought it was a good way to show how the boys resort back to the primitive ways of men. Because of the way that rocks represent primitive times they are a great representation of the fact that you resort back to primitive ways when you are pulled away from society.
Dear Students of Gloucester High School,
I hope you have enjoyed my novel Lord of the Flies and noticed the significance of the characters and the roles they take upon themselves. I decided to create the character Ralph because Ralph fills the role that many of us see our selves filling if ever put into the type of situation that Lord of the Flies provides. I say this because as Ralph may not be completely rational (is not concerned with meat but is concerned with fire and shelter) he is neither barbaric (does not paint his face and join Jack’s tribe at the end of the novel.)
Ralph’s character goes through many stages in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, the boys take a vote and Ralph becomes leader; “I’m chief then” (p.23.) I made Ralph the leader because in the beginning of the book, Ralph is the most dominate character. He is blunt and confident in himself at this point. Here, in the start of life on the island Ralph fulfills a leader’s role; he assigns jobs to people, “Jack’s in charge of the choir” (p.23) and also takes the survival of himself and others into his own hands, “If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire” (p.37.) Here, Ralph’s rational thinking is obvious and this is the beginning of Ralph’s obsession with the fire and of the hope of being rescued. Ralph also shows signs of rational thinking when he and Simon attempt building shelters (chapter three.) This shows that Ralph knows the necessities of survival.
In the middle of the novel Ralph begins to notice the island is falling apart. Talk about the “beastie” gets everyone in a panic. Although I made it seem to the rest of the characters on the island that Ralph is bold and strong, I created a character of Ralph with in himself. In chapter seven Ralph day dreams about civilized life; bathing, clean cloths, a hair cut, brushing his teeth, and maintaining nice finger nails. He also retreats back to his child hood when his mother was still alive and his father came home daily. He remembers the beauty of the snow and the wild ponies that would come to the edge of the garden at their cottage. This shows weakness in Ralph because it is a signal of mental weakness. Shortly after these events, Ralph and Jack get into an argument and Jack leaves “Ralph’s lot”. Jack creates his own “tribe” and they hunt and paint their faces to appear intimidating. Ralph is left with littluns, Piggy, and Samneric. When Jack’s tribe kills Simon, Ralph looses all trust for Jack’s tribe and he knows it is now war. As Piggy is killed and Samneric are forced to join Jack’s tribe, Ralph is left alone. I put Ralph through a series of obstacles to test his strength both physically and mentally; hiding in caves and trees, making life changing decisions, and having the urge to attack anyone able to harm him. This final stage of Ralph’s character development is vital to the theme of my novel because when push came to shove, Ralph did what it took to survive; “The theme (of Lord of the Flies) is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of society must depend on the ethical mature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”
Hannah Cain
Dear Students of Gloucester High School,
In my novel Lord of the Flies I focus a lot of attention on pigs and hope that as readers you have seen the significance of them. First and foremost, it is vital to see Jack’s obsession with pigs. I made it clear to the readers that Jack’s main focus on the island was to hunt and get meat. This is significant because the pig (meat) is what Jack and Ralph constantly fight over, ultimately it results in the two splitting up. Secondly, I made the dead pig’s head that Jack and his tribe mounted on a stick, Lord of the Flies, “the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned” (p.138.) This is significant because as Simon discovers, the Lord of the Flies is the beast, “There isn’t anyone to help you. Only me. And I am the beast” (p.143.) I made the pig head the beast because symbolically a beast in this novel is anything that would tear the boys apart. The pig is what tore the boys apart and there for is the beast because of the trouble that it caused the group of Brits. Lastly, I relate the pig and Ralph together. Just as Jack and his men hunt pigs and chase them relentlessly through the forests, they chase Ralph in the end of the novel. Symbolically, Ralph is now the pig and is running for his life from Jack and his tribe. Ironically, this pig chase does not lead to death, but leads to rescue. The chase of Ralph ends on the island’s beach when the boys are discovered by an officer. The one thing that split the boys apart in the start of the novel ultimately brings them to be rescued in the end.
(I also tied in the animal pig to the character piggy which is also significant. It is important for readers to notice that just as the pigs on the island are hunted by Jack and his choir, Piggy is also hunted by them. This is because they continually shut out Piggy and any ideas that he may have. They constantly bully and take advantage of him just as they do the pigs on the island.)
Gilbert Brown
Dear Students,
In my book “Lord of the Flies” I wrote about the characters Sam and Eric. The twins play an important role in the novel by always flip flopping between leaders and sometimes letting the chaos consume them. In the beginning of the novel I purposely conjoin Sam and Eric to SamnEric to show that they think and act as one. So therefore what one of them does the other follows. In the seventh chapter SamnEric help Ralph with convincing everybody to go back to the huts, “We’ll go straight across to the platform and climb tomorrow (Ralph)…We ought to go an’ tell Piggy (twins)” (pg119), and tell Piggy instead of climbing the mountain to look for the beast. But in the very next chapter SamnEric want to go to the feast Jack is hosting; “That must be fun…to a feast-meat-crackling-I could do with some meat-,” (pg142). That shows how human nature and their primitive side (eating the meat provided by Jack) overcomes a society lead by Ralph that is rational and logical. The twins are willing to leave the safeties of society and any hope of being saved to join in the chaos of the savages. A couple chapters later the twins are officially part of the savages. Whether they wanted to be a part of Jacks tribe, or were forced to partake is up to the reader to decipher? The twin’s primal state is taking over when they are with the savages. They have two choices, stay with Ralph and live off fruit and hope for a rescue or survive and thrive in chaos off the island with Jack and his savages. When Ralph comes back and tries to convince them to come with him they tell him “you got to go, Ralph. You go away now,” (pg187) but they are not painted like the rest of the savages. That leads the reader to believe that this newly formed savage society depends on the ethical nature of the beast and how it transforms everybody into mad men. Maybe the twins are just trying to survive by respecting the status quo or maybe they are being engulfed by the lord of the flies and their primal state.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Gilbert Brown
Dear Students,
In my book “Lord of the Flies” I portray the island as both mesmerizingly beautiful and full of terror at the same time. The island is a mysterious place for the children it is full of adventure and freedom from adults. Even when they are scared by the beast the island finds a way to intertwine the islands beauty with their hopes for escape; “If you could shut your ears to the slow suck down of the seas and boil of the return, if you could forget how dun and unvisited were the ferny coverts on either side, then there was a chance that you might put the beast out of mind and dream for a while.”(pg109) This shows that even with the political system in question (Jack always questioning Ralphs decisions and later in this very chapter Jack defies Ralphs command) human nature finds a way to sneak back into the individuals mind, to hope for a better future. The island so full of beauty and awe can also be filled with terror. Like on page 150 “Evening was come, not with calm beauty but with the threat of violence.” This is referring to when Piggy, Ralph, and the twins give into their primal yearnings and go to Jacks feast for some meat. Again on this night there is a clash between rational and irrational government. Unfortunately the boy’s inner beast takes over and chaos reigns throughout the island. Resulting in the death of the individual, Simon who is in tune with the inner goodness of human nature and the only one with the knowledge to set them all free (he knows there is no monstrous beast that hunts the island looking for boys to devour except for the beast within you). In the very last chapter of the book when Jack and his savages are hunting Ralph they try to smoke Ralph out of a hiding spot and engulf the island on fire, “Behind him, the whole island was shuddering with flame.” (pg201). This symbolizes the failure of society and human nature both on the island and in the real world. By showing how the only individual with rational ideas on the island will not overcome the society that feeds off irrational primal states. It also symbolizes the current evil and chaos in the modern world with the war raging.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Dear Gloucester High School Students,
I understand you have recently read my book “Lord of the Flies” and I would like to point out a few important ideas of my book. You have probably noticed some of the ideas I associate Jack with, but you may be missing other important ideas. I use Jack to show the beast or demon that exists in human nature, one way I show this is by showing his animalistic qualities. Jack also has an unsatisfied thirst for power that is seen even in the first chapter when he challenges Ralph to an election for chief of the “tribe” that the boys will make. To show Jack’s savage, or violent nature that exists under the seemingly normal boy and under exists in all human nature I first try to emphasize how he begins to move like an animal. We first see this in chapter 3 when Jack is beginning to turn himself into a hunter he is trailing the pig and “Then dog-like, uncomfortable on all fours yet unheeding his discomfort,” By describing his movements as animalistic I begin to show his transition to the beast in human nature that most people are unaware of. Another way that I show Jack as the beast of human nature is that he ultimately creates the “lord of the flies”, for example in chapter 8 he kills a pig and he impales the head on a stake saying “the head is for the beast, it’s a gift”. What Jack doesn’t know is that the “beast” is actually a human, and that the gift he creates for it symbolizes the demon in human nature that most are ignorant of. To make this even clearer, instead of saying Jack after chapter 8 Jack is mostly referred to as “a savage”. I do this because I want to make it clear that Jack represents the flaws in human nature of violence, power thirst, and the savageness of our primal instincts that we will refer too in times of life and death. When he makes a gift to the beast, he indirectly and in some ways directly shows both Simon, and Ralph the secret of the flaws in human nature that he himself gives into or worships.
Also in “Lord of the Flies” a symbol that goes along with Jack pretty well is the boys’ appearance. Some might assume that the appearance of the boys is just changing for the most part because hair does grow and the sun will tan you, but I emphasize more extreme changes than this, and even show that one character Piggy has hair that doesn’t grow. Overall the boys’ appearance can be seen as how much they have reverted to a savage nature, but more than that how the island has erased the rules and morals of society that they previously held. Piggy is one example of this; I described him as having hair that “never seemed to grow”. This is because Piggy is the character I chose that does not loose any of society’s rules, the island doesn’t change him, he does not turn savage, and holds faith in governmental and moral rules. The polar opposite of Piggy, Jack who has reverted to the beast that’s hidden in human nature has long hair, and even creates a mask for himself out of blood. The mask is very important and changes his personality; he becomes a different person the change of appearance shows the flaw in human nature that all people have. We can see this especially when I say that “He was safe from shame or self consciousness” by this I mean that the mask is representative of his new identity as a savage the beast in him prevailing over his inner person that we see in the beginning of the book. And his primal savage like violent instincts and the beast in him is shown in the change of appearance of him. Another boy this can be seen on is Ralph, he is in the middle of Piggy and Jack in that he only gave in to the beast in him once and he never once believed in the threat of an actual beast on the island. Also he grew long hair and got a tan as the island shaped him, and as he may have lost faith in government and rules ect. he never gave in to the beast that is theoretically the flaw in human nature that Jack gives in too. Overall the boys’ appearance is a way for me to show the different varying degrees of how much the island has erased the boys’ codes and rules put on them through civilization.
Chase Kelly
Dear Mr. Cook and Gloucester High School students,
I was just writing to clarify to you my intentions when I constructed the character, Piggy. Many of my colleagues have joked that I was lazy with my character of Piggy, and that I was too obviously symbolic. I would stand to argue that being obviously symbolic is the only way to go about expressing the character. For instance on page 64 “[Piggy] was the only boy on the island whose hair never seemed to grow”. Now this may seem too obvious of a symbol. That as the boys’ hair got less tame, so did the boys. Piggy, due to his insistence on not giving in to the uncivilized ways, does not grow his hair out. I argue, however, that everything involving Piggy is simply in your face symbolism because society as we know it dominates all of our lives. It is what allows us to be so blissfully ignorant of our primal nature. Though many people may not think about it because we are presented with the facts before we see an idea for the story, Piggy is an allegory all his own. In chapter 1 we see a boy positively scarred by the remnants of society; a society where natural selection and survival of the fittest is not in place, at least not from an evolutionary standpoint. We learn from page 9 all of the disabilities that would have led to his downfall in a hunter-gatherer primitive society such as “The fat boy…he explained ‘on account of my asthma.’… ‘And I’ve been wearing specs since I was three.” Obesity, asthma, and poor vision are all traits that would have led to the swift death of Piggy in a primitive setting. I submit, also, that most readers don’t think twice, after the first chapter, that we never even learn Piggy’s real name. We always refer to him as Piggy, and coincidentally enough, pigs are being hunted on the island. So in a way, Piggy’s in your face symbolism is even more extreme than we may even acknowledge. Finally, the blatant symbolism in chapter 11, page 181, when Piggy is killed by the falling boulder, when in earlier chapters the boys refer to being crazy as being bomb happy and falling boulders had been described as bombs. This bomb, or craziness, kills Piggy and splatters his brains, also crushing the conch of authority. Now as in-your-face two-dimensional symbolism as that is, it is just as in your face and overbearing as society is to us.
Thank you for your time,
William Golding
Dear students,
I am glad you were interested in my book, "Lord of the Flies". Ralph is a vital part of the book. Ralph, as you all know, is the leader of the "Tribe". The conch is his symbol of power. Ralph is a good leader. He has the respect of all the boys and sees the threat that Jack presents. There is one problem with Ralph, though. He is lazy. He eventually grows tired of his responsabilities. In doing this, the other boys lose respect for him.
The Conch, as I said before, is a symbol of power for the boys on the island. This symbol in many ways supports Ralph in his leadership role. It is, in a sense, a tangible reminder of his position and gives him confidence. When it is shattered, it shows how he has finally lost all his power. I hope this letter is very informative to you all.
Dear students,
I am glad you were interested in my book, "Lord of the Flies". Ralph is a vital part of the book. Ralph, as you all know, is the leader of the "Tribe". The conch is his symbol of power. Ralph is a good leader. He has the respect of all the boys and sees the threat that Jack presents. There is one problem with Ralph, though. He is lazy. He eventually grows tired of his responsabilities. In doing this, the other boys lose respect for him.
The Conch, as I said before, is a symbol of power for the boys on the island. This symbol in many ways supports Ralph in his leadership role. It is, in a sense, a tangible reminder of his position and gives him confidence. When it is shattered, it shows how he has finally lost all his power. I hope this letter is very informative to you all.
Mac Hutchinson
Dear students of GHS,
I can understand the questions that you have about the character I created in Sam and eric. Yes, I feel that they are better explained through one character, Sameneric. Some of you may say they are innocent and are persuaded by Jack, but they are really conscious about their actions. They have two minds in the form of one yet they have a better understanding of things then individual minds do. They were one of the few that were left in Ralph's group when everyone else went to Jack and his uncivilized tribe. Later when they are forced into Jacks tribe and were placed to guard Castle Rock they traded sides but they still understood what they stand for is wrong. They tell Ralph,”You got to go because it’s not safe-” “-they made us. They hurt us-” (188), which shows they still believe in what Ralph stands for and are against what they are protecting. Sameneric try to explain that they were tortured and forced to join Jack’s side. I created Sameneric to allow for actions of two to come from the thoughts of one. They never disagree but follow one another when one has an action or thought. In chapter one piggy confuses them showing their absolute similarity. What I left for you students to ponder was why Sam and Eric are twins and act as one. I leave you only with this, if they were not twins how would they be significant and would their decisions be the same?
Mac Hutchinson
Dear students of GHS,
The significance of the islands appearance is something that gives an overall meaning to everything in my book. The characters and the structure come from the island’s appearance and is the major thing I feel you students have looked past. Without the islands isolation there would be no book. The absence of civilization and the rules of society have allowed the children to create their own rules and lead to insanity. The characters go with the island and the discoveries of what the island has to offer. It rains on the island and the children need shelter for survival, they make a fire on the mountain for a signal to get rescued, and the island shows they have no other hope but themselves and the island. I wrote “...for to Ralph's left the perspectives of palm and beach and water drew to a point at infinity...”, to show that they children are cut of from everything and now need to stop looking at what they lost and more to what they now stand on. The island now represents all that they have even though many of the children don't see this. The characters actions are in response to the island and what they see in it. The dense vines in the forest creates this fear in the littluns that beast exists. This fear becomes bigger and effects everyone even those that don't believe in it. This then leads to an eventual killing of Simon from the uprising of Jacks power. I write in chapter five,”Maybe there is a beast....maybe it's only us.” which shows that they belive their might be a beast and that this fear is taking over even the smartest. The whole book is created from the island. Everything my book can be traced back to the islands appearance. You students should look at certain parts of the island and see how it effected a long chain of events.
Dear students of 2207,
Kevin Hurd
In my creation of Lord of the Flies, I, William Golding, use characters to explain the whole of the book, especially in the last half of the book. One character in particular is Jack. I use Jack to represent several major themes in the book. If Evan Kidder wasn’t so naïve then he would be able to pick up on this. I use Jack to represent the hidden fear and violence in all of us. For example, Jack first called an assembly in chapter 8 on pg. 125. This eventually led to Jack going off by himself, but Jack during the assembly tried to get in touch with the fear when he described the beast as a hunter. He made sure the Beast was portrayed as a killer, which sparked the kids to assume company with Jack the Hunter because he had offered protection in his hunting skills. Jack also represents the violence inside of us. Violence consumed Jack in the later parts of the book. Even in the beginning part of the book I made him a “killing machine” by having him consumed by the pig he was hunting in chapter 3. All he focuses on in the book is hunting and killing. Eventually, it ties in all at the end. Jack at the end is a psychopath. In Chapter 11, he is eventually controlled by his fear and violence. With the killing of Piggy and the conversion of SamnEric to his tribe, shows the dark side of human nature. With all the frail minds of the young boys he is able to touch upon a feeling and emotion that doesn’t require thinking. I am again deeply sadden Evan Kidder did not pick up on this.
With my wishes,
William Golding
Cam C
Roger
Beastie
Dear, 11th grade class,
As you all probably know “Lord of the Flies” is an analytical novel, meaning that there is a literal and figurative way of looking at the name or meaning of a piece of literature. Just like each Chapter of the book each name can be translated figuratively and literally. The mysterious and “furtive” Roger and the feared Beastie have an important meaning. Both characters are represented as death. Roger of the literal version of death, while Beastie is the more Figurative version of death.
In chapter 1 page 22 we first meet Roger, I introduce him and give the reader the idea that he is shifty, and a quiet, different individual. By chapter 1 I wanted put it out there that Roger is the one in the book that is more of the creepy person out of the boys. I wanted you to know that Roger completely lost his civilized self from when after he was throwing rocks at the kids and purposely missing them. At least when he was throwing rocks at the kids and purposely missing them it showed that he still had that voice that told him that it was wrong to hit them, so he did not. That is why I added on page 190, “Roger sharpened a stick at both ends.” Just like the pig head Roger was going to mount Ralphs head. By know you know that Roger is more than less scary. Then I finally made him roll down the boulder in chapter 12. By doing this I made him kill Piggy and crush the conch shell. He physically, directly killed piggy and the conch. It is obvious and it was 100% him that did this to Piggy he is death.
Now the beastie on the other hand is kind of a less direct. On page 35 I first brought the beastie to the picture and made the boys and you fear the beastie when I put in “Tell us about the snake-thing”. When people first here snake they think death or the get scared it’s a certain feeling that isn’t so great. That is why I made it a snake a snake is death it is scary. The fear of beastie ended up killing Simon and causing chaos. The boys finally come to the conclusion that Simon is the beastie because of the way he was walking through the woods. It scared them and they felt like they needed to get rid of the beastie that laid in the soul of poor Simon. Ever since chapter 6 the boys became less civilized as a group and became more barbaric. As a whole the boys acted just like one single character, Roger. It wasn’t that it was totally the beasties fault I mean that the beastie didn’t purposely do this to the boys. However it was the fear of the beastie and what he could end up doing to the boys. The fear led to death therefore making the reader relate the beastie to death.
Roger and the beastie are just 2 characters that play the same role as all the other names of each chapter, having a literal and figurative meaning. I made it so whenever the name of those characters is mention the reader automatically thinks of death and relates those characters to death.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Kevin Hurd
Dear Mr. Cook’s English class,
I would like to talk with you about my novel, The Lord of the Flies. I utilize many motifs that were supposed to explain the themes in the book. (Obviously Chase wasn’t able to follow). One theme that was significant to my book was the boys’ appearance. I used their appearance to focus in on their progression away from society and their ability to adjust to it. Throughout each chapter, the boys advanced more and more away from the civilization that they originated from. Although there were several that I would like to point out some scenarios that weigh a little bit more in the theme in the book. One situation would be with Piggy. Piggy’s hair did not grow at all through out the book, meanwhile, everybody else’s did. I did that for the reason that Piggy was always in touch with the old civilization. He was always logical in his thoughts, and always tried to maintain order as if adults were there. Another example of the boy’s appearances was that of Simon. While everybody was sunburned at the beginning of the book Simon was not; he had a deep tan. Simon represented resourcefulness. He was able to adjust to the island and was able to understand the island. He had his own shelter in the canopy in the forest (chp.3). Not only did Simon’s appearance have in impact on the book but so did the painted faces. With the painted faces, it brought savagery. The painted faces separated the boys from their “human” qualities. They made it easier for the killing and torturing of others. I intend the painted faces to completely abandon humane behavior, and making them beastlike. The beastlike behavior represented the complete transformation away from civilization and into savagery. If you paid attention to the details of the boys’ appearance then it unlocked secrets of the book and the defects in human nature.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Stephanie Kelley
Dear Students of Gloucester High School,
I am happy to hear that you have recently read my book “Lord of the Flies” and I hope you enjoyed this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it. As I am sure you have noticed I created the character Ralph to portray some ideas about human nature. His purpose is to show the reader through his eyes the terrible conditions of the society on the island, and thereby show the evil within man. While stuck on the island Ralph takes the position of being the leader of the group. He is voted to be the leader and does a good job along with some of the other boys in the group. In the beginning all of the boys follow his decisions. He tries to keep order within the group, but as his power begins to weaken he realizes some truths about human nature that he had not previously realized. I have said that, “The theme (of Lord of the Flies) is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is that the shape of society must depend on the ethical mature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” This is exactly what Ralph shows. In the beginning things are run along the lines of a government. There are leaders and then the people who follow the leaders. However, this all begins to change after some time. Jack begins to come into the position of the leader and Ralph lets it happen. Jack says, “I’ve got the conch. Ralph thinks you’re cowards running away from the boar and the beast.” (pg 126) This shows Jack has come into power because he has the conch which was the way Ralph was able to get the attention of all the boys in the group. The evil spreading throughout the group is the hunting of the beast they believe is on the island. The boys turn into monsters and become wild when they are in the state of hunting. They even try to kill Ralph who was once their leader. (pg199) This aspect of nature is commonly ignored, but Ralph realizes it. In the end when the boys are rescued I wrote that “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.” (pg. 202) Ralph realizes what has happened on the island has been awful and knows what humans are now capable of.
Stephanie Kelley
Dear Students of Gloucester High School,
The conch shell represents order and a system of civilization within the group of boys. Ralph uses the conch to get the attention of the boys and this distinguishes him as the leader. At all of the group meetings the conch is used as rules and events are discussed. The conch gives Ralph and whoever is in possession of it power. “Ralph does not blow the conch, he just holds it up and everyone knows.” (pg. 99) When Ralph does this everyone is silent and listens. You may have noticed that Jack is somewhat jealous of the fact that Ralph has the conch and does not like what it represents. He says, “We don’t need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It’s time some people knew they’ve got to keep quiet and leave deciding things for the rest of us.”(pg. 101-102) Ralph does not like that the conch represents order and leadership. Ralph would rather do what he wants and follow his natural instincts. In the end Ralph slowly begins to lose power within the group and the conch becomes less powerful. When the conch is destroyed in the end by the rock that kills Piggy, Ralph loses all of his power. Jack says, “There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone.” (pg. 181) The moment the conch breaks all respect for Ralph is gone. They go into their wild state and begin to hunt Ralph. They will not stop chasing him until they have killed him but he is saved. There is absolutely no order within the boys in the end. They go into their wild state and will not stop until they kill Ralph. I wanted this to show that once order is lost and there is no essence of civilization, humans begin to do terrible things. Without the conch and the civilization it brings to the boys everything is lost and there is no longer a reason for morals.
Grant Weaver
12/18/09
E Block
Roger
Dear Students,
When listening to those who have read my book ‘Lord of the Flies’ I have found that many skim over a very important character, one that has a lasting impression on the story, the reader, and the overall meaning of the book. To aide in your (the reader’s) understanding of the novel, I will explain the importance of Roger throughout the tale.
Roger starts off as a “slight furtive boy who no one knew, who kept to himself” (pg.22). He sits alone at the original assembly, despite the fact that he is a member of the chorus. He soon progressed though, appearing in chapter seven Shadows and Tall Trees. Here Jack, looking for support, when he speaks his mind, directly addresses him. “Roger spoke, for they had forgotten him”. Most importantly though, Jack feels the need to support his idea of going up the mountain at night, and specifically asks Roger if he will follow him, Roger of course obliges. Famously though, as I’m sure you all remember, Roger is the one who pushes the rock that kills Piggy.
My main purpose for Roger though is to show how humanity will change when presented with a challenge, one that in this situation is the need for survival. Using the examples from above we can see that Roger changes from a nice civilized boy to a wild savage killing machine. One does not suspect that when presented will a challenge the human race will react with unsuspected results. New skills, pure ugliness, and compassion could result, and with a large group, many different results will be found. Roger symbolizes this change in humanity, specifically the change into ugliness.
I am not a cynic, understand that I am only trying to show the world what I have learned from my experiences in life .I hope you enjoyed reading my book and I hope you will please learn from what you have read.
With Regards,
William Golding
Grant Weaver
12/18/09
E Block
The Beastie
Dear Students,
In my story ‘Lord of the Flies’ the beastie is one thing that many readers, such as yourselves, recognized and understand, at least to a point. So for those of you who may be misinformed I will review its purpose.
The beastie is actually a composition of several things. Physically it is the ‘ape-like’ pilot who unsuccessfully parachuted back to Earth. The second physical aspect of ‘the beastie’ is Simon, who was seen walking into the forest by a scared littleun. The various fires that appeared throughout the island also carried some beast-like characteristics. The real beastie though, the one that only Simon and eventually Ralph see is the horror of human nature. This horror is present in all of the boys at some point or another. One major example of the nastiness of human nature is present in Roger. He purposely throws rocks at the littleuns, Sam and Eric, and Piggy. (Note that these are in chronological order, and in increasing harshness.) There is no true reason for doing this and yet still Roger is compelled to do this. Worse even is the fact that Roger tortures one of the twins, an act of true evil. At Jack’s feast, when doing the pig hunting dance and Simon wanders into the middle, the group does not hesitate to kill him claiming he was the ‘beastie’, when in fact has he was trying to tell them that inside of all of them the beast was alive.
The beast shapes many aspects of the book, forces assemblies, causes several deaths, and causes arguments leading to a divide between the group. Without the beast my story would have been pointless, and the meanings I am attempting to convey to you would be nonexistent. Clearly, the beast is very significant.
With Regards,
William Golding
Chase Kelly
Dear Mr. Cook and Gloucester High School students,
I wanted to clear up a few things about my symbolic uses of glasses. Now the glasses, as I am sure you noticed, are meant to stand out to the reader. There is not a pair of glasses, to my knowledge, that would act as well as these did for the purposes of lighting fires. If you truly observe, you will see that I go out of my way to mention how quickly the fire starts. If one were to go camping, they would soon find that even with matched; getting a fire going is somewhat difficult. So now we beg the question, what is the connection between the fire and the glasses? Glasses are essentially the only piece of manmade technology utilized on the island, and is even given a greater purpose than its designed function. Now some believe that Ralph cares about two things on the island. He cares about Piggy, and he cares about having the signal fire. He even says on page 81 “…we ought to die before we let the fire go out”. This is essential, for it solidifies Ralph’s stance as the one trying to get back to civilization. Jack later is fully established as Ralph’s antagonist. One of the instances that does this is when Jack breaks one of Piggy’s glasses. This is obviously symbolic to how Piggy does not understand the other way of life; the lure of savagery. This partial blinded is transferred into real life events by having Jack, a lead savage, break half of them. There is also the incident in chapter 10 when the glasses get stolen by Jack and the savages. This is important, not only because it is an exhibit of how savagery does not abide by society, but takes it over, as glasses symbolize society. Also, it is an example of how highly the boys that are not savages regard authority, as to how little, the savages do. All the non-savage boys try to protect the conch, which symbolizes authority. It is the first instance in which the glasses overstep the conch. Piggy even says on page 168 “I thought they wanted the conch”. The one who mainly needs the glasses is the one who cared least about them, yet the savages had no mind to take the conch. Through these examples we see a few of the glimpses of how I made the glasses to symbolize society and technology, and the fire to represent, among other things, hope.
Thank you for your time,
William Golding
Dear Gloucester High School Students,
I am very pleased to have been informed of your reading my novel, the Lord of the Flies. From your questions and observations, your further interest in my book is evident and I will try my very best to answer your questions you have asked and other findings you have represented. First starting with the twins Sam and Eric, every character in Lord of the Flies portrays important themes and elements pertaining to the whole. When going about writing this novel, I felt the need to exhibit these characters figuratively as being one character. Page 39, is where we first notice the names Sam and Eric become Samneric. Throughout the book, I choose for them to slowly but surely loose their individuality to show attachment to each other. Obviously, these twins are identical and purposefully can not function without each other for it says on page 19 it says, “They breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital. They raised wet lips at Ralph, for they seemed provided with not quite enough skin; so that their profiles were blurred and their mouths pulled open.”
Towards the middle of the book, Samneric become the main tenders of the fire. However, while they were supposed to be tending the fire, they have fallen asleep instead. As we know, once they have awakened they decide they need more firewood. Throughout the conversation between Samneric, we find them finishing each others sentences. “I’m cold” “So am I” “Besides it’s--” “—dark. Alright, then” (Golding 97). This small section also reveals the “functioning as one character” role between the twins I wanted to represent. Yet, this small section we know is a part of another prominent scene. I choose for Samneric to be the first ones to see the “beastie” or what we know to be, the dead parachuter because doing this, I felt would convince the other characters that they are telling the truth. If Piggy, Ralph, Simon, Jack or even the littluns were in Samneric’s place, then due to what we know about them, their explanations would not be as believable.
Near the end of my novel, in the final chapters on the island, we see Samneric join Jack’s tribe and submit to his authority. Before this, their loyalty and friendship lies with Ralph, but soon after Simon’s death Jack displays his higher power and forces the twins to join his tribe. Piggy has now died as well, when Ralph tries to sneak down to what Jack calls Castle Rock. While the twins are guarding the entrance, they reluctantly stand behind Jack’s authority and do not leave to join Ralph at his request. However, their final moment of loyalty is when they warn Ralph of Jack’s intentions to hunt him down. We understand from there on, that despite this they end up revealing his hiding spot to Jack. “Roger spoke. “If your fooling us—” “Immediately after this, there cam a gasp, and a squeal of pain. Ralph crouched instinctively. One of the twins was there, outside the thicket, with Jack and Roger” (Golding 192). This final important moment of Samneric represents the weakness of human nature. By including Samneric in Lord of the Flies, I was then able to demonstrate certain themes through them.
To continue; another point you questioned me about was the significance of the island in Lord if the Flies. Evidently without the island, my book would cease to have meaning. All the events that take place are ultimately because of the island or involve it. To begin on this topic, the scar is a major element pertaining to the island. After the plane crash that leaves the boys stranded, a scar is marked on the island showing the evidence to where the plane hit. I choose the word “scar” to describe it because, like the scar on a human being is permanent, the scar on the island is permanent. I wanted to also show that the destructions the plane crash leaves before it drifts out to sea foreshadow the destructions that are to come throughout the novel. I am exhibiting the permanent changes that the boys will face while on the island.
By creating an island in the story I was then able to portray the isolation from society and civilization the boys experienced. An island, having water all around it, shows no means for escape by the boys. This symbolizes no means for the boys to escape the reality that they are going to face. The island also plays a role in changing the way the boys look, think and react to certain situations. Each character acts differently of course, but because of what the island does to each of them personally, it causes them to change. An example of this is Samneric. Because of the savage- like qualities many of the boys attain due to the influence of the island, it then causes Samneric to change toward the end of the novel when they betray Ralph.
To wrap this up, one more aspect I want to touch on is in the very last chapter when Jack lights the whole jungle on fire. By having this occur, the boys are then rescued from the smoke being seen by distant ships. Might I point out; this is the final destruction of the island before the boys leave it. It signifies that the boys entered into the island with destruction that forced a change in their lives, and they are also leaving the island of destruction that will forever change their lives.
Thank you again for your further interest in my piece of literature Lord of the Flies and if you have even futher concerns do not hesitate to inform me.
Sincerely, William Golding
Dear Gloucester High School Students,
The way the boys appear and change throughout the book also has a lot to do with Jack and the book as a whole. When the boys first arrive they are all clean cut and proper, since they have been part a legitimate society their wholes lives, but s the book continues it is easy to see the transformation or lack of transformation. The character Piggy, i described as having hair that “never seemed to grow”. Piggy's hair symbolizes his resistance to change and savageness. Piggy is the only one who’s hair does not become wild and untamable. Unlike Jack, who’s hair becomes wildly out of control, the change of his hair represents his change in personality perfectly. The other boys also develop this unkempt look and also go crazy at the end of the book, killing Simon and Piggy in savage rages. The wild hair shows the complete demoralization of these boys and lack of social and proper values. Something else hat contribute, through appearance, to the meaning of Jack and the novel as a whole is the mask he creates for himself, a mask of blood. This mask turns Jack into a savage it is the turning point in his own personal human nature, and inner beast. This represents his natural human instinct prevailing over what he has learned and been taught to do. Ralph is also influenced by the island, this can be shown throughout his appearance, but he does not ever fully give into the beast. After being on the island i portray Ralph’s appearance as having long hair and a tan, although his appearance has changed it has not become wild, showing that although he has given into the island a few times (hunting, killing of Simon), he has not completely disregarded society, realizing what he did was wrong. By describing the boys appearance i am able to show the severity of the impact on each character on the island.
Dear Gloucester High School Students,
Thank you all for taking the time to engulf yourself in “Lord of the Flies”. Though sometimes subtle, the underlying message portrayed by Jack and his hunters is immense. Jack truly represents the ideals and underlying darker side of mankind. Jack’s progression as a character in “Lord of the Flies” shows his venturing away from conformity and into the darker side of mankind. As soon as the boys crash onto the island, Jack begins his transformation as a character. His entrance with the choir boys immediately illustrates his need to lead, or selfish need for power. As the book continues, Jack progressively becomes more savage. In chapter 2, Jack is going to kill a pig, but hesitates for a moment. To recover his image, Jack stabs his knife into the tree, proclaiming that he will get it next time. By this, Jack is beginning to take on his role of representing mankind as a whole. In chapter 8, Jack shows his distaste for Ralph’s leadership – for he is fairly sensible in what the boys should be doing to be rescued. By this time in the novel, Jack has lost any sense of morality and simply wants to hunt and kill justified by “the boys need meat”. Jack breaks away from Ralph and the other boys, creating his own tribe. This action by Jack shows his selfishness and utter need to control. Much of Jack’s actions can be represented by humanity in the world today. When taken out of a society that strives to be so idealistic, man’s true self begins to show. Jack shows that he is no longer for the good of the group, rather than for the good of he, just as most individuals in today’s society are. At first, many try to help others before themselves – until times of trouble come. In such times of trouble, the instinct of man and the ideology of “kill or be killed” come into play – much as it did with Jack as control over the island becomes his and complete. Jack also shows how corrupt mankind is through a more governmental or political standpoint. The society the boys create begins as a take on democracy. As time goes on, a harsh dictatorship comes about under Jack’s lead. This shows the brutality and essentially how heartless mankind gets as he begins leading the deaths of many of the boys. This directly correlates with some real life events in the sense that a dictator will come about, seeking none other than superiority among his followers which might result in countless casualties. When Jack steals Piggy’s glasses, the ideology of a democratic or functioning society among the boys is diminished to none. Since Piggy represents sense and reason among the boys, when his glasses are taken (which are also the means by which the boys make fire), all hopes for a functioning society are crushed. After Piggy’s glasses are stolen and the society the boy’s have failed to successfully create is shattered, Jack goes utterly mad, showing the true evil which lies deep within every man. Roger kills Piggy under the leadership of Jack, and soon after attempt to kill Ralph. “Roger sharpened the stick at both ends”; showing the brutality which has taken over the boys. Jack truly represents how mankind is, although society has masked these ideas of each individual. Through evolution and civilization, man has learned to cover up and hide his true instincts. Although unseen, these thoughts are still, of course, within each individual and can be brought out at any given time, which is perfectly shown through Jack.
Dear Students,
I would like to talk about Ralph’s role in my novel Lord of the Flies. As one of the main characters and the initial leader of the pack of boys, Ralph plays a big role in the book. The boys elect Ralph as their leader for the sole reason of having the conch. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obviously, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (22). Ralph is the one who called all of the boys together, and for the most part, he seems like he has some idea of what to do. All of the boys trust Ralph and they feel safe with him as their leader. Ralph puts being rescued as their first priority and knows that they need to make a signal fire. This is his main concern throughout the book, but it is apparent that Jack’s main concern is hunting. Even though Ralph tries to show his leadership throughout the book, there are times that he puts Jack in charge. “He let Jack lead the way…Ralph walked in the rear, thankful to have escaped responsibility for a while” (103). Ralph soon gets caught up in the rush of hunting and violence and shows a side that he hasn’t showed before. Here, I’m trying to show the true nature of humans. Everyone has a part of them that is primal and savage, but the variation factor is how it is handled. I wanted to show that the boys on the island are turning into savages, even one of the sane and rational ones. The boys start to question Ralph’s authority, especially Jack. “Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can’t hunt, you can’t sing” (91). Jack judges Ralph by his standards because his main concern is hunting. They boys (now mostly savages, controlled by the mask) follow Jack because he is also a savage and they can relate to him more than Ralph. I hope you now understand Ralph better.
William Golding
Dear Students,
The conch shell plays a very important role in governing the boys on the island in my novel Lord of the Flies. The conch shell is the thing that first brings all of the boys on the island together. In my last letter, I mentioned a quote about the power of the conch. The power that Ralph has is really just the power of the conch. That is the reason why he is elected the leader. Ralph is even distinguished as “him with the shell” and someone also says “let him be chief with the trumpet-thing” (22). People acknowledge Ralph as a leader because he has the conch shell. Assemblies were important for the group because they established what needed to get done. An important key in assemblies was the conch because the person holding it was in control and was the only one who could talk. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak… and he won’t be interrupted” (33). This concept starts to fail because people start to interrupt each other, especially Jack. As the conch shell fades from pink to white in color, the power starts to fade from it as well. Then the conch is replaced completely by Jack’s mask when Ralph is replaced. “The mask compelled them” (64). Most of the boys go and join Jack, who hides behind the powerful mask. I decided that the conch shell should be destroyed to really show that it was basically meaningless. “The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). This really showed how Ralph was replaced by Jack and no longer had the power of the conch to lead the group of boys. In my novel, the conch is something that represents power and control.
William Golding
nicole lane
Dear students,
In my book, the Lord of the Flies, I wrote about the character Roger, who was made out in the beginning of the book as just a follower to his “leader” Jack but towards the end of the book he basically reveals himself to be an angry, cold-hearted boy. I made Roger this way so that it brought the book together and sort of gave you readers a sense of suspension. Roger ties into one of the motifs that I had made into the novel. You students probably already can guess what that motif is but if you can’t it is the beast. As you have read, the boys on the island think there is a beast but really the only beast is themselves. They are the ones who torture and scare each other throughout the novel. I bet you would have never guessed that Roger would be made out to seem like a beast but really, he is one of the major beasts. At first all Roger did was follow along with Jack’s orders but at the end of the novel when the boys were separated into different tribes, I made Roger get a sense of power and he becomes a monster. For example, the chapter where Piggy gets killed, Roger was the one who had pushed up against that rock that fell on top of Piggy killing him. Hopefully the readers could see how Roger turned out to be a sort of beast. At the end of the novel, I made Roger be the one to have the stick with the two sharpened ends just to give it an effect on how the character of Roger had changed. Even the characters in the story could tell he was a terror. The littluns told Ralph he was a terror and was going to hunt him and kill him. I hope you students can see how the character Roger ties into the motif of the beast in the novel.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Jeremiah Sweet
Mr. Cook
Honors English – E block
December 18, 2009
Lord of the Flies – Character and Motif
Dear Reader:
Thank you sincerely for reading my story, Lord of the Flies. One very significant character that I developed is Simon. He is the character that understands what is happening on the island the best. Piggy and Ralph both understand that they need to survive, but they both also get caught up in the fantasy of being alone on an uncharted island to a certain extent. Simon seems to understand everything about their situation. The reason that Simon is not in a high position among the boys is because he does not communicate well. He has many good ideas but he cannot tell the boys them. Simon is not an awkward character in the book, but he is the character that the reader empathizes with him because they know that he is right about what his ideas are. Simon realizes that the boys are the only real “beasts” on the island, and if anything kills them it will be the boys themselves.
While all of the many things happen between Jack’s group and Ralph’s group, Simon watches all that happens in silence. Simon is the very essence of good and purity on the island. He connects with nature and everything around him. He of course represents the biblical character Jesus in every way because he is pure and sinless, but he is martyred at the end of the story by the people that started out as his friends. Simon is not the main character in the story, but he is the most complex and hardest to understand. It is hard to figure out what Simon’s character means at first because he does not speak often in the book about what his opinions are. The fact that Simon is one of the two characters that is killed by the boys makes him much more interesting. By itself his death makes his character deep because this makes the reader empathize with him and think about him more.
I also added many symbols and motifs to my story. The most obvious example of a symbol in this book is the conch shell that Piggy and Ralph find on the island in the first chapter. The boys admire the shell for its beauty and value. It is something they have never seen before. Throughout the book the conch shell represents unity among the boys, and it is blown whenever someone wants the group to assemble and discuss things. Primarily only Ralph uses it through the duration of the story. At times, however, Ralph relies too heavily on the conch shell and he uses is to call all the boys together whenever anything goes wrong.
The conch shell breaks at the end of Lord of the Flies from a falling boulder. The shell represents the last civilized and orderly thing that the boys have on the island, and when the shell breaks they lose that order. It always set apart a leader among the boys. Once the shell has broken there is total chaos among the boys. This chaos was beginning ever since Ralph and Jack split up the group, but the breaking of the conch shell symbolized the loss of everything good left on the island. Simon has already been killed and he was one of the last good things left, but the breaking of the conch shell was the end of the last good thing. If it weren’t for mere chance, the boys would surely die soon after the event after the breaking of the conch shell. The conch shell is more than just an instrument that is used to call meeting into session, it is also a symbol of the orderly life of the boys on the island. If you have any further questions about my story and anything in please feel free to ask.
Sincerely, William Golding
Tom Martin
Dear Readers,
The characters known as the littluns were put into my novel, Lord of the Flies, by me because they have a profound ability of representing the majority of a group, the “everyman. For in most pieces of literature, the common people are the ones who are first to believe the major belief at hand, this is shown when the littluns are the first to believe that there are certain dangerous monsters on the island. They are also the group of characters that are the followers of certain beliefs; they live in fear so they do as they are told by the leading pack of the “bigguns”. And because they are weak and feeble, constantly living in some sense of fear, there are moments where they littluns are exposed as being childish and homesick. Such as when Percival was trying to remind himself and the other littluns of their outside lives that they used to have, such as when he kept repeating his name and address, and started breaking down that he could still remember. But even tough the littluns can be seen as weak, they still can be just as savage as the bigguns and they can resort to being bloodthirsty and greedy for any ounce of power they can get. The littluns represent the naïve behavior of society as a whole, and how if you blend in the crowd, you are just following the pack. They are the constituents of the bigguns forceful leadership government, but they are not always loyal to it, as when it cracks, so do they. And even they can cause great hardship without even knowing, for they created the monster hysteria when they first started running in fear in the belief that there was a monster, a stated earlier. And because they were the commoners of the island, news and ideas spread fast, and greater chaos ensued. For it then caused the “accidental” death of Simon and the splitting of the two groups, and then the death of Piggy. For some of the littluns dispersed into Jack’s tribe while others remained with Ralph. This shows just how easy it is for society to turn on one another. The littluns were the people of the island, the commoners, the general public. And they represent a core meaning of the book, which can be expressed in a familiar phrase if you look at it in the right light (as you have to do for many things in my novel). The littluns existence relates to the novel as a whole through the phrase: “united we stand, divided we fall”, as this phrase can connect to most all societies.
-William Golding
Dear Readers,
Rocks are an important theme in Lord of The Flies for particular reasons. They represent death, primitivism, and order. Being on the island, the boys have lost many morals and knowledge of the civilized world, therefore they have resorted to many primitive ways. Rocks themselves represent primitivism as they are old as time and can be used in either helpful or savage ways. Order can be seen through Castle Rock, which is where Jack and his tribe stayed to use as their new camp after leaving Ralph’s tribe. Here they were to set up a new order of hunters while rebelling against their old ways. And the rocks symbolized great vigor and strength, connecting to the tribe’s own supposed basis and acts. But rocks can symbolize the act of death greatly in this novel as they show undeniable violence. The boys use rocks as some of their weapons, it is how they killed many of eachother. A falling boulder was what caused the tragic death of Piggy. And yet Piggy was the last bit of morality left, he was the one who was pointing out the errors of their savage ways, and yet this is what lead to his demise. Rocks, being an object of useful material to the boys, a weapon, a cause of death, and other aspects, became almost omnipresent in my novel. Being pulled away from their civilized society, the boys regressed into animals. And unruly boys plus dangerous rocks can only lead to trouble, as seen in Lord of the Flies.
-William Golding
Dear students,
In my book 'Lord of The Flies' there are many important characters including Simon. I would like to tell you all about Simon, as I think many readers seem to miss the importance of him. When I wrote 'Lord of The Flies' I knew I needed a character that could serve as a foundation for everything, one that was intelligent and caring. After much thought I decided that character would be Simon. In my novel he acts as the foundation for everything, Simon gives my novel a great amount of meaning. He gives Ralph exactly what Ralph needs, he gives him a friendship everyone needs when stranded on an island and he reminds Ralph of the truth. In a way Simon is like Ralph's assistant or adviser. Simon also acts as a co-leader with Ralph, he acts almost as a 'grown up'. I made Simon more mature than the others because I knew someone needed to remind the other children of the truth. You see Simon doing so when he tells them there is no beast that it is all in their heads. Simon also gets down to the very basis of my novel which is being stranded. Simon reminds the children that there probably is not anyone else on the island, that it is just them. That is exactly what my novel is about. It is just the boys on the island and most of them do not realize that there is not any other form of civilization around and Simon reminds them of the truth. That said, Simon is a very large part of my novel, and many people seem to over-see his importance in that way.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Dear students,
In my book 'Lord of The Flies' there are many important objects that show up often, motifs they are called. A very important one would be pigs. Pigs show up all the time, and I did that for a reason. Seeing as the boys are stranded on the island with no food, nutrients, etc they have to find something. The only animal I mention that is also on the island is a pig, I did this because the boys can eat the pigs. Of course they can eat all of the fruit they have found as well, but that will not give them the strength that the meat of the pig will give them. I bet none of you know why I chose a pig as opposed to say a chicken, do you? Well I chose to use a pig because a pig can be used for many types of meat. Now in my novel the boys do not understand that, but you readers of course know that a pig can be used for ham, pork, bacon etc. Obviously a chicken could be used for meat and eggs, and a cow could be used for meat and milk as well but the pig has an even better meaning. Piggy of course can be related to the pig. Not only are their names similar but they are treated the same way as well. When the hunters hunt for the pigs they abuse him, much like many of the boys abuse Piggy. When I wrote this novel I thought to myself that Piggy would be a good name for the person who is most like the pig. With that said I also chose to use a pig to relate back to the name of Piggy. The pig in my opinion is a very important motif throughout my novel because it means so many things, and can relate to almost every part of the novel and is therefore a good object to be appearing over and over.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Dear Students,
I am glad to hear that you all have read and enjoyed my novel, Lord of the Flies. The book is full of symbolism and motifs. One of the characters who carries a lot of symbolic importance is Piggy. Many of you brought up the idea that he is boy who stays most linked to civilization. Piggy is a key character in this way. His attachment to the conch shell is an excellent example of this. He uses it as a way to keep order. To Piggy the conch holds the power of leadership, which is like government. He grabs onto the conch at times when he is feeling desperate, thinking that it will somehow calm everyone down and bring regulation to the group. Even just before he dies, when at castle rock, he still thinks that the conch can govern the boys. When Piggy dies his idea of government, the conch, bursts into pieces. The fact that he Piggy is the only boy on the island who’s hair doesn’t grow out also shows his link to civilization, “The rest were shock-headed, but Piggy’s hair still lay in wisps over his head…” (64). The long hair that the boys get shows how they are turning more like animals as time goes on. So Piggy’s hair remaining the same shows that he has not changed and still feels as though there can be order among them. Piggy is held back in many ways including his weight, and poor vision. These things cause many of the other boys to laugh at him and not heed his advice. Because he is not able to communicate well to the others he is not able to keep their wild behavior in balance. Balance is the key to society and without it things can end up just turning bad.
Another key symbol in the novel is the glasses and fire. Normally glasses are kept in the specific context of vision, but here they are more. The glasses are the only technology the boys possess, and they provide them with fire. The most important factor in getting rescued is building a signal fire. Ralph realizes this saying, “Can’t you see we ought to ought to die before we let the fire go out?” (81). The glasses represent civilization because they provide the thing that will help get them saved, get them back to society. The fire, though a tool to save them, is also a tool in destruction. The first time the signal fire is lit on the top of the mountain it is described like an animal or beast. The fire lights a good deal of the island on fire and ignites a kind of frenzied excitement among the boys. This is one of the first signs of their turning away from civilized behavior and becoming savages. Very few of you noticed the interesting concept that the only technology on the island had a major hand in bringing about their fall into animal-like actions. What I meant by bring this up in the book was to say that just because a society has the newest, modern technologies they are just as prone to savage behavior, if not more so. In chapter eleven, Castle Rock, Jack’s tribe of boys steals the glasses for their own use. When they are in possession of the technology they use it not to help them get rescued, but to cook and later to attempt to smoke Ralph out of hiding so they can kill him. Here I have tried to show that technological competitiveness, such as an arms race, can bring about awful consequences. I am glad that you all we able to pick up on many of my points throughout the novel.
Sincerely,
William Golding
Molly Blewett
To the students of Mr. James Cook’s Eleventh Grade English Class:
Hello, my name is William Golding. I am writing this letter to all of you so that you may better understand my book, Lord of the Flies. In this book I have a group of characters referred to as “littluns”. These boys are a large part of the story and really help to tie it all together, without understanding their purpose, the story cannot be fully understood.
The “littluns” are the youngest of the boys on the island. They don’t do much to help out but sometimes they will. The littluns need a lot of watching over because they are so young. Piggy is usually the one to watch them. When everyone, except the hunters, were supposed to be helping build the huts on the beach the littluns only worked for about five minutes before they got distracted and went off to play. Piggy made sure they were safe then, and when the other boys went off exploring and hunting, always leaving the littluns behind.
The littluns have the hardest time out of all the boys forgetting where they came from. As a child, even a young boy, your parents and the feeling of protection, safety and home life are a big part of you. The littluns in my book are terrified that they have lost everything for good. As Percival shows when he loses it when he can’t remember his phone number.
The littluns have night terrors often and when the older boys are up they can sometimes hear them scream in their sleep or talk in their sleep. Even awake the littluns are afraid because the beast on the island could get them at anytime, just like it might have gotten the mulberry birthmark boy. The littluns keep hearing about the beast and the older boys, mostly Jack, do not try to hide from them the idea of the beast and where it is. The older boys talk about using the littluns as bate to find the beast.
The rocks in the story are important because they show details of the story in meanings of the way they are, or the way a character uses them. The rocks in my book are used as a reminder of civilization, violence, and protection.
When the boys go exploring they roll a giant boulder on the mountain, the rock crashes into everything in its way and makes a loud boom when it hits in the forest. The rock sounded like a bomb, much related to the bombs going off in the war currently going on. The boys also come across pink rock which reminds Ralph of “icing on a pink cake”. The boys already are subconsciously realizing what they will miss.
Ever thrown something as an act of violence? At one point in the story Roger is throwing rocks at the littluns, however, he is not throwing them directly at the boys; he is throwing them around the boys. Roger is getting used the idea of staying on the island and is becoming a little savage. He throws the rocks at the littluns as a source of entertainment, but I like to think it’s also out of frustration. He doesn’t throw the rocks directly at the littluns however because there is a voice in his head, adult voices, saying that it was wrong. These rocks are thrown from the savage Roger, meant to be violent but can not bring himself to be.
The rocks are a source of ownership and power to Jack. Castle Rock, Jack’s rock. Jack makes this his “castle” because he is “king”. The protection he has around his castle and the way he uses goes back to how violent the rocks are. Piggy is pushed off the side of Jack’s rock out of the savage anger in the boys. The fall off the rocks kills Piggy.
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