The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

1. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding “This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grown-ups anywhere.” - Piggy to Ralph (p.12)

2. Place • This refers to the physical (geographical) location in which the novel occurs. Novels tend to have one major setting and several minor settings. • Is this true of this novel? • One setting – the island – though several specific locations on it. • Where is the novel set? Quote to support your answer. • On an island in the Pacific – 'the great Pacific tide' [Ch 3] Mentions of 'Gib' and 'Addis' on their way. Coconuts, coral reef, palm trees, warm water.

5. List the most important locations within the main settings. • the beach near the lagoon with the platform • the mountain top where they light the fire • the enclosed place in the jungle where Simon communes with nature • the spot on the beach where Jack builds his fire and where Simon is killed • Castle Rock, where the tribe set up HQ

6. Look at the descriptions on page 38 to help you draw a map of the island. Once you have completed the map, add and label the following: • The scar • The mountain • The meeting platform • Castle Rock

7. The island

8. Time • This refers to the time in which the novel is set. A novel can have more than the one time setting. It also includes the length of time covered by the story. • When is this novel set? Cite evidence to support your answer. • An unspecified time (but given the book was written in 1954, probably around then). After an atomic war. • What time span does the story cover? • They are there for some weeks, maybe months – their hair grows enough to need tying back. Yet since there are no seasons, there is no clear passage of time. • There is a significant gap in time between the events of Chapters 3 and 4. • However, the events of the last few chapters take place over a matter of days. Once the hunters let the fires go out, the society on the island disintegrates at an alarming rate.

9. Discussion Point: How important is setting to the novel?

10. Paradise Found? Is the island in LOTF really like the Garden of Eden? Find examples that show us how the boys’ perceptions of the island change throughout the book. • At first the boys see it as paradise – “this is a good island” (p.45) – it has fruit, pigs, fresh water, and a reef to protect them. • Then the descriptions become more neutral as the boys become aware of the discomforts of living it rough.

11. (contd.) “the wind pressed his grey shirt…stiff like cardboard” (p. 96); “with a convulsion of the mind, Ralph discovered dirt and decay; understood how much he disliked perpetually flicking the tangled hair out of his eyes” (p.96). We also see that the conch is fading because of the sun • After they see the beast, the island becomes blatantly menacing. When building the signal fire on the beach, the boys deliberately avoid getting wood from the deep jungle. The darkness also becomes threatening: “the skirts of the forest and the scar were…sufficiently friendly in daylight. What they might become in darkness nobody cared to think” (p.161).

12. What impact do the boys have on the island? • Basically destructive. • They scar the island when they land – or rather, the plane does. • They burn it twice – the second time deliberately, destroying their own food supplies. • Rocks are rolled to destructive effect. • They litter everywhere, and defecate where they feel like. • They hunt and kill the pigs – including the breeding sow, which is equally self-defeating.

13. The Devil’s Playground • Reading The Lord of the Flies, we realise that the island is like a huge playground for the boys. • However, all of the play on the island carries an undercurrent of menace. • Look at Ralph, Simon, and Jack on pp.36-37. What is the significance of their play with the boulder?

14. It foreshadows the boulder that will hit Piggy and push him to his doom. The boys play at re-enacting the hunt. Look at the first game at pp.93-94, and then at the second at pp.141-143. • What is the difference between the two re-enactments? • The first time they really are playing. Maurice is the pig, and the game doesn’t last long. It is broken up when Ralph announces he is calling a meeting.

15. The second time round, Robert plays at being the pig. Before, the boys “pretended”. Now they surround Robert, “jabbing” at him with their spears. They disregard his cries of pain and plea to stop. The boy’s excitement builds up to the point where even Ralph is “fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering”. • How is the boys behaviour evolving? What are these “games” leading up to? • The murder of Simon. Can you remember any other games played by the boys that mirror their destructive tendencies?

16. Setting: Society This refers the sorts of people in the novel, the social situation and the socio-economic class of the characters, as well as to general state of society, to the general attitudes, beliefs and feelings operating within society, and how they directly or indirectly affect the world of the novel.

17. What is the social situation of the characters? • They are all boys, evacuated from schools (mostly prep schools) in England. Most are middle to upper middle class – choir school, Ralph's father is in the navy. Piggy seems to be the only one from a different class – his auntie owns a sweetshop and he speaks poorly, suggesting lower middle class.

18. Does social situation or social class affect the characters in this novel in any way? • Piggy is an outsider for reasons other than his class. Jack assumes that his leadership of the choir confers privilege on him. The biguns believe that as English boys, they can do anything. The lack of girls deprives the boys of their ameliorating instinct to domesticate – and also any hope of a long term society.

19. The British Way • When Golding wrote the book in 1954, Britain still had a great colonial history. The British saw themselves as spreading civilised ideals to the occupied (and unoccupied) edges of the world. • Find some quotes that represent the British view of the world. • “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English; and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right thing” (p.55) • Which quote turns out to be ironic and why?