Lord of the Flies

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Lord of the Flies

• William Golding

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A Well-Loved Book

• Noted author Stephen King has said that Lord of
  the Flies is one of his all-time favorite books.
• It has been ranked 41 by the board at the Modern
  Library in their List of Best Novels.
• It was ranked 4 by Time Magazine in their list
  of the 100 Best Novels written in English.

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Lord of the Flies in our Culture

• Many authors and poets have referenced the images
  in Chapter 8-A Gift for the Darkness.
• Castle Rock Entertainment is named after Chapter
  11.
• The term Lord of the Flies is used by
  psychoanalysts and other social commentators to
  describe a mental phenomenon.
• A Piggy-like or Jack-like character is often
  used as a synonym for certain personalities.

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Setting

• Time 1950s, after some sort of atomic
• warfare has taken place
• Place A tiny, previously uninhabited
• coral island in the South Pacific.
• The children have crash-landed
• here after their plane was shot
• down while they were on some
• sort of trip with their schools.

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Meaning of the Title

• The title is a reference to the Hebrew name
  Beelzebub, "god of the fly" or "host of the
  fly"), a name sometimes used as a synonym for
  Satan.
• The reason why William Golding selected this for
  his books title will be discussed later (I dont
  want to give anything away!).

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Did You Know?

• Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was William
  Golding's first novel.
• It was adapted to film in 1963 by Peter Brook and
  again in 1990 by Harry Hook.
• Best Seller in the 1960s
• It holds position 70 Most Frequently Challenged
  Books of all-time.

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Challenged Classics (in US only)

• 1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 3.
  The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 4. To
  Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 5. The Color
  Purple, by Alice Walker 6. Ulysses, by James
  Joyce 7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 8. The Lord
  of the Flies, by William Golding 9. 1984, by
  George Orwell 10.The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

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LOTF in Popular Culture

• Iron Maiden composed a song about the novel.
• The song "Lord of The Flies" can be found on The
  X Factor (1995).
• It is claimed that Mark Burnett's Survivor
  reality TV series was inspired by the novel.
• Nine Inch Nails song "Piggy" is Trent Reznor's
  vision of a conversation from chapter 8 in the
  novel.

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          "Das Bus" from season 9 of The
Simpsons.
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Major Characters

• Ralph
• Piggy
• Jack
• Simon
• Sam and Eric (sometimes written as Samneric)
• Roger

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Other Terms and Concepts to Help

• Creepers small bushes, weeds, branches.
• The boys in the novel are from mid-1900s England
• Pink-the sun splashed color of the landscape of
  the island.

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Worldview Explorations

• Democracy, or voting, is always the best way to
  make decisions for a group.
• Deep down, people are basically good.
• It is possible for a book to change the way one
  views themselves.

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Worldview Explorations

1. Without rules, human beings would revert to
   savagery.
2. Whenever a group of people live together, they
   will naturally develop a struggle for power.
3. Everyone is capable of murder.
4. When faced in a life or death situation, people
   will always act selfishly.
5. Any problem can be solved if you think about it
   long enough.

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Worldview Explorations

• Children are capable of savage behavior.
• When faced in a survival situation it is better
  to be stronger than smarter.
• Is it better to give up moral beliefs in order to
  survive?

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Lord of the Flies

• Read Chapter 1