LORD OF THE FLIES Written by William Golding. First published in 1954

LORD OF THE FLIES

Written by William Golding.

First published in 1954.

WILLIAM GOLDING

(1911-1993) b. Cornwall England.

Taught at a boy’s school at the outbreak of WWII in 1939.

Became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1940.

Was present at the sinking of the Bismarck and launched rockets at Normandy on D-day!

Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.

Golding believed that the horrors of war came from an innate evil in humankind.

He believed that the defects of society could be traced back to the defects of the individual.

Some people are good and want to do the right thing, but we all have that “beast within” which fights against what is right and leads to our downfall.

LORD OF THE FLIES

Beelzebub “Lord of the Flies”-another name for Satan (Prince of Devils).

Beelzebub is found in the Bible in Matt 12:22-28.

Jesus is accused of healing someone by the power of Beelzebub.

Jesus says he could not cast out demons with the help of the Prince of Demons because:

A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND!

LORD OF THE FLIES

A plane carrying a group of young boys from a military academy crash lands in the ocean. There is one surviving grown-up among them who is sick and injured.

The boys find a deserted island.

They must work together to decided how to live on the island.

Sound familiar?

FILM SYNOPSIS

RALPH:

Elected chief of the group.

Tries to keep order on the island by establishing rules and assigning work.

CHARACTERS

PIGGY:

Ralph’s strongest ally.

Very smart and disciplined but is made fun of by the other boys.

CHARACTERS

JACK:

Jealous of Ralph’s power and popularity.

Charismatic, yet rude and unruly. He becomes obsessed with hunting pigs.

CHARACTERS

ROGER:

Jack’s right-hand-man.

Doesn’t say much, but is very cruel and sadistic.

CHARACTERS

SIMON:

Extremely gentle and kind.

Looks after Captain Benson, the injured grown-up.

CHARACTERS

What themes are explored? What conflicts arise

between the characters and why?

What do you see that reflects how Golding felt about human nature?

Do you think that Golding, having been a teacher at a boy’s school, was writing about things he had seen?

AS YOU WATCH: