The Castaways

Imagine you are sixth graders on your way to a Hawaiian Field Trip. Your plane goes down somewhere over the Pacific. All of the adults including your teacher, Mrs. Nichols, die in the crash. All of you swim to a beautiful tropical island which is nearby. The island is lush, covered with fruit trees and wild pigs, but you are the only humans.

Make a list of things that you would expect to see, hear, feel.

Predict the outcome for your little group.

William GoldingAtrocities he witnessed in war time changed his view of mankind’s essential nature.

After the war, Golding taught in a boys’ school.

Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne: three boys Ralph, Peterkin, and Jack are stranded on an island. Great happy adventures.

Jean Jacque RousseauMan is by nature good. Society corrupts the “noble savage.”

“Man in his natural state is quarrelsome and turbulent.”

-- Thomas Hobbs 17th Century English Philosopher

Without society, humans revert back to a brutish, aggressive state.

ID: (“It”)Irrational emotional part of the mind. Aggressive, instinctive, motivated by self preservation.“I want it and I want it now!” (Infant)No regard for the needs of othersAnimal nature of man

SUPER EGO: (Above Self)The moral part of usPut other’s needs before our ownStrive for perfection (Jesus, Gandhi)Controls the ID in the absence of society.

EGO: (“Self”)Rational mind, adultReasonable, compromisingLearns ways to handle the IDControls the ID because of the consequences.

AllegoryA story which has a second meaning beneath the surface of the literal meaning. The people, places, and events have symbolic meaning.

Lord of the Flies is a microcosm for society

as a whole.

The Island

Ralph

Piggy

Watch for symbolism of the conch

Read the first three pages:Make a list of words, images, associated with

the jungle, the creatures in the jungle.Look for the explanations of how they got

there, and who give which explanation.Look for descriptions of the two boys. What

adjectives are used to describe them both? What objects are associated with each boy? What do they do, think, and how do they speak?