What do you think?
Rate this book
York Notes on "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Book by 'Golding, William.'
64 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
6 people want to read
About the author
A. Norman Jeffares
126 books4 followersAlexander Norman "Derry" Jeffares was an Irish literary scholar.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 10, 2021
This classic is one of my favourites
May 25, 2015
Interesting read as background to the novel. Little snippets were food for thought.
Golding shared a post-war pessimism with writers like Camus, Sartre and Beckett.
Golding assumes that,left to fend for himself, man 'reverts to his natural self. His hunger and his fear and his selfishness assert themselves at the expense of his compassion and rationality.'(p.37)
The world is still fighting beyond the island as the weapons carried by the men at the end remind us. The boys instinct for devastation prevails over creativity and they grow into 'small adults emulating the 'real' world they have left behind and which to eventually they return.'(p.37)
He sees the boys' degeneration towards savagery as inevitable.
Golding follows the theories of Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651) who 'asserted that man is intrinsically selfish' and 'guided by self interest'. To prevent anarchy 'an external power is entrusted with absolute authority, including the right to punish.' if the leader fails he will be replaced. Ralph is initially granted the external power.(p.38)
Ralph is granted power because he possesses the conch. 'Golding shows, by this means, how dependent we are in any organisation upon symbolic sanctions ... crow ... mace ... no community can exist without symbol and ritual.'(p.39)
'The arrival of humans ... disturbs nature ... Golding presents many examples of man's rapacity.'(p.40) 'He highlights the malevolence of what the boys do on the island by contrasting the human disruptions with the harmony and peace of nature.'(p.46)
'Fantasy replaces common sense ... The children create their own God ... we are at the point in human evolution where man turns to idol-worship and ceremony as a means of allaying his terror of forces he cannot intellectually understand.'(p.40)
'Golding frequently reminds us of the immensity of the cosmos in relation to the puniness of man ... human achievements and failures seem unimportant by contrast to the regularity and impersonality of the universal process.'(p.40)
The boys achieve a great deal 'before they finally give way to fear and frenzy. They discover fire, they make shelters, they organise hunting expeditions, they explore the terrain, they allot social responsibilities.'(p.41)
Images of light/mirage and shadow recur throughout the novel.
Golding shared a post-war pessimism with writers like Camus, Sartre and Beckett.
Golding assumes that,left to fend for himself, man 'reverts to his natural self. His hunger and his fear and his selfishness assert themselves at the expense of his compassion and rationality.'(p.37)
The world is still fighting beyond the island as the weapons carried by the men at the end remind us. The boys instinct for devastation prevails over creativity and they grow into 'small adults emulating the 'real' world they have left behind and which to eventually they return.'(p.37)
He sees the boys' degeneration towards savagery as inevitable.
Golding follows the theories of Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651) who 'asserted that man is intrinsically selfish' and 'guided by self interest'. To prevent anarchy 'an external power is entrusted with absolute authority, including the right to punish.' if the leader fails he will be replaced. Ralph is initially granted the external power.(p.38)
Ralph is granted power because he possesses the conch. 'Golding shows, by this means, how dependent we are in any organisation upon symbolic sanctions ... crow ... mace ... no community can exist without symbol and ritual.'(p.39)
'The arrival of humans ... disturbs nature ... Golding presents many examples of man's rapacity.'(p.40) 'He highlights the malevolence of what the boys do on the island by contrasting the human disruptions with the harmony and peace of nature.'(p.46)
'Fantasy replaces common sense ... The children create their own God ... we are at the point in human evolution where man turns to idol-worship and ceremony as a means of allaying his terror of forces he cannot intellectually understand.'(p.40)
'Golding frequently reminds us of the immensity of the cosmos in relation to the puniness of man ... human achievements and failures seem unimportant by contrast to the regularity and impersonality of the universal process.'(p.40)
The boys achieve a great deal 'before they finally give way to fear and frenzy. They discover fire, they make shelters, they organise hunting expeditions, they explore the terrain, they allot social responsibilities.'(p.41)
Images of light/mirage and shadow recur throughout the novel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews