The Themes and Ideas
What is Lord of the Flies all
about?
I really do love this book, it's rich and full of timeless warnings about the flaws of society and civilisation. The imagery and characters each represent an aspect of man's nature (I use 'man' as an encompassing noun for people). Perhaps we should think about this novel from a gender perspective though.
It was very common at the time it was written for schools to be single sex and reliant on a class system, which we see played out between the boys through their dislike of Piggy. There are not many signposts for the time it was written, making it timeless. However, the language used by the boys, such as 'Whizzo', helps to anchor it in a certain period something perhaps Golding could not avoid. There is also the reference to the 'reds', which was a Cold War term for communists, however this also can be used as a general term for the enemy so it is tenuous as to how rooted this novel is in the period it was written.
Remember too that there was no open conflict between the Capitalist West and the Communist USSR; conflict was always threatened, and as you know V Bombers were occasionally scrambled on live missions but called back at the final moment. People in this era lived with the threat of nuclear action on a day to day basis. Despite this, Golding refers to a conflict in the novel through references that the boys make and in the manner the parachutist (a.k.a. the Beast) arrives on the island (after being shot down). We can only surmise, based on the facts at the time, that this is a fictional conflict he makes use of that takes inspiration from the Cold War conflict. By using a fictional conflict Golding further makes his novel timeless as the threat of another World War is an ongoing one and familiar from one generation to the next. For instance we currently live with the future threat of a conflict breaking out in the Middle East and drawing in both the West and East!
Returning to the significance of gender in the novel, the only woman referred to significantly is Piggy's Aunt. She is a family relation, not a mother - there must be a reason, but what?
Piggy is really the only character that remains 'civilised'. The fact that the other boys have no motherly influence help to suggest why they descend in to savagery so quickly, while Piggy holds back. After all Piggy's Aunt has a sweet shop, she is part of the business class and has a position in society while the boys are almost orphaned from the family structure. The only other reference to family comes from Ralph, his father is a naval officer and so not part of society, but associated with conflict.
Is Golding perhaps suggesting that conflict is a male sickness rather than a female one?
Lord of the Flies covers so many other ideas:
Innocence
Destruction
Savagery
Civilisation
Irony
Control
Chaos
Identity
Guilt
The Supernatural
Purgatory/Limbo
Death
Salvation
Responsibility
I really do love this book, it's rich and full of timeless warnings about the flaws of society and civilisation. The imagery and characters each represent an aspect of man's nature (I use 'man' as an encompassing noun for people). Perhaps we should think about this novel from a gender perspective though.
It was very common at the time it was written for schools to be single sex and reliant on a class system, which we see played out between the boys through their dislike of Piggy. There are not many signposts for the time it was written, making it timeless. However, the language used by the boys, such as 'Whizzo', helps to anchor it in a certain period something perhaps Golding could not avoid. There is also the reference to the 'reds', which was a Cold War term for communists, however this also can be used as a general term for the enemy so it is tenuous as to how rooted this novel is in the period it was written.
Remember too that there was no open conflict between the Capitalist West and the Communist USSR; conflict was always threatened, and as you know V Bombers were occasionally scrambled on live missions but called back at the final moment. People in this era lived with the threat of nuclear action on a day to day basis. Despite this, Golding refers to a conflict in the novel through references that the boys make and in the manner the parachutist (a.k.a. the Beast) arrives on the island (after being shot down). We can only surmise, based on the facts at the time, that this is a fictional conflict he makes use of that takes inspiration from the Cold War conflict. By using a fictional conflict Golding further makes his novel timeless as the threat of another World War is an ongoing one and familiar from one generation to the next. For instance we currently live with the future threat of a conflict breaking out in the Middle East and drawing in both the West and East!
Returning to the significance of gender in the novel, the only woman referred to significantly is Piggy's Aunt. She is a family relation, not a mother - there must be a reason, but what?
Piggy is really the only character that remains 'civilised'. The fact that the other boys have no motherly influence help to suggest why they descend in to savagery so quickly, while Piggy holds back. After all Piggy's Aunt has a sweet shop, she is part of the business class and has a position in society while the boys are almost orphaned from the family structure. The only other reference to family comes from Ralph, his father is a naval officer and so not part of society, but associated with conflict.
Is Golding perhaps suggesting that conflict is a male sickness rather than a female one?
Lord of the Flies covers so many other ideas:
Innocence
Destruction
Savagery
Civilisation
Irony
Control
Chaos
Identity
Guilt
The Supernatural
Purgatory/Limbo
Death
Salvation
Responsibility
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