Lord Of The Flies Prereading Powerpoint.ppt

This is a Power Point presentation to use before beginning a unit on Lord of the Flies.

1. What would happen if we What would happen if we
took away the school took away the school
rules?rules?
•No class
•No consequences
•No authority

2. Are people naturally Are people naturally
good or evil?good or evil?
•Consider babies.
•Consider war.
•Consider our natural
inclinations (Are we inclined to be
good or are we taught to “be good”?)

4. About William Golding
•British novelist
•Born on September 19, 1911, died 1993
•Studied Science and English at Oxford
•Fought in Royal Navy during WWII
•Participated in invasion of Normandy on D-Day
•At war’s end, returned to teaching and writing
•Earned the Nobel Prize in Literature

5. The World Golding Knew
•WWII 1939- 1945
•The fall of France to Nazi Germany in
1940
•Britain feared an invasion and evacuated
children to other countries
•1940- A German U-Boat torpedoed a
British ship carrying children, killing the
boys, thus suspending the oversees
evacuation program

6. Events of WWII
•1939- Britain joined France in war against Nazi
Germany
•1940- Fall of France
•1940- Fascist Italy joins the Axis with Germany
•1941- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor causing USA
to declare war on Japan and enter the war
•1944- D-Day Normandy Landings
•1945- Bombing of Dresden
•1945- European victory celebrated
•1945- Atomic Bomb dropped in Hiroshima
immediately killing 60-80,000 people (final death
toll 135,000 people)

7. On Writing Lord of the Flies
“It was simply what seemed sensible for
me to write after the war when everyone
was thanking God they weren’t Nazis. I’d
seen enough to realize that every single
one of us could be Nazis.”
--William Golding

8. Inspiration
•Golding once allowed his class of boys
total freedom in a debate, but had to
intervene as mayhem soon broke out
•Experiences in war
•Critical response to Coral Island by R.M.
Ballanytyne
•Philosophical questions about human
nature

9. Philosophical Influence
•John Hobbes
–English Philosopher: 1588- 1679
–Man is by nature selfishly individualistic
–Man constantly at war with other men
–Fear of violent death is sole motivation to
create civilizations
–Men need to be controlled by absolute
sovereignty to avoid brutish behavior

10. Facts About the Novel
•Rejected 21 times before it was published
•It was his first novel- published in 1954
•Not successful until the early 1960’s
•On the American Library Association’s list
of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged
Books of 1990-2000.

11. Story Synopsis
•Set in mid 1940’s when Europe was
engulfed in war.
•A plane carrying British school boys is
mistaken for a military craft and shot
down.
•Only the boys survive the crash and try to
form a society and govern themselves.

12. Golding’s Message
“The theme is an attempt to trace the
defects of society back to the defects of
human nature.”
--William Golding

13. As a child, Golding had
witnessed WWI, which
was referred to as “the
war to end all wars”
HOWEVER,
22 years later Britain was
again involved in
ANOTHER WAR
to end all wars, which
caused more devastation
than was imaginable

14. Through LOTF, Golding is making the
statement that we cannot escape our
savage, violent tendencies…

15. …and without
social order,
we devolve
into a state of chaos

16. Themes
•Survival
•Power/leadership styles
•Civilization vs. Savagery
•Loss of Innocence
•Human nature
•Duality of man
•Nature Vs. Nurture
•Good Vs. Evil

17. Allusions
Allusions are references to other works of Literature
•Use of the names Ralph and Jack as the
main characters from The Coral Island.
•Simon from the Bible “Simon called Peter”,
Peter was the other boy’s name in The
Coral Island
•Mention of Coral Island and Treasure
Island
•Numerous biblical allusions throughout

18. Ti
tle Translation
“Beelzebub” a Hebrew word for
LUCIFER
However, the literal translation of “Beelzebub”
into English is LORD OF THE FLIES

19. TERMS to REMEMBER
•Microcosm = A small
world that represents
the world at large
•Edenic = Eden like,
paradise like, a
setting that has not
yet been spoiled by
man

25. Golding’s Literary Technique
•Heavy use of symbolism
•Irony
•Abundant imagery and sensory detail
•Figurative Language
Simile
Metaphor
Personification

26. LOTF Symbols
(Objects, characters, figures, or colors that represent ideas or concepts)

Piggy’s Glasses = The last
surviving evidence of the
lawful, structured world

Conch Shell = New
democracy on the island
Snake = Evil…reference to
the serpent in the garden of
Eden

27. Important Images
•The Beast = The
imaginary evil that is
projected onto the island
by the boys’ paranoia
•Lord of the Flies = A
pig’s head on a stick that
becomes the physical
acceptance of evil on the
island

28. Character Analysis
•Ralph ~ Main character
described as “fair
haired,” having “broad
shoulders…[like a]
boxer’s,” and has a face
that “proclaims no devil”

Committed to civilization
and morality

Translation = GOOD

29. Character Analysis
•Piggy \ Described as
“fat,” “intellectual,”
asthmatic, and
needs glasses

Represents
scientific, rational
side of civilization,
and social order

30. Character Analysis
•Jack ~ Described as having red
hair, wears black with a snake
clasp, ugly
Cruel and manipulative
Represents our savage instincts
played out
EVIL

31. Character Analysis
•Simon ~ Described as a skinny, vivid little
boy, who “meditates;” and he faints, which
some cultures have believed is a sign of
connecting with the spiritual world
Seems to be connected with nature, and he
has an innate, spiritual goodness

32. Character Analysis
•Roger ~ “Silent”
and sadistic
Targets the “littluns”
The only one to
premeditate murder
Kills without
conscience
Pure evil

33. Character Analysis
•Sam and Eric (Samneric)
~ Twins
Described as barely having
enough skin to cover both,
bullet-headed, and they
finish each other’s
sentences
Represent the tug-of-war
within us to remain
good

34. Character Analysis
•“Littluns” ~ The
younger kids
Represent the
common folk, who
easily follow the
lead of others into
savagery when
there is no
enforced structure
in society

35. Lord of the Flies in Pop Culture
•In Hook, Robin Williams compares Lost Boys to
savages in LOTF
•The Simpsons episode “Das Bus” is a parody
•Inspiration for the anime series Infinite Ryvius
•Mel Gibson’s 2006 movie Apocalypto has a similar
ending.
•T.V. shows Survivor and Lost are said to have
been inspired from LOTF
•2006 movie Unaccompanied Minors makes
reference to LOTF

36. Popular Culture Cont.
•Stephen King uses the name “Castle Rock”
(from the novel) as the name of a town in his
books. He also makes reference to LOTF in the
novels The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Cujo
and Hearts in Atlantis
•Orson Scott Card makes reference in his novel,
Ender’s Shadow.
•Degrassi: The Next Generation, Danny
Phantom, The Daily Show all mention the novel

37. Source of Inspiration to Musicians
•Musicians Iron Maiden, Gatsby’s American
Dream, Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos, A.F.I.,
and Danielle Dax have all recorded songs
about the novel.
Titles such as:
“Where the Flies Are”
“Touch Piggy’s Eyes”
“Lord of the Flies”
“Piggy
“Fable”

38. Words that are difficult in CH 1
1.Creepers – vines that creep along the
ground
2.Scar – the “wound” that the plane crash
has made in the jungle/in the vegetation