INTRODUCTION TO LORD OF THE FLIES - by William Golding

1. INTRODUCTION TO LORD OF THE FLIES - by William Golding

2. Essential Questions: • What is the nature of man? • What are the qualities of effective leadership? • How do you effectively govern? • Upon what, primarily, does survival most depend?

3. More Essential Questions… • How are our human flaws revealed? What do our flaws reveal about us? • How does Golding use setting and characters in Lord of the Flies to express his ideas about people?

4. What should you come to understand by the end of this novel study? • People’s baser instincts are often stronger than their nobler ones in creating human societies. • The defects in society are related to the defects in human nature. • Novelists often use their fiction to make statements about their personal or political beliefs.

5. Words associated with instinct Words associated with the mind Draw two columns in your notes. As you review/discuss the novel, record the following: • ?????? • ?????? • ?????? • ?????? • ?????? • ??????

6. Philosophical Background: Rousseau • Contrary to his earlier work, Rousseau (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva in 1712) claimed that the state of nature is brutish condition without law or morality, and that there are good men only as a result of society's presence.

7. “The Social Contract” • Because he can be more successful facing threats by joining with other men, he has the impetus to do so. He joins together with his fellow men to form the collective human presence known as "society." "The Social Contract" is the "compact" agreed to among men that sets the conditions for membership in society.

8. The Noble Savage • In his early writing, Rousseau contended that man is essentially good, a "noble savage" when in the "state of nature" (the state of all the other animals, and the condition man was in before the creation of civilization and society), and that good people are made unhappy and corrupted by their experiences in society.

9. “Noble Savage” • He viewed society as "artificial" and "corrupt" and that the furthering of society results in the continuing unhappiness of man.

10. Spiritual Background: Original Sin • Original sin is said to result from the Fall of Man, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of a particular tree in the Garden of Eden.

11. “Original Sin” • This first sin ("the original sin", as distinct from "original sin"), an action of the first humans, is traditionally understood to be the cause of "original sin", the fallen state from which humans can be saved only by God's grace.

12. Nature vs. Nurture • The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an individual's innate qualities ("nature“), versus personal experiences ("nurture") in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.

13. “Tabula Rasa” • The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from "nurture" is known as tabula rasa ("blank slate").

14. Freud’s human psyche: The ID (it) • Id – biological/inherited components of personality. • Impulsive. Responds directly and immediately to the instinct. • Demands immediate satisfaction. (pleasure principle) • Not affected by reality, logic, or the everyday world. Chaotic and totally unreasonable.

15. Freud part 2: the EGO (I) • Ego: “that part of the Id which has been modified by direct influence of the external world.” • Works by reason (unlike the id). • Seeks pleasure and avoids pain by devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. • Has no concept of right or wrong. Something is considered “good” if it brings satisfaction without causing harm to the ego or id.

16. Freud part 3: Super-ego (above I) • Incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from parents/others. • Its function is to control the id’s impulses, especially those which society forbids. • Consists of two systems: conscience and ideal self (imaginary picture of how you ought to be). • Can punish the ego with guilt.

17. What do you know about Beelzebub? It is another name for the devil. Beelzebub comes from a Greek word that means ‘lord of flies’

18. In Golding’s day a popular boys adventure story was… • The Coral Island • A story most boys and adults in England would be familiar with.

19. The Coral Island • Written in 1858 • A group of boys gets stranded on a deserted, tropical island • The major characters are Jack, Ralph, and Peterkin • It’s an adventure story with a happy ending

20. What are some stories you know of that involve people on tropical islands? What kinds of things happen in these stories?

21. Lord of the Flies continued • The novel takes place during a fictional atomic war. • A group of British schoolboys are flown out of their country to protect them from the horrors of war.

22. Lord of the Flies continued • However, their plane crashes, killing all the adults on board. • The boys remain stranded on the tropical island to fend for themselves…

23. Lord of the Flies facts • Most of the characters, actions and objects in the novel symbolize larger ideas • Golding’s novel deals with the conflict between the rational mind and primal instinct

24. All of Golding’s novel takes place on the remote tropical island.

25. In preparation for reading the novel, look over your Anticipation Guide:

26. Look at the statements on your Anticipation Guide. Complete the left-hand column – putting + for agree and – for disagree.As you discuss the novel with yourgroup, decide if the narrativesupports or does not support each statement.Include chapters or page numbersthat can serve as text evidence.

27. Would You Survive? • You’re lost in the wilderness, stranded atop a mountain or helplessly adrift at sea! (Never mind how you got there…just play the game). What should you do? Your very survival depends on how much you know about your present environment and situation.

28. Who Should Survive? • A severe storm has crippled a small ship, and the only remaining lifeboat has room for only seven people. You have no hope of reaching civilization, but there’s a fairly good chance that you can make it to one of many small, uncharted, and unpopulated islands in the area.

29. Who Should Survive, continued? • You may have to remain on such an island for years. Your task is to choose which seven people should be allowed on the lifeboat, and hence, be allowed to survive.

30. Assessments • Answers to discussion questions • Anticipation guide • Drawing of island • Group participation • Character poem and symbol • Essay: Literary Analysis/Argument essay • Socratic Seminar

31. Review & Discussion Schedule • Chapters 1-3………….8/26 • Chapters 4-6………….8/27 • Chapters 7-9………….8/28 • Chapters 10-12……….8/29 • Discussion answers. . .9/04 **Be prepared every day to add your insights to group discussions.