Lords of the flies
Reading Guide
Preview
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
About the Author
Background
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1983, William Golding (1911–1993) gained worldwide prominence with his first published novel, Lord of the Flies (1954). He was born in
Cornwall, England, the son of a schoolmaster.
While in college, he published a book of poems. He became a teacher in 1939, just as
World War II began. The following year, he joined the Royal Navy and eventually participated in the historic D-Day landing in France on June 6, 1944.
Golding’s war experiences influenced his dark views about human nature, which he later expressed in his writing. The war was a turning point for Golding. “I began to see what people were capable of doing,” he said. “Where did the Second World War come from? Was it made by something inhuman and alien—or was it made by chaps with eyes and legs and hearts?” Golding’s later novels include The
Inheritors (1955), Free Fall (1959), and The Paper
Men (1984).
Lord of the Flies is based on a popular 1857
English novel, The Coral Island, by Robert
Michael Ballantyne. That novel, like Golding’s, is about boys shipwrecked on a Pacific island.
However, in Ballantyne’s story, the characters live in harmony and happiness. Golding created his novel to offer what he felt was a realistic alternative to Ballantyne’s book. Golding’s characters do not live in harmony and order, and the book relates what happens as a result.
Golding stated that Lord of the Flies was “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.” He felt that the inherent evil of individuals required the constraints of society in order for social order to be maintained. Golding’s view is contrary to that of philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who believed that individuals in the state of nature are essentially good, and that the corruption of the natural state of goodness can be attributed to living
Preview
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
About the Author
Background
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1983, William Golding (1911–1993) gained worldwide prominence with his first published novel, Lord of the Flies (1954). He was born in
Cornwall, England, the son of a schoolmaster.
While in college, he published a book of poems. He became a teacher in 1939, just as
World War II began. The following year, he joined the Royal Navy and eventually participated in the historic D-Day landing in France on June 6, 1944.
Golding’s war experiences influenced his dark views about human nature, which he later expressed in his writing. The war was a turning point for Golding. “I began to see what people were capable of doing,” he said. “Where did the Second World War come from? Was it made by something inhuman and alien—or was it made by chaps with eyes and legs and hearts?” Golding’s later novels include The
Inheritors (1955), Free Fall (1959), and The Paper
Men (1984).
Lord of the Flies is based on a popular 1857
English novel, The Coral Island, by Robert
Michael Ballantyne. That novel, like Golding’s, is about boys shipwrecked on a Pacific island.
However, in Ballantyne’s story, the characters live in harmony and happiness. Golding created his novel to offer what he felt was a realistic alternative to Ballantyne’s book. Golding’s characters do not live in harmony and order, and the book relates what happens as a result.
Golding stated that Lord of the Flies was “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.” He felt that the inherent evil of individuals required the constraints of society in order for social order to be maintained. Golding’s view is contrary to that of philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who believed that individuals in the state of nature are essentially good, and that the corruption of the natural state of goodness can be attributed to living