Lord of the Flies: Context (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: Nick Redgrove
Reviewed by: Kate Lee
The Lord of the Flies historical context
The consequences of war
Golding wrote Lord of the Flies during the Cold War
The Cold War was a rivalry between the Soviet Union and the West, and can be seen as a war between two very different styles of government:
The West championed democracy and free speech
The Soviet Union was seen by the West as authoritarian and autocratic
William Golding served in the British Navy during World War II
His experiences of warfare – and witnessing first-hand the evils of which man is capable in war – informed the writing of Lord of the Flies:
Although it could be argued that the Nazis’ dehumanisation of and evil committed against the Jewish race shaped his pessimistic view of human nature, it was also the acts he saw perpetrated by the British that shocked him:
He later said that war enabled him to “see what people were capable of doing”
He was as disturbed by the Allies’ behaviour during the war, including the dropping of the atom bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The US dropped nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities in 1945, killing an estimated 200,000 civilians
How this links to the novel The Lord of the Flies | |
Cold War parallels | It is possible to see in Lord of the Flies a parallel to the clash of civilisations during the Cold War, with Ralph representing democracy and free speech (the West), while Jack represents the negative Western view of the Soviet Union. However, Golding doesn’t seem to suggest that either side is blameless for the evil that is perpetrated on the island. For example, the littlun who perishes in the fire in Chapter 2 is not protected by Ralph’s democratic government; all sides take part in the murder of Simon; and although Jack’s tyranny is clearly detrimental, it is perhaps the battle between the two sides that causes the greatest harm. |
Impact of war | However you read Golding’s intentions in Lord of the Flies, it is clear that he believes that all of humanity has the capacity for evil and that warfare brings this impulse to the surface. Even Ralph and Piggy take part in the murder of Simon. Further, since Ralph and Piggy represent “civilised society” then perhaps Golding is arguing that even a war waged in the name of civilisation can lead to acts of evil. It is the conflict between Ralph and Jack’s ideologies, and the fact that they cannot come to an agreement, that causes the death of Piggy. |
The Lord of the Flies social context
Loss of innocence
William Golding spent more than 20 years as a teacher of young boys:
It is not a coincidence, then, that his characters in Lord of the Flies are schoolchildren
He had first-hand experience of the interactions of young people with each other, including their relationships and cruelties
Golding wanted to explore the notion of childhood innocence:
What made children capable of evil?
Did external factors result in this loss of innocence?
Or is the idea that children are ever innocent wrong?
He taught English and philosophy, and was fascinated by morality and human nature:
He stated that Lord of the Flies was "an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature”:
This suggests that Golding believed it was not external factors that caused human beings to act in an evil way, but human nature itself
Golding famously remarked that “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey”
How this links to the novel The Lord of the Flies | |
Absence of social norms | Lord of the Flies can be seen as a philosophical text which seeks to identify the source of human evil. Although it could be argued that the boys on the island copy the behaviour of the adults engaged in warfare, it is perhaps more true to say that it is the absence of social norms that allow the boys’ true nature to emerge which is cruel and capable of shocking violence. This nature, according to Golding, is capable of great evil, even if they are just children. |
Descent into savagery | As the boys become further and further removed from the society they once knew, they become more capable of evil. This is evident in many ways: hunting – and then killing – the pigs makes it easier to commit violent acts against each other; wearing face-paint frees them of the “self-consciousness” of civilisation; having longer hair and wearing fewer clothes removes the physical markers of society; Jack and the hunters’ speech becomes more primal and monosyllabic; and the boys engage in more and more “savage” practices, like ritual ceremonies and dances. |
Piggy’s dehumanisation and fate | It is also a deliberate choice by Golding that the character of “Piggy” is killed. Throughout, he is dehumanised to the extent that he is referred to as an animal and treated like the island’s other animals, which subsequently leads to him being killed. However, it could also be said that as the novel progresses, the boys all treat each other less like human beings, and more like beasts. |
Social class
England in the 1950s was characterised by a deeply entrenched class system that significantly impacted people’s live and opportunities
People born into the middle or upper classes had substantial advantages over those born into the working class:
They typically had better access to education, including private schools and prestigious universities
Their social connections and family networks often provided easier pathways to desirable careers
They generally enjoyed greater financial security and inherited wealth
Working-class people had low status and faced many challenges:
They often had limited educational opportunities, with many leaving school at a young age to enter the workforce
Manual labour and factory work were common occupations
There was less social mobility, making it difficult to move up the socio-economic ladder
How this links to the novel The Lord of the Flies | |
Social hierarchy | In Lord of the Flies, there is a clear distinction between Piggy (who is working class) and the rest of the boys. Piggy has an accent which highlights his low social status. We can assume that most of the boys have been educated in private schools, while Piggy’s grammatical errors suggest that he has not. As a result of being working class, and thus being of a lower status, Piggy is treated badly by the other boys. He is mocked for his accent and his ungrammatical speech; he is dehumanised to the extent that the other boys never ask him his real name and he is only referred to by a cruel nickname; he is verbally and physically abused by Jack. |
Ralph’s perceived superiority | Furthermore, despite the fact that Piggy is clearly the most intelligent boy on the island, and devoutly loyal to Ralph and his leadership, Ralph never defends him from abuse. In fact, Ralph states that his father is a commander in the English Navy, highlighting his family’s high status and hence his perceived superiority over characters like Piggy. Here Golding suggests that class is a powerful – and harmful – social force. He also appears to suggest that the English class system neglects intelligence and talent in favour of status and reputation. Because he is working class, Piggy could never hold a leadership position, however suitable he might be. |
Christianity
There is a lot of Christian imagery in Lord of the Flies, but William Golding is not attempting to create a straightforward religious allegory:
Instead, he uses religious symbolism to explore ideas about human nature, and human goodness and evil
It is unclear whether Golding himself believed in God, but he was certainly raised in a household that did not practise Christianity:
His father was a science teacher and an atheist
However, Golding himself was upset when he discovered his father’s atheism, and was himself a spiritual – if not traditionally Christian – man
Rather than interrogating the existence of Heaven, Hell or God, Golding was more interested in exploring ideas around moral responsibility and humanity’s good and evil:
These are themes that are prevalent in all of Golding’s novels
How this links to the novel The Lord of the Flies | |
Good versus evil | In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Christian religious symbolism to explore ideas about morality and good and evil. For example, Simon can be interpreted as a symbol of Jesus Christ and the sacrificial pig’s head could be seen as representing the Devil. Further the island itself could be seen to represent the Garden of Eden. |
Inner demons | However, Golding isn’t commenting on Christianity directly with these references, or the existence of external evil (from the Devil, for example). Instead, he concludes that the source of humanity’s evil is human nature itself: the boys themselves are the cause of all evil on the island. His view is pessimistic: Simon is killed because of humanity’s inherent savagery; the island (a kind of paradise) is destroyed by the boys’ desire to kill. Indeed, the sacrificial pig’s head is not some external force as Simon is terrorised by his own imagination. |
The Lord of the Flies literary context
The 1950s saw a rise in dystopian and allegorical literature, with authors using fiction to comment on social and political issues. Golding’s novel can be viewed as part of this trend alongside works like George Orwell’s 1984 (published in 1949) and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (published in 1953).
Lord of the Flies is sometimes referred to as psychological fiction, or philosophical fiction, but its genre can be neatly defined simply as allegory
The novel is written in the form of an allegory:
An allegory is a fictional work in which the characters and events represent particular qualities or ideas
Lord of the Flies uses its setting and characters to represent the whole of human society
Golding’s work has been compared to R.M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island (1858), a Victorian adventure novel that also features British boys stranded on an island
However Golding’s novel subverts Ballantyne’s work, presenting a darker view of human nature
Much like Ancient Greek tragedies, Golding utilises a technique known as the unity of place in Lord of the Flies:
The unity of place means that the story takes place in just one location
Much like Ancient Greek tragedy, Lord of the Flies also contains morally flawed characters and death
How this links to the novel The Lord of the Flies | |
Allegory | Different characters represent different aspects of human nature: Roger represents human evil, Simon represents human goodness and Piggy represents human innovation. The characters also symbolise different styles of government, with different characters representing different leadership styles: Ralph represents democracy and free speech, while Jack represents authoritarianism. The island also represents a tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which the boys can create a society of their choosing |
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