ANALYSIS OF WILLIAM GOLDING;S LORD OF THE FLIES 1

The lord of the Flies is a novel by English novelist William Golding. The novel features the experience of group of young boys aged 6 to 12 on an island as a result as a plane crash. Initially, they tried to live a civilized life, patterning their organization after the adult model until this pattern eventually collapsed after they turned savages. The cruelty and their blood thirsty nature disrupt their initial democratic arrangement.

It is widely believed that the events of the World war II where the brutality of man towards fellow man led to the destruction of many lives and property; Influenced Golding in the course of writing the novel. The novelist employed allegory and symbolism to point out the flaws mankind’s. the novel concerned itself with human nature, the boys on the island were a microcosm of human society, the boys initially tried to adjust to their new environment but in keeping with man inherent sinful nature, no sooner had they arrived than arrived than they begin to degenerate into a bunch of savages; hunting, attacking and killing. One another Golding uses this adventure to probe into the heart of man. The novel presents the age old question age of whether goodness and evil are innate characteristics or if it is learned behaviour.

The boys on arrival set up a machinery for governance they elected Ralph as Chief, they made Jack head of the choir; they vested in the choir the duty of keeping the fire, hunting, and keeping the fire burning. Within a few chapters Jack is already jockeying for power. Later in the book there is an underlying hint that Roger is increasingly desirous too. With this the novelist establishes that leadership is a tenure string that is easily cut by those who wish to usurp it.

After anarchy ensured on the island and Jack weird the testimony to the adage that says a power corrupts absolutely. He assume the statues of a Dictator, he used power arbitrary. His abuse of power mirrors the way power is being abused in the adult world. The island represents the progression of the mind normalcy to acute psychosis.

Introduction to Literature

It should be made clear from the onset that there is no real consensus or
one all embracing definition of the term literature. You should also
know that some of the definitions of literature given by scholars are
largely according to their wealth of life experience within their
locations. Before we move further, let us consider literature both on its
broad and narrow planes. Gyasi (1973) defines it in its broad sense as
"anything that is written", while Rees (1973) sees it in the narrow sense
of "writing which expresses and communicates thought, feelings and
attitudes towards life".
  The broad definition of literature appears to be vague and amorphous in
that it includes works that are not literature per se, like works in fields of
Education, Biology, History and a host of others, because they are
written. However, they cannot qualify as real literature. The narrow
definition delineates literature from its general purview to what can be
called literature as a subject of study.
For you to really know what literature is, some more definitions will
have to be given to you. This will be followed by the evaluation of each
of the definitions to see which one can be said or taken to be most
appropriate in discussing literature.
Moody (1987) writes that literature springs from our in born love of
telling a story, of arranging words in pleasing patterns, of expressing in
words some special aspects of our human experience.
Boulton (1980) defines literature from a functional perspective as the
imaginative work that gives us R’s: recreation, recognition, revelation
and redemption.
Rees (1973), after describing what he regarded as literature, summed up
that literature is a permanent expression in words of some thoughts or
feelings in ideas about life and the world.
All the above definitions describe literature from different perspectives.
Still, there are certain things that are common to them. They all
recognize the fact that:
i. Literature is imaginative
ii. Literature expresses thoughts and feelings
iii. Literature deals with life experiences
iv. Literature uses words in a powerful, effective and yet captivating
manner
vi. Literature promotes recreation and revelation of hidden facts.
Literature is thus summed up as permanent expressions in words
(written or spoken), specially arranged in pleasing accepted patterns or
forms. Literature expresses thoughts, feelings, ideas or other special
aspects of human experiences.

PRELUDE

Welcome abroad....
     This is an avenue for us all to "rub" minds together and explore {probably the unexplored} the various segments of literature. i call literature the greatest invention ; as all forms of entertainment have their origin in literature. It is a tool for unwinding... The nine muses are here...