slide-deck

1.

Exploring structure,
allegory and genre in
Golding's 'Lord of the
Flies'
English
Unit: ‘Lord of the Flies’

2.

Outcome
I can explain how Golding structures the text and subverts the
traditional adventure novel genre.

3.

Keywords
tyranny
an extremely brutal and cruel style of
leadership
allegory
a story, poem or image that has a hidden message, typically
a moral or political one
foreshadowing
an advanced warning of what is to come in the future of a
text
to subvert
to undermine or go against the expected norm
inevitable
certain to happen - unavoidable

4.

Lesson outline
Exploring structure, allegory and genre in Golding's 'Lord
of the Flies'
Tracking death across the novel
Allegory and genre

5.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Discuss: what is structure?
Structure is how the text has been put together - what
comes where and why.
We are going to analyse Golding’s use of structure by tracking death through the
novel.
Arguably, the deaths drive the plot forward, so tracking the deaths can be a useful
way of discussing Golding’s use of structure.
Discuss: can you give any examples of deaths in ‘Lord of the Flies’?

6.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Here are some of the deaths you might have mentioned in
chronological order:
1. We learn that the “littlun” with the “mulberry” birthmark has died in the
fire - Chapter 2
2. Jack attempts to kill two pigs, that both get away - Chapter 3
3. Jack kills a pig - Chapter 4
4. The death of Simon - Chapter 9
5. The death of Piggy - Chapter 11
6. The intended death of Ralph - Chapter 12
The first death in the novel - the death of the “littlun” - is entirely
accidental.
There
was
no intention
in this
death
- itinwas
careless
Discuss:
what
is significant
about
the first
death
the anovel?
accident caused by the boys’ negligence.

7.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Here are some of the deaths you might have mentioned in
chronological order:
1. We learn that the “littlun” with the “mulberry” birthmark has died in the
fire - Chapter 2
2. Jack attempts to kill two pigs, that both get away - Chapter 3
3. Jack kills a pig - Chapter 4
4. The death of Simon - Chapter 9
5. The death of Piggy - Chapter 11
6. The intended death of Ralph - Chapter 12
Discuss: what do you notice about how the deaths escalate? Can you
identify any patterns in the deaths?

8.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Here is Aisha’s idea:
As the deaths progress, I think they get
more intentional. The first death of the
“littlun” with the birthmark was a tragic
accident, but the killing of the pigs,
Simon and Piggy were intentional.
Discuss: do you agree that the killing of Simon was intentional or not? Why?
Why not?

9.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
On the subject of death, Andeep had this to say:
II think
that there
was aharder
real opportunity
for the
boys,than
boththe
find each
new death
to digest and
process
after
the “littlun”
died
after
they that
killed
Simon,
reflect
last one
because
theand
more
deaths
occur,
thetomore
on
their actions
and
make changes
their
to to
preventable
they
become.
The boystohad
anbehaviour
opportunity
ensure
further
deaths
occurred.
Ralph
seemed
preventno
any
further
deaths
after theOnly
death
of the
“littlun”to
and
be
reflective
they
failed. and brave enough to recognise how brutal
Simon’s death was and take responsibility for it.
Discuss: whose death do you find most shocking in the novel and why? Do
you think there was any point at which the boys could have turned back and
prevented any further deaths?

10.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Here are the deaths in order again:
1. We learn that the “littlun” with the “mulberry” birthmark has died in the
fire - Chapter 2
2. Jack attempts to kill two pigs, that both get away - Chapter 3
3. Jack kills a pig - Chapter 4
4. The death of Simon - Chapter 9
5. The death of Piggy - Chapter 11
6. The intended death of Ralph - Chapter 12
Discuss:
Why do you think Golding orders the deaths in this particular way?
Whose death do you think Golding was leading up to?

11.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Here are some ideas:
The order of the deaths to me is very significant. I think Golding
wanted to end the novel on the intended death of Ralph, because
Ralph represents democracy and civilisation, so in seeking to kill
Ralph, Golding illustrates how the boys are no longer simply
ignoring their civility, but they are now seeking to actively destroy it.
Also, all the deaths of people except Ralph’s intended death have
been committed in the heat of the moment - they have been
spontaneous moments where the boys’ self-control has failed.
Ralph’s death has been plotted meticulously, which makes it spinechilling.

12.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
I knew that Jack would try to kill both
Piggy and Ralph before it happened.
Discuss: how did Aisha know this? At what point do we realise that Piggy
and Ralph may die?
Golding foreshadows the death of Piggy throughout the novel through the
escalating violence displayed towards the pigs during the boys’ hunting
efforts. Piggy’s name links him to the pigs. The alarming escalation in
Jack’s violence towards the pigs meant that ultimately, it was highly likely
that he, or one of his hunters would direct their brutality towards the next
living creature - Piggy.

13.

Tracking death across the novel
Check
What does foreshadowing mean?
a
using a character or an object to represent a specific idea in
a text
b
an advanced warning of what is to come in the future of a
text
c
repeating images across a text

14.

Tracking death across the novel
Explanation
Discuss:
● What do you think would have happened if the boys had not been rescued
and Ralph had been killed?
● Where might the violence have been directed to next?
● What do you think the group of boys would have looked like after a few more
months on the island?
I think that Roger and Jack would keep killing members
of the group until only they remained. I think Roger is the
most ruthless character, so he may be the only survivor.

15.

Task A
Tracking death across the novel
Practice
Using the conversations you have had this lesson, discuss the
following question with your peers, making bullet-point notes of
any interesting ideas raised:
How does Golding structure the novel to make the death of Piggy (and the
intended death of Ralph) inevitable?
You may wish to discuss:
missed opportunities for redemption/reflection
escalating violence
the deaths of the pigs alongside the deaths of the humans
Golding’s use of foreshadowing

16.

Task A
Tracking death across the novel
Feedback
Did you refer to these parts of the text?
● at the end of Chapter 2, when the boys refuse to verbalise the fact
that the mulberry-birthmark “littlun” has died in the fire - this could
have been a redemptive moment
● when Ralph is the only character to acknowledge that Simon’s death
was “murder” and not an “accident” in Chapter 10
● when Roger and Jack brutalise and torture the sow in Chapter 8
If not, consider how you might use these sections of text to strengthen your
discussion about structure and Golding’s use of foreshadowing.

17.

Lesson outline
Exploring structure, allegory and genre in Golding's 'Lord
of the Flies'
Tracking death across the novel
Allegory and genre

18.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
‘Lord of the Flies’ is an allegory.
This means that Golding is using the novel to convey a political or moral message.
Golding employs his characters and plot to represent more abstract ideas that are
moral or philosophical.
Discuss: which historical events does this novel allude to?

19.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
A ‘children’s’ book is perhaps more
accessible.
The novel humanises the message
- we see the impact of tyranny
upon the characters.
Discuss: why do you think Golding didn’t just write a historical
account about World War II or a formal essay about the dangers of
control and dictatorial leadership?
Discuss: do you think that ‘Lord of
the Flies’ is a children’s book? Why?
Why not?
An essay could feel like you
are being lectured at and put
people off.

20.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
Discuss: an allegorical text is a text we learn something from.
What do you think we learn from ‘Lord of the Flies’?
● the importance of rules and laws
● the dangers of tyranny and dictatorial leadership
● human beings’ capacity for evil and wickedness
Now, let’s look at how Golding delivers these allegorical messages to us through
his use of genre.

21.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
In Chapter 1, when the boys learn that there are no adults on the island,
they excitedly remark that being on the island will be like being part of a
book. They reference:
● ‘Treasure Island’
● ‘Swallows and Amazons’
● ‘Coral Island’
TheseDiscuss:
books arewhat
all adventure
novels about children who have great
do you know about these books?
and
adventures
without
adults
around
either by
or by
Thisepic
reference
is ironic
because
instead
of -having
an choice
adventure
full of
Discuss:
why
might
this
reference
be
ironic?
circumstance
(by know
shipwreck
adventure).
fun and
discovery,
the anything
boys’ortime
on the
island
a be
living
If you
don’t
about
them,
whatturns
mightinto
they
about,
nightmare
- because
of one another!
looking
at their titles?

22.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
Let’s look at the allusions Golding makes to ‘Coral Island’ in more
detail.
● ‘Coral Island’ was written in 1857
● it is about three boys: Ralph, Jack and Peterkin who are stranded on a desert
island
● Ralph initially declares that he should be leader, but Jack soon insists that he
would like to lead - this is agreed
● throughout the course of the novel, the boys are threatened by “savage”
tribes, that inhabit the surrounding islands
● at one point, Ralph is kidnapped by members of a tribe, but is ultimately
returned unharmed
Discuss: what similarities and differences are you noticing between
Ballantyne’s ‘Coral Island’ and Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’?

23.

Allegory and genre
Explanation
Golding remarked that in writing ‘Lord of the Flies’, he wanted to
explore what would “actually” happen if a group of boys were stranded
on a deserted island - he wanted to show how he believed they would
actually behave.
Discuss: whose portrayal of a group of boys being stranded on a desert
island do you think is most realistic and likely - Ballantyne’s or Golding’s?
Why?
Perhaps
Golding
is do
trying
show
that uses
whilstthe
some
(like
Discuss:
why
you to
think
Golding
samepeople
character
names as
Ballantyne)
previously
had
integrity
of mankind, the war has
Ballantyne?
Why did
hebelief
make in
thethe
allusion
so obvious?
shown Golding that humankind are the true savages or monsters.

24.

Allegory and genre
Check
Which of the following statements are true?
a
‘Coral Island’ was inspired by ‘Lord of the Flies’.
b
The outcomes of both novels are the same.
c
Golding used some of the same character names as Ballantyne.
d
Golding disagreed with Ballantyne’s portrayal of unsupervised
boys’ behaviour.

25.

Task B
Allegory and genre
Practice
Discuss:
Why do you think Golding subverts the traditional ‘children’s adventure novel’
genre to create something utterly horrifying?
What allegorical message is he trying to convey in doing this?

26.

Task B
Allegory and genre
Feedback
Here are some ideas you might have discussed:
● Golding arguably subverted the traditional children’s adventure novel
perhaps to emphasise the idea that, after the war, innocence has been
lost - these children’s adventure books are no longer representative of
the experiences of children in the post-war era
● children are frightened of so many fictional monsters and imagined
threats growing up, so Golding creates a horrifying moment of
realisation that human beings are actually the greatest threat to
humanity
● Golding returned to teaching after the war - perhaps he recognised
tyrannical or dictatorial traits in some of his students and it led him to
question how children might behave without the influence of adults or
rules

27.

Exploring structure, allegory and genre in Golding's 'Lord of the
Summary Flies'
● the deaths in the novel drive the plot - they escalate in brutality and
intention as the novel progresses
● Golding foreshadows the death of Piggy and the attempted murder of
Ralph from the beginning of the novel
● Golding’s novel is an allegory about the importance of rules and the
innate evil of mankind
● Golding alludes to Ballantyne’s ‘Coral Island’ throughout the novel,
arguably to offer a different perspective of the same situation
● Golding subverts the children’s adventure novel genre to create a
horrifying allegory about the true nature of evil

28.

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