Is easy enough to make a broad generalization about philosophical, political or even religious interpretations on each book ( even if we consider religion in some way vinculated to philosophy), but in reality the issue is an extremely complex one. It would be so comfortable to reduce a story to a mere source of external references and to lose all the nuances that make literature a special phenomenon; I´m not saying literature is only style but it must not be subdued to its content. And, unfortunately, that is a typical contemporary quirk.
This not only happens in literature; for example, in children´s films, where the content is supposed to be political unexisting, there always appears somebody who tries to give the movie a second political reading, trying therefore to measure its value by any subjective comment. It would appear then that some creations do not have enough interest if viewed from a neutral point of view.
The fact of the matter is that literature is not a mere moral eulogistic topic. In this essay we shall try to contrast several interpretations, mainly focusing on philosophical and political aspects, including religion if necessary.
A number of key issues arise from the simbology of the book. The story is an allegory traced with great skill and allows the reader to give the book second readings.
Firstly, we would like to explain some possible meanings of the islands as a metaphor. When framing the book on an island, the author´s purpose is to freely experiment with the characters and the …
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…oo when he does not want to recognize being implied on Simon’s murder.
Perhaps the reason to be learned from this book is that we all hide a tyrant, or an evil, or a dark instinct which must be sacrificed in favour of living in society. Maybe those features are natural; but the human being is also social by nature, and so the fatal conflict could be intrinsic and unavoidable within ourselves. ‘The Lord of the Flies’ could not be a great question but a mere explanation of what we are. An explanation of human history and a pessimist message for those who believe in utopia. Anyway, if pessimism is an obstacle, it is also a challenge to be faced; and by facing trouble, if you are not destroyed, you will surely check out that there is a lot of truth in this simply, known but overwhelming phrase: whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.
Comparing Themes of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, and Pincher Martin
Themes of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, and Pincher Martin
A running theme in William Golding’s works is that man is savage at heart, always ultimately reverting back to an evil and primitive nature. The cycle of man’s rise to power, or righteousness, and his inevitable fall from grace is an important point that Golding proves again and again in many of his works, often comparing man with characters from the Bible to give a more vivid picture of his descent. Golding symbolizes this fall in different manners, ranging from the illustration of the mentality of actual primitive man to the reflections of a corrupt seaman in purgatory.
William Golding’s first book, Lord of the Flies, is the story of a group of boys of different backgrounds who are marooned on an unknown island when their plane crashes. As the boys try to organize and formulate a plan to get rescued, they begin to separate and as a result of the dissension a band of savage tribal hunters is formed. Eventually the “stranded boys in Lord of the Flies almost entirely shake off civilized behavior: (Riley 1: 119). When the confusion finally leads to a manhunt [for Ralph], the reader realizes that despite the strong sense of British character and civility that has been instilled in the youth throughout their lives, the boys have backpedaled and shown the underlying savage side existent in all humans. “Golding senses that institutions and order imposed from without are temporary, but man’s irrationality and urge for destruction are enduring” (Riley 1: 119). The novel shows the reader how easy it is to revert back to the evil nature inherent in man. If a group of well-conditioned school boys can ultimately wind up committing various extreme travesties, one can imagine what adults, leaders of society, are capable of doing under the pressures of trying to maintain world relations.
Lord of the Flies’s apprehension of evil is such that it touches
the nerve of contemporary horror as no english novel of its time has
done; it takes us, through symbolism, into a world of active,
proliferating evil which is seen, one feels, as the natural condition of
man and which is bound to remind the reader of the vilest manifestations
of Nazi regression (Riley 1: 120).