LORD OF THE FLIES William Golding “A complex tale that attempts to trace the defects of society...
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Transcript of LORD OF THE FLIES William Golding “A complex tale that attempts to trace the defects of society...
LORD OF THE FLIESWilliam Golding
“A complex tale that attempts to trace the defects of society back to defects
of human nature.”
Intro to Novel…
What is human nature?
Are we more a product of our environment (nurture) or DNA (nature)?
How much of your “good conduct” is dependent upon the fact that someone is watching you?
Intro cont’d
Who is at fault…When a teacher leaves the room during a test and kids cheat?
When kids drink at an unchaperoned party?
When someone speeds because they know no radar is patrolling his speed?
Where do you think evil comes from?
How would the Greeks answer that question?
Intro cont’d
What do you think is the greatest evil?
So, how do you think we try to prevent evil?
Rules/laws – to help keep us from doing wrong
Enforcer – a person in charge (teacher/parents/police)
Social Contract Theory
Social Contract Theory
One of the dominant theories in Western political thought
Criticism – some are left out..who?
Hobbes…
William Golding
Born Sept 19,1911
Cornwall, England
Remarkable parentsMother – suffragette movement
Father – school master
Encouraged William – study sciences
Two important events - life
Changed major from science to English literature
WWIILieutenant – commanded rocket-launching ship
Participated in D-Day Invasion• At sea – read ancient Greek writers – reevaluated
their pessimistic view of mankind
LESSONS from WWII
Bad people make wars – not vice versaEvil comes from within
“We saw a hell of a lot in the war that can’t be accounted for except on the basis of original sin.”
“You think you’ve won the war and defeated Nazism, so you’re all nice, decent people, but look out, the evil is in all of us
Lessons cont’d
Golding sees no essential difference between Allies and Nazis – the good and the bad – we could so easily be them!
DO YOU AGREE?
After WWII
School teacher in EnglandLearned about children – how they interact, talk, etc.
Realistic portrayal of children in the novel
Motive behind writing of Lord of the Flies published in 1954
Grief over what man can do to mankindNazis
Mengele’s experiments on children
Bombing of Germany
Stalin
Atom bomb
Golding’s Style: Realism in Lit
Emphasis on verisimilitude
Character more important than action
Characters complex
Ethical issues – subject of literature
Simple, direct prose
Objectivity is essential
Events will be believable
Allegory
Combinations of characters, objects, actions represent ideas or qualities
Teaches a moral lesson\
Garden of Eden
Microcosm
Point of View
By chapter 3 – 3rd person omniscient (remember objectivity)
Narrator isn’t character in the book
Judgments are made by the reader
“The veneer of civilization is very thin…”
Consider while you read…Is the struggle to survive MORAL or PHYSICAL?Is this book optimistic or pessimistic about human nature?Who is right? Rousseau or Golding? Are they both right?The significance of the title of the book…
Literal?Metaphorical?
THE PHILOSOPHERS
Hobbes
“Life is short, chaotic, brutal, uncivilized, and solitary” and not very much fun!
So…MAN IS NATURALLY EVIL…BORN EVIL.
Thomas Hobbes
17TH centurySocial Contract Theory– man needs government to keep peace and order
One of the most dominant moral and political theories in history of Western civilization
Individuals give up just enough of their natural rights for authority to be able to ensure peace and order
Human NatureMan is selfish – concerned with own selvesEverything we do is motivated solely by the desire to better our own situationsMan fears death most of allState of Nature – worst possible situation that man can find himselfHumans are also reasonable
So, man will choose to submit to authority and give up just enough of their natural rights to be able to ensure peace and order ie. SOCIAL CONTRACT
John Locke
Humans are born BLANK SLATES, neither good nor evil
It’s our experience that determines who we are.
We are more a product of nurture that nature.
John Locke
Believes in Hobbe’s SOCIAL CONTRACT
Natural law –
Man uses his reason to determine what institutions (government) will optimize material and spiritual welfare
Education makes the man
Used by Jefferson and Founding Fathers – gave citizens the right to revolt against the English king
Man agrees to live together under common laws
Man agrees to create a force to uphold those laws
Jean Jacques Rousseau
French writer 1800s
Philosophy – emotion vs reasonOpposed education – spread society’s contamination
Man’s natural goodness need only to be let alone to produce moral behavior
Rejects doctrine of original sin• “nothing can be more gentle than man in his primitive state.”
Rousseau and Golding disagree
Humans are born good
Abraham Maslow
Maslow is a humanistic psychologist. Humanists do not believe that human beings are pushed and pulled by mechanical forces, either of stimuli and reinforcements (behaviorism) or of unconscious instinctual impulses (psychoanalysis). Humanists focus upon potentials.
They believe that humans strive for an upper level of capabilities. Humans seek the frontiers of creativity, the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. This has been labeled "fully functioning person", "healthy personality", or as Maslow calls this level, "self-actualizing person."
Consider as you read…Who is right?
Hobbes?
Locke?
Rousseau?
Maslow
Homework: Journal Freewrite
Abraham Lincoln said, “Human nature can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.” Using examples from your own life experiences, history, and/or literature, support or attack this statement.