Lord of the Flies, Master Resource

Lord of the Flies

Compiled Resources, Officiated by Rae Lee

Copyright to Claimed Addresses

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How to Cite MLA Books:

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/>

Topic/Themes and Thesis:

Throughout Golding’s novel There are many themes that relate to the time of the author, and his experiences. Some of these themes include:

• The Second World War (WWII)

• Communist Law

• Evil

• Good

• The Questioning of Humanity

• Technological advances

• Fear

• Masculinity and Femininity

• Brain-Washing

• Savagery

• Power-struggles

• Mob Mentality

Golding also worked several angles in his novel, entertaining new (at the time) sociological and psychological theories.

• Sigmund Freud – Ego, Superego, and Id. (Freudian Theory)

• Karl Marx- Class Conflict (Marxist Ideology)

• Social Darwinism

• Loss of Humanity

• Microcosm and Macrocosm

• Contrast/Clash

Videos:

Golding speaking about Lord of the Flies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnfSV27vLY

Explanation of Freudian Theory: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vFf5CS27-Y>

Marxist Theory: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3u4EFTwprM>

Phillip Zimbardo: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg>

THESIS CRASH COURSE:

Thesis = the thing you are arguing, usually an answer yes/no to the topic or why factor.

A good way to back up your thesis is to provide many real-life, and valuable examples to support the importance of your argument.

Without a thesis your essay is invaluable. Make it strong and known that it is always the main point you are defending, when introduced, when proven with each topic sentence, and with closing.

A good thesis will have the audience (teacher, if being marked) want to read about your reasoning for your opinion. Dedicate time to your introduction to make if fast pace, appealing, and attention drawing.

Stick to the format that is provided. Do not state your thesis first, as you must start with general/vague details into extreme specifics.

The Introductory:

• At least 4-5 real-life connections. (Universal Statement

• Use in-text citations

• Gripping vocabulary (use thesaurus)

• Strong thesis

• Listing of topics that prove thesis

• Always speak in third person.

• Always speak as though a character is in the present tense. (Jack ­is a malevolent child. v.s Jack was a malevolent child)**

**Why? It creates a stronger voice. Also you must pretend as though the audience unaware of certain events in a book until you mention them in your essay. (E.I. “Lenny was a good person with good intentions” the was makes the reader assume that he is dead or changes magnificently. Even though he did die at the END of, of Mice and Men, it cannot be said that he did until the end of the essay.

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Follow the structure of an essay, provided below in diagram and text. Note that Chronology is a very important element of an essay that cannot be skipped. Make sure your essay flows with the same flow as the book, start to end.

Structure:

Sample

Rae Lee

Ms. Murray

ENG2D-D

18 December 2014

Humanity of the Flies

Humanity is fragile. Without certain structures and norms followed, the society will collapse. In the world, there are examples of failing societies. Hitler, who ran his dictatorship fiercely, masked his murders of the Jewish people by calling it “Social Darwinism.” This practice suggests that natural selection should be enforced, and was created by Herbert Spencer, a 18th century philosopher and sociologist. (Haskings-Winner... 104)Eugenics, the practice of killing the weak and breeding the successful, was Hitler’s main focus during World War II. (Youtube) Hitler came uncomfortably close to his goal of eradicating the “weak” races, but as the war ended, he was found out, and he fell from power. Nobody knows what had actually happened to Hitler, after he had fallen from power, some speculate he was killed, or killed himself, or fled and spent the rest of his life in hiding. Hitler was too self- righteous, which led to his down-fall and the downfall of his ‘perfect world.’William Golding, a veteran naval officer and English professor, created a story based on his beloved childhood novel, called Lord of the Flies. Golding captures the horrors of humanity; how easily regular people can bring forth their inner evil. In his microcosm of society, the boys that crashed on the island suffer from the human condition and primal instinct. They have no sense of worldly structure, or how to function as a society, which leads to the breakdown of their humanity.

Leaders in a society are the upholders of laws, basic morals and conduct. Without well-established leaders who are capable of making clear, ethical and political decisions, humanity in the closed group collapses. Ralph and Jack are the two leader figures in the population of boys that have crash landed on the island. Ralph is named chief, which instigates Jack’s hatred of Ralph. Jack’s approach to leadership reflects that of Hitler’s; often using propaganda to sway the public opinion on how to live on the island. Ralph however, offers a democratic view, making political decisions based on what is most needed in the culture, and trying to assimilate Jack’s needs and requests to keep a neutral tone between them. The indifference between Jack and Ralph makes the boys unstable because they are supposed to be the ‘adult figures’ in the group. Jack’s harassing manor towards Ralph shows the instability in Jack as a leader, because his only defence it to question Ralph’s manhood. Jack taunts him, asking “if [he doesn’t] mind, of course,” (Golding 132) when confronted with the option of going up the mountain in the dark. Jack’s moral compass is based entirely in the id, a part of the mind that is operated by the pleasure principle. (Hefner) This means that all of Jack’s actions are based solely on what he wants and believes, and that all of his decisions will be primal. Being primal, for Jack, leads to savagery. Having him as a leader influences the boys on the island to use their id more often than their ego. This leads to the loss of humanity because for a level headed person in society to function, the id, ego and superego must be balanced. Ralph ends up being the purveyor of true leadership in the end because he is based mostly in the ego (rationality) part of his brain, which regulates the superego (morality) and id (pleasure.) Jack and Ralph also have their own objects that are used as symbols of their leadership style. Jack has the pig, which symbolically can suggest that Jack’s perspective on leadership is more self-indulgent and focused on primal needs like food, whereas Ralph has the conch which represents unity. “Ralph’s ordinary voice sounded like a whisper after the harsh note of the conch [,]” (Golding, 18) which really explores the idea that the conch is bigger than Ralph, and that the leadership role is as big as the conch. When the conch is shattered in Piggy’s death scene we see that the importance of leadership has been disassociated with Jack’s tribe, as Jack no longer feels Ralph’ ideas of unity and common good are useful. Overall, the power struggle between Ralph and Jack was the first step into dismantling humanity in the society.

The death of Piggy is a pivotal point in the plot where the reader is able to see that humanity in the savages has been lost. Roger, the instigator of Piggy’s death, had always been a belligerent boy. He often is depicted in the beginning, harassing the ‘littluns’ or causing ruckus, however, when faced with the option of actually harming someone physically he feels “the taboo of the old life.” (67) This means that he feels he could be punished, because hurting someone is immoral; however there is no adult figure to instil this anymore. As Roger descends into savagery, he loses his fear of oppression by adults, and proudly wears his mask of paint as his new identity, an identity without morals that flourishes when given what he desires. When he hits Piggy with the rock, it shows that he no longer believes that there is “the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law.” (67) When Piggy is being cut short again from another one of his moral speeches it symbolizes that nobody cares for his intelligence, because they have already reaped the use of his glasses. The glasses symbolised intelligence and civilization, and for Piggy, clarity and perception. Originally, when Jack had broken the first lens of Piggy’s glasses, he broke the moral code of not destroying things that aren’t yours, but also crossing the ethical boundary of being able to use Piggy’s intelligence to light fires as efficiently as before. The first break also symbolised Jacks loss of control in himself, but, also in his humanity. Piggy is no longer able to perceive situations as clearly as he used to, which also leads to his death. When Piggy is left unbalanced, teetering on the edge of castle rock, he drops the conch, which “exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” (200) it shows that the common-good way of leading a group is not values, and can be exterminated. Piggy’s descent to the ground, and cracking his skull open, shows the true horror and reality of falling in war. Falling or failing will result in death. This mentality breaks every modern code built into western society to date. Each part of Piggy’s death and constant oppression symbolises how humanity is fragile, and if pushed too far, may fall into darkness.

Jack tortures and rapes a pig in the middle of Simon’s canopy, which had been regarded to Simon, up until that point, a place of safety and peace. Places where there should not be evil, should remain pure and untouched. The fact that Jack has decided to torture a sow, for the pleasure of it, and not because of need or want for food, symbolically shows the evil that can grow sickly in the minds of normal people. Jack, in the beginning of the novel is described as a “chapter chorister and head boy,” (23) who is capable and leader-like. He is confident and awareof his surroundings, and the situation they were in. Slowly, we see that the struggle for power makes him jealous, and the desire to hunt makes him savage. Jack, in the fourth chapter, Painted Faces and Long Hair, has Roger feeling “a darker shadow ... beneath the swarthiness of his skin [.]” (68) Significant, because Roger has been already identified as a malevolent character, who doesn’t really fear a lot, but the fact that Jack with his mask on, unsettles Roger is pivotal, because Roger suddenly feels unsure of his position in the society as ‘scary.’ From chapter eight and on, Jack is now independent from the rest of civilization; he creates his own society which thrives on torture, fear, and bribery. Divergent from his old life, and painted, he is able to detach all of his humanity, and succumb to the evil forces in his mind.“[Jack] looked in astonishment, no longer at himself, but an awesome stranger[,]” (67) who was a reflection of civility lost in a child. Jack is the prime example of how everyday people can become evil, and everyone is equally capable of doing so. Sirrah, son of Macduff in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, suggests that all good men who string up evil, are still not good men, and that everyone in the world is able to be just as evil and the people they string up. This concept, ties in with Simon’s idea of man kind’s essential illness. Golding is questioning how people think they are not all apt to do the same evil they see, and that in war specifically, evil fights evil, regardless of which side you are on. He believes that humanity without worldly guidance will create changed behaviours of the society, and following suit, the corruption of humanity.

Without structure in the boy’s island tribe, the humanity and morals instilled in them from old world England, fade and disappear entirely. Jack and Ralph’s power strugglestartedthe structural problems in the society. Xenophobia shown towards Piggy set a standard on how intelligence is valued in the society. Jacks mental and physical change personifies the loss of humanity as a microcosm to the macrocosm of the real world. The structure of the boy’s world on the island is built so poorly, that it collapses. Many left to savagery, some killed, and no sense of common good or morals. It is in mind that without the pillars that create a society, structure, trust, and leadership, a group will not survive with their humanity intact. During the war periods in history, (WWI, WWII, civil wars) individuals participating in these acts of violence, often lose their sense of good and evil; right and wrong. Countries fought other countries for beliefs and resources, not for the wellbeing of the participants of war, which is why there are so many people in this world with crooked views of how the world works. Golding creates this idyllic utopia for the boys, in which the boys poison with their corrupt societal structure. World War Two is a prime example of how corrupt societies and poor structure of morals leads to humanity crisis. It can be presumed that Golding built this story as a microcosm of the war ridden world he lived in. Humanity is such a delicate and fragile force, that any hindrance or imbalance will cause it to crack.

Works Cited

Golding, W. (1954). Lord of the Flies.Faber and Faber Ltd.: London

Hasking-Winner, Collinshaw, Kritzer, & Warecki,. (2014). Social Science an Introduction. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson: Ian Nussbaum.

Hefner, Dr. Christopher L. “Chapter 3 Section 5: Freud’s Structural and Topographical Model.” Psychology 101- allpsych.com. August 21. Retrieved on December 2014. <http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego/>

Youtube,. (2014). Scientific Racism The Eugenics of Social Darwinism. Retrieved 18 December 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmEjDaWqA4

RESOURCE

Chapter 3: Section 5: Freud’s Structural and Topographical Model

By Dr. Christopher L. Heffner

Freud’s Structural and Topographical Models of Personality

Sigmund Freud’s Theory is quite complex and although his writings on psychosexual development set the groundwork for how our personalities developed, it was only one of five parts to his overall theory of personality. He also believed that different driving forces develop during these stages which play an important role in how we interact with the world.

Structural Model (id, ego, superego)

According to Freud, we are born with our Id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.

The id doesn’t care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents’ wishes. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. When the id wants something, nothing else is important.

Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the Ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. Its the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation.

By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the Superego develops. The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.

In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person’s life. If the superego becomes to strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world. You’ll learn how the ego maintains control as you continue to read.

Topographical Model

Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. If you remember the Oedipus and Electra Complex, they were both pushed down into the unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme anxiety they caused. While buried there, however, they continue to impact us dramatically according to Freud.

The role of the unconscious is only one part of the model. Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our conscious. Our conscious makes up a very small part of who we are. In other words, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible.

The final part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is the part of us that we can access if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. Its right below the surface, but still buried somewhat unless we search for it. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the preconscious.

Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory has been likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water’s surface. The water, by the way, would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to as the nonconscious.

Citation:

Hefner, Dr. Christopher L. “Chapter 3 Section 5: Freud’s Structural and Topographical Model.” Psychology 101- allpsych.com. August 21. Retrieved on April 2015.

< http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego/#.VTmjNDHF9qU>

Google Definitions. Picture from https://www.tutormerae.wix.com/lordoftheflies

Mob Mentality: The Science Behind Why It Happens

By Sheri Dusseault

Why do people go crazy in a mob?

Our Brains Are Wired To Follow The Crowd

Do you consider yourself an independent individual, proud to stand apart from the crowd, sure you are making your decisions and are not influenced by the masses, or what is currently the fashion? Do you think you can trust yourself to stay within your own moral code, and be true to your beliefs? Do you ever wonder how people succumb to the terrible influence of apparently evil mobs, and participate in horrendous, violent or criminal behaviour? Do you think that there is no way youcould fall under the influence of a mob mentality? The bad news is our brains are wired to conform to a group or crowd, no matter how horrendous their intentions may be. The good news is, new research shows we can simply say no and stay true to ourselves.

We all conform to some extent. Let’s use something innocuous as an example. Have you ever been to a play or concert, that was, say, at best, adequate? At the end of the play two or three people stand up and applaud madly. Then maybe two or three more join them. You look uncomfortably around, scan the crowd, not sure quite what to do. Will the first few stander uppers be left on their own, looking a little foolish? Or will the crowd join them? Will you join them? If the crowd does and you don’t, you will you run the risk of looking silly, or worse, stingy with your praise, or worse yet, appear to be a chump who doesn’t have the sophistication to appreciate this fine piece of art.

Fashion Is Herd Mentality

Fashion is another example. Remember the checked bell bottoms, side burns, orange shag carpets, and avocado green appliances of the seventies? We roll our eyes and laugh at those styles today, but are our current styles really any better? Are we really any better at determining what is attractive now? Think of the current trend of wearing baggy jeans half way down your butt and a baseball cap worn side ways. Is that really attractive? Yet millions of people dress just like that and are considered to be very stylish. At one time Chinese women suffered excruciating pain by binding their feet and crippled themselves for the rest of their lives for what was, at the time, considered beautiful. Are our own ideas of beauty any less weird? Women, who appear to be on the brink of death by starvation, massive breasts filled with saline, huge lips filled with collagen: are these things truly more beautiful than deformed feet?

Moral Mob Mentality

How about moral and cultural standards? Not very long ago slavery was considered normal, and just fine, a routine part of business and commerce. It wasn’t until 1865 it was abolished in the USA. And the Africans enslaved each other as well, long before the Europeans showed up and they also sold each other to the slave traders. But they are not alone. Slavery has been around since biblical times and has been practised in almost all societies in history. Today, we are horrified such a thing could be apart of human history, but are we really morally superior to our ancestors? Or were our ancestors victims of their need to conform and avoid social isolation and therefore immune to the compassion that that would make that behavior impossible? Factory farms are a way of life in our modern world and most people think nothing of it when they buy their steak and chicken breasts at the grocery store, but will there come a day when future generations are equally horrified at the horrendous, nightmarish lives the animals we consume live? How about the way we treat the environment? Will future generations look back at us, as we do, say, the generations that enjoyed watching Christians being fed to lions as a way to pass an afternoon, or watch a witch burning, and let’s pack a picnic and get the kids dressed in their Sunday best? Common practise in days of old.

Weirdos And Trail Blazers

Think of how we think about those who don’t conform to current social standards. If they are not conforming in ways that earns our approval they are socially shunned, laughed at, called weird, odd or peculiar and maybe even bullied. If they inspire others to conform to them they are called trail blazers, forward thinkers, pioneers and catalysts.

Why Do We Do It?

So why do we go along with these things? From insincere standing ovation, too cruel and irresponsible behaviour, too contorting our bodies to adhere to current ideas of beauty, our brain is wired for us to conform.

Conforming Actives Reward Center Of Our Brain

A recent study done at Basel University in Switzerland by Vasily Klucharev used an MRI machine to scan the brains of people as they were asked to rate the attractiveness of faces. Afterwards they were informed of the average rating of each face. When they were told their opinions did not conform to the average the “error” signal in their brain was activated. Most changed their opinion and when they did, the reward center of the brain was activated.

In another interesting study done by Chris Frith and Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn at Aarhus University in Denmark found that the reward centers of the brains of the participants were activated if an “experts” rating of a pop song agreed with their own. “That shared opinion is a reward like food or money. And it has the power to influence behaviour”, says Campbell-Meiklejohn

Teenagers Rebelling To Conform

Teenagers are the most conformist of all, although they sure like to think they are renegades. Think about the “Love-In” sixties. Sure, they were rebelling against current standards of the time, but, at the same time, they were conforming to their peer group with their clothing, attitudes and free living, free loving life style. We even conform to each other with language. Groovy then, awesome now.

The Mother Of All Mobs: War

Source: By Spc. Bradley J. Clark on duty (US Army images gallery) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Conforming To Kill

So can we take this need of ours to be socially accepted and apply it to violent and destructive mob mentality such as riots, gangs and the mother of all mob mentality, war? You bet! Take military groups for instance. They are taught to be the ultimate conformers. Dress alike, look alike, walk alike, do what you are told when you are told and never question your “superiors”. For this they are called heroes, given guns and are encouraged to murder and torture their fellow human beings. The reward centers in their brains are going off the chart. So much so, that they will commit acts they never knew themselves capable of.

Losing Self Awareness In A Crowd

There is a little more science to explain why people will act in ways that go against their basic morals and beliefs. Tamara Avant, Psychology Program Director at South University in Savannah, says that when people are part of a group they can deindividuate, (lose their self awareness and sense of individuality), and get caught up in the emotional excitement and indulge in behaviours they would not engage in alone. They may not feel personally responsible for their violence as they perceive the violent action as “the group’s”. The bigger the mob, or group, the more they can lose their self awareness.

Beating Your Reptilian Brain. Make Your Own Choices

So does this mean we are doomed to act like thugs and behave like violent sheep? Can we think for ourselves and not follow the pack? Yes, we can and it is easy. Being aware is enough. Know that when you refuse to conform your brain is going to alert you with “Error! Error! Undo immediately and reward me!” Be aware that this is the reptilian part of your brain kicking in from days when conformity to the tribe was literally a life or death choice. It will pass. Very quickly. So go ahead and be a renegade! Next time you are at a not so great play and the multitude leap to their feet to applaud, just sit there. Will people stare? Maybe, so what? Do you want to be manipulated by the crowd? This crowd or any crowd?

Citation:

Dusseault, Sheri. 'Mob Mentality: The Science Behind Why It Happens'. HubPages. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://sherifaye.hubpages.com/hub/Mob-Mentality>

Rae Lee: Humanity, Good and Evil, and the Flies

There is a lot to debate about the humanity that is explained throughout Lord of the Flies, for instance, what is good and what is evil? Is evil ever really evil? Does evil live in every human being? Is evil born or taught? Is good as pure as it is preached? Sirrah, The son of Macduff in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, questions some of these elements, asking if evil is judged and hung by good men, are the good men good for hanging what is appeared to be evil? Golding creates an atmosphere in his book where the reader may identify with one or the other style of living on the island, and maybe, to their horror, resonate with someone that is perceived as evil in the end of the novel.

There are many different examples of humanities in Lord of the Flies; some may include the Beast, who turns out to be a dead pilot, carried by his parachute. This is a ragged sign of the reality of the world, sweeping terror into the boy’s lives. Another symbol of humanity is the actual Lord of the Flies; a dead sow that was murdered to disturb the peace, and gives a fatalistic warning about the inevitable humanity that was about to ensue. The idea of such an idyllic place for the boys to land on during the war is seemingly amazing, but is meant to be a metaphor of the beauty in the world being scarred physically as well as emotionally.

Lee, Rae. Rae Lee: Humanity, Good and Evil, and the Flies. Bracebridge: Rae Lee, 2015, Print.

How is the theme good vs. evil evident in the novel Lord of the Flies?

The title "Lord of the Flies" is a Biblical one. It refers to Beelzebub (who is called Lord of the Flies), one of the seven princes of Hell. In literature, the term Beelzebub is often synonymous with evil and Satan. The theme of good vs evil is not only represented by the characters, but Golding believes that evil exists within each human heart. The "beast" of the island manifests itself in many ways. It is first an unsubstantiated fear, it is next manifested by the corpse of the parachutist and then a sow's head, and finally Simon metaphorically turns into a type of beast when he encounters and sow's head and freaks out.

The author's point is that all men are basically evil. It is not society that makes them evil. Evil exists in our hearts. By taking innocent children and putting them on a deserted island, far removed from grownups (society), Golding illustrates that eventually the evil within us will destroy us, even apart from the so-called evil influences of society. Man does not need society to destroy himself. He can do it pretty well all by himself. This is a Biblical theme because the Bible teaches that man is born into sin and the only redemption possible is through faith in God.

Lynnebh. 'How Is The Theme Good Vs. Evil Evident In The Novel Lord Of The Flies? - Homework Help - Enotes.Com'. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/how-theme-good-vs-evil-evident-novel-lord-flies-161339>