WIlliam Golding

Humans have been known to do cruel and evil things to one another. Hitler’s hatred of the Jews led to the Holocaust. Humankind has also been known to mindlessly follow very cruel leaders. Stalin led his subjects in a communism in which millions of people died. William Golding attempted to put human’s ability to be cruel to one another in perspective in many of his novels. His experiences early in life, along with his comprehension and contemplation of human traits and characteristics helped shape his novels and make them dialogues on the evilness of human nature.
Golding’s father instilled many of the characteristics that Golding mirrored in his writings. His father taught Golding rationalism and scientific method (Feeney). All of Golding’s novels were very rational and could very well occur in our modern times. The supernatural elements of his novels were something that his mother, who was interested in the occult and spirits, had taught him (Feeney).
Golding also survived World War II, serving in the British Royal Navy. His participation in the war may have made a mark in Golding’s mind. Golding saw the true horrors of war and the atrocities men could commit against one another. He also observed the horrors of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 (Contemporary). The influence the war played on Golding’s psyche is particularly evident in Lord of the Flies, when Simon is beaten and ripped apart by the boy’s tribe. This unforgivable act of violence in the novel was, perhaps witnessed by Golding during his service in the Navy. Golding also taught school after his time serving the Queen. He observed the school children’s treatment of one another. The children’s mean treatment of one another most likely shaped the way the boys in Lord of the Flies treated one another after the split between Ralph and Jack occurred (Prusse).
Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a key example of his views of human nature and man’s tendencies. The boys land on the island in the midst of a world war. They try and mimic the ways of the civilized world, but the island is eventually dragged down by the sins of its own inhabitants. Some of the boys’ addiction to hunting and killing tears the island’s social structure in two, maybe as a parallel to what was happening in the “real” world. Both the adults and children of the novel seem to have self-destructive tendencies, tearing their own respective worlds to shreds. Golding shows that men who bow to their primitive instincts drag down the men around them, and eventually cause conflict, whether it is physical or psychological (Macdonald).
Golding’s views of human nature are forever immortalized in Lord of the Flies. His time serving in the Navy and his time teaching school children helped to shape these views into what they were. He saw the evils and atrocities that man was able to commit, and preserved his thoughts to record them in his novels. The sins of man will be forever remembered by the novels that Golding created.

Works Cited
Feeney, Joseph J. "William Golding (1911-93): Lord of Horror, Lord of Awe." America 169.3 (31 July 1993): 6-7. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper and Jeffery Chapman. Vol. 81. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Aug. 2010.

Macdonald, Gina. "William Golding: Overview." St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. Ed. Jay P. Pederson. 4th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Aug. 2010

Prusse, Michael C. "William Golding." Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature, Part 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 330. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Aug. 2010.

"William (Gerald) Golding." Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Aug. 2010.

Picture:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/William_Golding.jpeg

Brave New World's Aldous Huxley

Many times in literature, novelists are influenced by their early life and aspects not related to literature. They may be influenced by other writers and thinkers of the time period, or they may be influenced by tragic events that occur. Aldous Huxley was one such novelist whom was immensely influenced by his surroundings and his peers. His characteristic pessimism stemmed from negative events in his early life. Aldous Huxley’s upbringing and surroundings greatly affected the viewpoints and opinions he expressed in his writings and novels.
Huxley was born into an intellectual family. Both his immediate and extended family was composed of known intellectuals and writers. Huxley lived a privileged early life, showing interest in science and literature. Later in his childhood, he experienced tragedies that would eventually influence his writings and stories. His mother and brother both passed away in his teenage years, and he also began to lose his eyesight due to a severe eye infection (Gale). The First World War also begins to rear its head in this time period. All of these events influence Huxley’s early works. His early poems tell of his feelings of loneliness and negative feelings toward society (Christianson).
During the 1920’s Huxley began a world tour in which he visited different countries. Huxley said in one of his writings that he longed to be, “along the road.” His travels took him many places including India, Japan, and Malaya (Christianson). He wrote many fiction and non-fiction books of his travels. His travelling supplied him with ample information and events that gave the novels he wrote character and a uniqueness only he possessed. During his tour of Asia, Huxley also began to become interested in the Hindu faith and the mysticism surrounding their culture. His interest in mysticism and Hinduism began appearing in his writings later in his life (Christianson).
One of the most influential factors on Huxley’s writings was society itself. Huxley spent much of his time contemplating the future of society. His thoughts and prophecies were summed up in his most memorable novel, Brave New World. His predictions on future society’s characteristics and attitudes were very accurate. Written in 1933, Brave New World predicted attitudes that were present years later in Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The tendency towards social unity and racial superiority is a mainstay of Brave New World. Aldous Huxley observed the governments of the time accumulating power and predicted that eventually freedom would be abolished in favor of faux happiness. These predictions may be applied to the Soviet Union, where communism was supposed to increase the happiness of its subjects, but instead robbed them of freedoms and liberties ("Aldous Huxley A Life of the Mind" 2-7).
Aldous Huxley was very much influenced by his surroundings, peers, and time period. His observance of politics, social tendencies, and different world cultures shaped him as a writer and as a person. They aided in forming Huxley’s signature pessimism and satiric tone. They gave him a base in which to prophesize future society and its many unforeseen problems and challenges. Because of his influences, Huxley will be remembered as one of the great thinkers and philosophers of the twentieth century.
Picture:
http://www.american-buddha.com/huxley_pix_1111.jpg

Works Cited

Aldous Huxley A Life of the Mind. 1st ed. New York City, New Yord: Harper Perennial,

2006. 2-7. Print.

"Aldous Huxley." Gale Online Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource

Center. Web. 19 Aug. 2010.

Christianson, Scott R. "Aldous (Leonard) Huxley." British Travel Writers, 1910-1939.

Ed. Barbara Brothers and Julia Marie Gergits. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998.

Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 195. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19

Aug. 2010.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 202

"...Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."
-Lord of the Flies Page 202
Ralph is saddened and disturbed by the events on the island. During his time running from Jack, he had not had time to fully realize the magnitude of Jack's changes and it's effects on the island. He is bothered by the thoughts of what Jack and his groupd were going to do to him if they had caught him. Jack and the rest of the boys had landed on the island as sensible young boys, but had been transformed into bloodthirsty animals. The boys' characters had no innocence left and their hearts were cold as stone. Ralph also wept for the soul of Piggy, who was the only true friend he had never realized.
Song: Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdNnw99-Ic

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 171

"I'm going to him with this conch in my hands...Give me my glasses, I'm going to say-you got too!"
-Lord of the Flies Page 171
Piggy asks Ralph to go with him to confront Jack about the theft of his glasses. Piggy believes that Jack may still have morals and give him back his glasses just because it's what's right. I don't believe Piggy realizes that Jack has no morals left. Jack does not care what Piggy has to say and would sooner kill him than return the stolen glasses. Piggy's bold decisions to go confront Jack lead to a dreadful end and give Ralph the realization that no common sense or civility is left on the island.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 152

"A thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into the horseshoe."
-Lord of the Flies Page 152
This is an important moment in the novel. This quote tells of the beginning of the first murder in the novel. The boys of the island have begun performing rituals that detail the hunts that they partake in. Simon, in the dark appears to be the beast and falls into one of the rituals. The boys savagery leads to Simon being beaten to death, marking a point in the novel in which the boys pass from being innocent young boys to being blood-thirsty mongrels.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 144

"'I'm warning you. I'm going to get angry. D'you see? You're not wanted. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island. Understand? We are going to have fun on this island! So don't try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else-'"
-Lord of the Flies Page 144
This seen sets in motion the events that will lead up to the first murder on the island. Simon realizes that the real beast on the island is inside all the boys. It is human nature that will threaten the boys, not some physical being. The encounter scares Simon to the point that he faints in the face of the pig head. The pig head tells him that the other boys do not like him, and that the island will eventually lead to the deaths of all of the boys.
Picture:http://www.dianatetlow.com/gallery/playground/Lord-of-the-Flies.jpg

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 127

"'I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too.' He blundered out of the triangle toward the drop to the white sand."
-Lord of the Flies Page 127
This quote shows the climax of the scene in which Jack leaves the original group of boys. The divisions in the boys were caused by Jack's unwillingness to be ordered around by anyone else. He wants only to answer to himself and no one else. Jack's independent tendencies lead him to quarrel with Ralph constantly, leading to his departure from the conch and Ralph. Jack believes that Ralph is a poor leader, but the others do not seem to agree. These events all lead Jack to leave the original pack of boys.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 111

''Ralph-we need meat even if we are hunting the other thing.'"
-Lord of the Flies Page 111
Even as the group is trying to hunt the beast, many of the boys can only thing of hunting, killing, and eating pigs. The thought of meat seems to put the boys in a trance where the sole objects in their minds is killing pigs. This obsession with meat is beginning to tear the island apart. Even Ralph's mind is beginning to embrace the ideas of hunting pigs. This obsession may eventually lead to the demise of the order on the island.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 89

"Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's essential illness."
-Lord of the Flies Page 89
Simon attempts to explain to the other boys what is really the beast on the island. He attempts to tell them that the real beast might be themselves. The soverignty on the island has been breaking down because of the disagreements in leadership. Simon believes that the once noble endeavors of the islanders have become skewed and evil. Jack and his posse once worked for the good of the island, but became engulfed in pride.
Picture:http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/april2007/lord_flies.jpg

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 81

"'You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see?'..'We've got to make smoke up there-or die.'"
-Lord of the Flies page 81
This passage comes from Ralph's inspired speech to the boys after the ship has passed. This act infuriates Jack because his love of hunting is belittled. Jack believes that the only important thing to do on the island is to hunt. He gets a sort of adrenaline high from hunting. Ralph uses this speech to try and get the point across that the fire is more important than anything else anyone could do on the island.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 75

"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in."
-Lord of the Flies Page 75
This chant is the first clue that the boys are becoming more and more savage. Island life is de-conditioning them from what they were taught back home in London. The boys repeat this chant in a ritual they perform to symbolize the hunt. They appear to worship the act of hunting and killing pigs. They are more interested in the pursuit of meat that they will eventually forget of being rescued and their lives in the civilized world.

Quote from Lord of the Flies Page 68

"The fire was dead...smokeless and dead; the watchers were gone. A pile of unused fuel lay ready."
-Lord of the Flies Page 68
This quote is from a very important scene in the novel. Ralph becomes infuriated when the boys he assigned to keep the fire going choose to go out and hunt. A possible rescuer floats by offshore and the signal fire is out. This event is what starts the schism between Ralph and Jack. Jack defies Ralph, saying that hunting is more important than the fire, while Ralph believes the fire to be much more important than eating meat. This division in the parties eventually leads to death and fear.
Picture:http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/gis/gishydro06/Introduction/TermProjects/FinalReport_Drake_files/image006.jpg

Final Words on Brave New World

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is an interesting insight into the primal characteristics of man. The characters in the novel progress from being civilized, English boys to savages on the verge of losing all of their civility. The book serves as an insight onto what might happen when humans are taken out of a world of law and government, and pushed into a world of total freedom and anarchy. The struggle for power between Ralph and Jack lead to the deaths of two of the more sensible boys. The book also possesses many symbols. The conch is one of the most common of the book. The conch represents order to many of the boys. It is what calls the boys to assembly and what dictates who is to speak at the assemblies. The stuck pig head that "talks" to Simon is also a symbol in the book. It represents the island’s overwhelming power. The pig’s head represents human nature. It tells Simon that it is the Beast, and it is inside him. Human nature was the Beast that the boys on the island should have feared, instead of some physical monster. Pigs were also a symbol of Jack’s regression into becoming a savage. The thoughts of hunting and eating meat possessed Jack, causing him and the rest of the boys to forget of being rescued. The signal fire was Ralph’s last connection to any civilized thought. The rest of the boys had reverted back to savages and forgot about the fire, but Ralph’s single-minded obsession was to keep the fire going to signal possible rescuers. Lord of the Flies serves as a testament to what may occur when law and order are removed and people are left to govern themselves.

Lord of the Flies Pages 180-200

The scene with Ralph running into the naval officer illustrates a very powerful oversight in the book. As the novel progresses, Golding's descriptions of the characters and the events of the novel make the reader forget that the characters described are only ten, eleven, and twelve years old. The last scene with Ralph and the naval officer gives a different perspective on the characters. The descriptions change. Golding uses words such as "little boys" to describe the boys the naval officer meets on the beach. No where else in the novel does he describe the boys in such a manner. Golding is narrating the scene through the eyes of the naval officer. The officer is met by a group of boys who appear tribal in their ways, but British school boys by their appearence. Golding also makes the boys appear more adolescent when he writes that they begin to sob after they have realized what they have become.

Lord of the Flies Pages 160-180

The conch that Piggy holds so dear is destroyed in this section of the novel. The conch was a symbol of order and social structure on the island. It was what Ralph called assemblies with and what gave one the right to speak at said assemblies. When the boys in the tribe capture the twins and destroy this symbol, along with Piggy, the island is pushed into anarchy and chaos. Ralph's mindset is completely changed with this development of the story. He initially believed that the boys would come to their senses, but now he comes to realize that these boys have lost all traces of civilized life. Their time on the island has erased the civilizing marks of society and has instilled primitive thoughts and ways in the boys. I believe this is the point in the novel in which Ralph loses all hope in being rescued. He believes that because of the boys choice to be savage, he will die on the island.
Picture:http://www.museumeducation.bedford.gov.uk/Bedfordbytes/nature/images_nature/gallery_natural_objects/images/Common%20Spider%20Conch%20Shell_jpg.jpg

Lord of the Flies Pages 140-160

The divisions in the island become even deeper. Jack's group of boys continues to become more and more savage. They seem to be regressing to a primal human state. It is almost as if the boys are devolving mentally into simple hunters and gatherers. Ralph, Piggy, and the twins are the only ones on the island who seem to keep their wits about them in the face of the island. Simon, along with Jack and the savages, also seems to be losing his sanity. His thoughtfulness earlier in the story seems to be leeching out of his personality. His delusion of the talking pig may be a symbol of how man is his own worst enemy and biggest threat to himself. Simon's theory that man is the biggest threat is shown in Jack's hostile actions towards those who did not join his group. He acts as if he may attempt to kill them off soon.

Lord of the Flies Pages 120-140

The boys split up into two groups as Jack leaves Ralph's leadership and goes off with other boys to be hunters. The two boys had held a very tense relationship regarding the island's leadership. I believe that the stories of the beast made this relationship even more tense. Both boys had different views of how to deal with the beast. Jack took a more aggressive stance, while Ralph would rather just avoid the monster to keep the fire going. It seems that Jack has lost the will to be rescued because he doesn't care about making any signals for ships to see. Ralph is almost consumed by the thoughts of keeping the fire going. Both boys are tiptoeing the line between lunacy and sanity. Simon also seems to be losing his sanity. He is becoming more and more solitary, withdrawing from the rest of the group. I believe that this may foreshadowing some ominous event.
Picture: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2007/06/06/flies460.jpg

Lord of the Flies Pages 100-120

The boys paranoia grows as two of the twins say they have spotted the beast. Jack's ego also continues to grow. He seems to be offended by Ralph's leadership. Anytime Ralph gives an order, Jack comes at him with some sarcastic or rude remark. This may be because Jack has always been in charge of groups he has been a part of, such as the choir. Ralph and Jack take turns leading a group of boys up the mountain, on the hunt for the beast. Ralph and Jack's personalites clash as the expedition moves up the mountain. Eventually only three boys are left. Jack presses Ralph to go on, but Ralph refuses. Jack's ego pushes him up the mountain, only to be deflated as he sees the beast, sending him running back for where Ralph and the other boy set up camp. Ralph is also paralzyed at the site of the beast. I feel that the differences in personality of the two boys will eventually lead to an epic clash and possibly a death or two.

Lord of the Flies Pages 80-100

The boys call an assembly to talk of the problems of the island. They talk of a beast that the smaller boys have seen. The talk of the beast sends the assembly into an uproar. Jack and Ralph begin to fight over whether or not there is a beast. This fight shows the tension between Ralph and Jack. Jack, the aggressor in the conflict, takes off with a slew of other boys leaves the assembly. The social structure of the island is in shambles and Ralph feels unable to do anything about it. The setting of the novel also lends itself to stories of beasts and monsters. The island is said to be unexplored and the boys are intimidated by its thick jungles. Anything could be hiding in the dark green mess of the jungle. The boys are psyched out by the unknown of the island, which leads to a sort of hysteria among them.
Song: Pink Floyd-Brain Damage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M00KyGpJRVY

Lord of the Flies Pages 60-80

The social structure of the boys on the island begins to fall apart. Jack's personality begins to change. The time he has spent on the island, along with his obsession with hunting pigs probably has something to do with his personality change. He repeatedly challenges Ralph at the meetings by the lagoon and he appears to resent Ralph's elected authority. Ralph becomes very angry at Jack for letting the signal fire on the mountain go out. Jack had been hunting pigs while he was supposed to be watching the fire. Ralph's demeanor on the island also begins to change. The initial optimism has died and Ralph has realized that being stuck on the island may not end well. He also begins to realize that he cannot trust many of the boys on the island to do their jobs. This leads Ralph to become pesimistic. Many of smaller boys on the island also being to resent Ralph's leadership.
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