...AS ENGLISH 91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or using critical lens. Literature/text: Lord of the Flies Critical lens: Freudian psychoanalytical criticism Take away parents and society and you are left with mere children, who have the instinct to only pleasure oneself. This is what Sigmund Freud theorizes in his psychoanalysis. Lord-of-the-Flies by William Golding is a novel that uses Freud’s work. The Lord-of-the-Flies is a novel that depicts a microcosm of society. A plane-full of boys are stranded on a desert island, away from civilisation. Freud’s theory is that if you eliminate rules, “children are completely egoistic” – they only care about themselves. Without any parental guidance, a child relies on its instincts and this is where Freud’s theory of personalities are cleverly conveyed: id, super ego and ego. The use of Freud’s theories exceptionally allows us to have a great depth of understanding of the characters. The first part is the id. This is the “primitive impulses” of the human being. Golding used the character of ‘Lord-of-the-Flies’ to represent the id. Freud’s theory is that the id is based upon pleasing oneself.1 The Lord-of-the-Flies is the instinct that tells the boys that they do not need civilisation anymore and thus this is when savagery prevails. Golding uses Roger to represent the id. The Lord-of-the-Flies, inside Roger, turned him from a young-civilised boy to a killer, when he violently kills Piggy, as a release of his...
Words: 1013 - Pages: 5
...Mahmood Safdari March 29, 2014 English Essay Ms. Flanders Lord Of The Flies Lord of the Flies is another great book of William Golding. When Lord of the Flies opened, a plane carrying a group of British boys ages 6 to 12 has crashed on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. With no adult’s supervision the boys were free and their freedom was something to celebrate. As the time passed the boys came together and formed a group and chose Ralph as their leader. They had fun every day and were hunting pigs to eat. Later they faced a new threat which was the beast. Story started when a group of British school boys’ plane got shot over the pacific Ocean. Their plane had a crash on an inhabited Island. A few of them died but most of them survived. The terrified children found themselves on an inhabited deserted island. The children had no adult supervision and they were free. As the time passed they survived on the Island and soon they formed a group and chose Ralph as their leader. Ralph was the oldest among all the others. he is an innocent, mild- tempered boy, smart, intelligent, and a democratic leader who wants everyone to be free and have right of speech. He tried to keep everyone safe by urging them to build shelters and to make a fire on top of the mountain as a signal of rescue. His best friend was Piggy. Piggy was a fat, intelligent, smart with a great science knowledge and he had specs. He always helped Ralph in his decisions. Later they faced a big problem, the...
Words: 445 - Pages: 2
...Lord of the Flies Essay November 26th, 2012 Marina Ivanova Ms. Williamson Grade 10 AP English A good leader knows how to enforce rules and organize their people to act a certain way. Without them, people would lose sense of what is important and behave in a disheveled manner causing chaos. In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, it is evident that control and order are necessary for a society to function well, due to the basic need of productivity, safety, and unity that structure provides. Firstly, when humans are being controlled they follow orders and complete the work that has to be done. If all members in a society are ordered to do some work, the result will not only be achieved but achieved in a shorter amount of time. In “Lord of the Flies”, when Ralph addresses the boys he says: “So we’ve got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and no go away. Three of us-if we take more we’d all get mixed, and lose each other-three of us will go on an expedition and find out.” (Golding 20) In this quote, Ralph gives out orders to the boys in his tribe and explains why certain things should or should not be done. The boys all have a common goal, which is to find out more about their surroundings. Then, in order to accomplish that goal, the chief organizes them to ensure productivity. If Ralph did not do that, the boys would be wandering without a purpose and perhaps would even get lost. Likewise, in real life, when one...
Words: 875 - Pages: 4
...Two Protagonists Compare and Contrast Essay Arthur Jeremy Moore July 15, 2015 GEN220 Sophia Mavrogiannis Two Protagonists; Compare and Contrast Essay There are several charters within iconic novels written for the purpose of individuals to identify with. The main character may be a hero or a villain, male or female, human or animal, but always an interesting character learning about themselves in a way that causes the reader to relate. The most intriguing part about reading is how individuals get lost in the fantasy of a characters role, and manage to finish the book; all while learning so much about one’s self. Changes might need to be made in their life, or acceptance should be attempted for heartache or sorrow; somehow readers find a way to compare themselves to these protagonists and mold the fantasy they are reading within their own reality. (Duke, 2010). There are two iconic novel characters who stand out in a way most individuals can relate to. Holden Caulfield and young Ralph. When we cannot hold onto our youth and we must watch it slip away, do we as humans embrace the changes or fight it every step of the way? The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, was published in 1951. Holden Caulfield is a young male character who is obsessed with the loss of his youth. Similar to Caulfield is young Ralph, a character portrayed in the 1954 novel, as The Lord of the Flies iconic protagonist. Ralph is a twelve-year-old English boy who is elected leader of a group...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...10 February 2015 Lord of the Flies Essay "Humanity has evil tendenc[ies] within its nature" (David Wilson). Jack, a choir boy from England, represents the evil incarnate and explains that within human nature, evil lies in oneself even when it is not projected. In Golding's Lord of the Flies, Jack, the Devil Figure, expresses the ideas about one's inner evil as he evolves from a choir leader to a ruthless varmint while spending time on a deserted island. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Jack, who emerges from the jungle dressed in black, possesses a dominant trait of a controlling personality. When Ralph first blows the sound of the conch, Jack and his choir come from the jungle, and as they approach Ralph, Jack tells them to "stand still" (Golding 20). The reader can identify his authoritative nature as he demands these words, which establishes his significance and rule in the choir, and the other boys can sense this superiority as well. Moreover, the audience can analyze that Jack has a manipulative influence in the novel due to the fact that he claims he "ought to be chief because [he is]...head boy"; therefore, he is making himself out to be the most qualified for the position as he points out his role of control in the choir (Golding 22). Likewise, the other boys on the island describe Jack to be "the most obvious leader," which in return proves to the reader that Jack's commanding attitude is not the only reason that defines him as a leader; the other boys' perspective...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...Lord of the Flies - Essay Lord of the Flies explores the fact that children are savages by nature and without adult guidance or supervision; the entire idea of this would turn completely upside down. The novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ is written by William Golding shortly after the end of World War II. The novel tells us about a group of English boys who are stranded on an island during the period of war. They discover that the island is inhabited and therefore, they attempt to create their own society in order to sort things out while waiting for rescue. However, as time passes, things begin to spiral out hand and get out of control. This is because they are extremely young and plus, there are no adults to guide them on the island. In the end, although they are rescued, everything is in vain since they have lost most of the important things in life including their civilised way of life. The event clearly shows that children are not innocent as they are savages by nature. When the story begins, Jack and Ralph are such civilized lads that they don't even know how to start a fire without a match. For example, "Will you light the fire?” (Chapter two) This shows that back in England the boys had everything served to them on a plate. The main character in this novel, Ralph is described as having an ‘athletic’ figure and ‘handsome’ in some way. As the main leader and the main model of order and civilisation in the novel, he dedicated himself to convince all the other boys that they are...
Words: 656 - Pages: 3
....: The Lord Of The Flies :. Persuasive Essay Junior English 3rd Hour Zach Jones In the story “The Lord of The Flies we encountered a most interesting situation where a group of young boys are stranded on an island, presumably far away from all other land masses, where three boys stood out as leaders, of those who wanted order of stability. Those boys, Piggy, Ralph, and Jack all went about contributing as leaders, though Ralph was an actual leader, if only for a time, while Jack (a boy who has the whole “holier than thou” aspect going on and is power hungry) eventually steals away Ralph’s power and followers, but before that was the head of his own sect, the choir boys. However though ralph was pushed out of power (except for his few followers, Piggy -till his death-, Samneric, and Simon –until his death-) and the fact that jack took over in an occult like manner I suppose, Ralph is the one boy I believe is the proper leader for the boys, because he has rational human emotions like compassion, care, kindness, calmness, level-headedness add to that he is not a crazy narcissistic war monger with superiority issues like Jack nor does he like to control people using fear and other sneaky underhanded methods, and he seemed to be a guy you could get along with. Though Ralph isn’t mad with power or rules using fear or shady ways in general, he lacked the proper leadership experience to handle the boys as shown in the way he lost the vastest majority of them to Jack. In Jack’s...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
...Elisabeth Dolgetta Per.1 English Lord of the Flies Essay II. A leader is a person followed by others. Leaders who aren’t strong cannot stick to the rules and control a group. Leaders who are overly controlling become dictators and everything turns into chaos. A good leader is ambitious, intelligent, has good ideas and takes responsibility. In the novel, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, leadership is destroyed and anarchy is created. In the novel, young boys are on a plane that crashes and they arrive on a deserted island alone. There are no adults on the island. The boys were initially on the plane to be evacuated from the war. Their first thoughts are to be rescued. A boy named Ralph introduces himself to a boy whose real name is unknown but they call him Piggy, although that isn’t his wish. Ralph becomes leader because he is voted in by other children in the beginning. A leader is needed to help everyone work together and to get food, water, shelter and to be rescued from the island. Ralph had everything he wanted to stay organized, and to keep every rule he made. Ralph and Piggy discover a conch shell on the island and use it to call the boys together. "We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—." Piggy says this. At this point the conch is used to make rules for everyone to follow and it symbolizes civilization and order. Any boy, who holds the conch, has the right to speak. Every time Ralph wants to...
Words: 579 - Pages: 3
...Analysis of the Major Characters In Lord of the Flies by William Golding In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English 140 Submitted by: Ryan Mark L. Catanio Submitted to: Prof. Donna Alna C. Cortez September 08, 2014 A. Author’s Biography William Golding Biography Author (1911–1993) a. Synopsis William Golding was born September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. In 1935 he started teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury. He temporarily left teaching in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. In 1954 he published his first novel, Lord of the Flies. In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. On June 19, 1993, he died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England. b. Early Life William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. His father, Alex, worked as a schoolmaster. William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School. When William was just 12 years old, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Later in life, William would describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.” After primary school, William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His father hoped he would become...
Words: 4218 - Pages: 17
...Tucker Heirakuji English 11 LOTF Essay: Id, Ego, and Superego Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory of personality applied to: The Lord of the Flies "One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor energy, and the rider has the prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go." -Sigmund Freud. There are three Freudian components of personality, the Id, Ego, and Super ego. The Id resides completely at the unconscious level, and is usually applied by the “pleasure principle”, which is basically the want to do something for instant gratification. The superego resides in the preconscious. It is the moralist and idealistic part of the personality and brain. This part operates on the “ideal principle”, which begins around the age of four to five. The ideal principle covers how people are raised, and whether environment or attention effects our development. Basically, the superego is what tells you right from wrong. Lastly, is the ego. Ego resides in all levels of awareness (conscious, subconscious, and preconscious), and operates under the “Reality Principle”, which is the ego's control of the pleasure-seeking activity of the id in order to meet...
Words: 1523 - Pages: 7
...A Guide to Writing the Literary Analysis Essay I. INTRODUCTION: the first paragraph in your essay. It begins creatively in order to catch your reader’s interest, provides essential background about the literary work, and prepares the reader for your major thesis. The introduction must include the author and title of the work as well as an explanation of the theme to be discussed. Other essential background may include setting, an introduction of main characters, etc. The major thesis goes in this paragraph usually at the end. Because the major thesis sometimes sounds tacked on, make special attempts to link it to the sentence that precedes it by building on a key word or idea. A) Creative Opening/Hook: the beginning sentences of the introduction that catch the reader’s interest. Ways of beginning creatively include the following: 1) A startling fact or bit of information Example: Nearly two hundred citizens were arrested as witches during the Salem witch scare of 1692. Eventually nineteen were hanged, and another was pressed to death (Marks 65). 2) A snatch of dialogue between two characters Example: “It is another thing. You [Frederic Henry] cannot know about it unless you have it.” “ Well,” I said. “If I ever get it I will tell you [priest].” (Hemingway 72). With these words, the priest in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms sends the hero, Frederic, in search of the ambiguous “it” in his life. 3) A meaningful quotation (from the book you are analyzing...
Words: 2671 - Pages: 11
...Dystopia ≠ Utopia A dystopia is a fictional society, usually portrayed as existing in a future time, where the conditions of life are extremely bad due to oppression, or terror. Science fiction (particularly post-apocalyptic science fiction and cyberpunk stories set in an imaginary future world controlled by technology and computers) often feature dystopias. Common traits of Dystopian fiction: The setting is the future, but often with contemporary social trends taken to extremes incorporated on purpose. A hierarchical society where there are unbending and definitive divisions between the upper, middle and lower class Society is conditioned to fear the outside world, and one of the methods for achieving this is the restriction of information and freedom. A corrupt authoritarian and totalitarian government creates or sustains the poor quality of life This government makes people believe that society is proper and just, even perfect. State propaganda makes citizens worship the state the leader of the state and the government. There is strict conformity among citizens and the general assumption that having opinions and individuality is bad The penal system often employs psychological or physical torture Violence, cruelty and aggressiveness are always present. Dystopias are frequently written as warnings, or as social satire, criticizing a current trend, norm or political system. In order for the dystopia to have an effect on the reader, the author uses characteristics...
Words: 4487 - Pages: 18
...Ashley Brown Mr.Everly English 10B 4/17/1 Lord of the Flies: Characterization What is good characterization? Characterization is the way an author presents and develops a character to make them believable. This essay will focus on three believable characters. One of the believable characters is Ralph. Another believable character is Jack. The last believable character is Simon. Because William Golding wanted believable characters, he made Ralph round and dynamic, Jack flat and static, and Simon round and static. One interesting character is Ralph. For example Ralph is a round character because he has multiple traits. Sometimes he borders on savagery, and sometimes he acts civilized. In chapter 2, the children are setting to get rescued. During the conversation, Ralph tells the boys, “We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that’s a meeting. The same up here as down there”(42). This shows that Ralph wants to be civilized, but he had times where he was savage too. The best example of Ralph’s savagery is where he helps kill Simon later in the book. Moreover, Ralph is dynamic because he changes throughout the novel. Early in the novel, Ralph is carefree and happy person. By the end, however he becomes very sad and guilty. At the end, Ralph was about to be killed by Jack, but was saved at the last second. This brought a lot of emotion. Ralph cries because he knows that man is not innocent or good, and he cries because Piggy has died (202). Ralph changes...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
Words: 123617 - Pages: 495
...Scott Brownrigg Alexis McMillan-Clifton English 101 October 26, 2012 Is Global Warming the result of human behavior? This purpose of this essay is to evaluate the website of the Science and Public Policy Institute, and its credibility on answering the question of the title of this Essay. To be more specific I will be probing into the article entitled “Fallacies about global warming” by John Mclean. I believe that the website of Science and Public Policy Institute uses sound research from highly qualified climate scientists to refute common fallacies in the assumption that global warming is caused by manmade CO2 emissions. The Science and Public Policy Institute define themselves as a lobbying group with a mission to “provide research and educational material dedicated to sound public policy based on sound science” (“About us”). The president, Robert Ferguson brings 26 years of Capitol Hill experience as Chief of Staff of several congressmen (“Robert Ferguson (Science and Public Policy Institute)”). Their Chief policy advisor (specializing in climate issues) is Lord Monckton, Christopher. He served as a special advisor to Margaret Thatcher and established a successful corporation offering consulting and technical advice to corporations and governments (“Christopher Monckton”). Science Advisor William Kininmonth, a consulting climatologist who worked for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for 38 years as a weather forecaster (“William Kininmonth”)...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
