Lord of the Flies: An Introduction
 

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[/FONT] [CENTER][FONT=Verdana][B]“I am treated as a theologian, philosopher, psychologist but what I really am at the bottom is a story-teller. If you
can say, ‘once upon a time’, convincingly enough to anybody you’ve have got them.”[/B][/FONT][FONT=Verdana] [B](Interviewed in India, 1897)

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[FONT=Verdana] Certain critics have tried to read [B]“Lord of the Flies”[/B] as a moral fable and others as an allegory. But the general opinion is in the favor of calling it a fable. A fable is a simple story having a moral lesson. And an allegory is a story which has layers of meaning and is interpreted on more than one level. But, as a matter of fact, the novel is not exactly fit for either. This means Golding is neither a fabulist nor an allegory writer. [B]“Lord of the Flies”[/B] is a simple, straightforward narrative story. It has all the characteristics that a story should have. It has continuous narration of well-knit plot with dramatic elements, proper beginning, middle and an end. It also have element of suspense and horror, a good characterization, development of character, universal of situation contrast between appearance and reality, use of natural scenery and symbolism and the story also carries a moral lesson.

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] In [B]“Lord of the Flies”,[/B] Golding tries to show that the [B][I]order and discipline[/I][/B] is unnatural to man. It is just enforced upon the man. And the [B][I]instinct of dominance[/I][/B] is the [B][I]root cause of the[/I][/B] [B][I]entire disturbance[/I][/B]. Golding seems to believe that [B][I]good has been replaced[/I][/B] by the sinister forces of evil. [B][I]Devil has taken the place of God[/I][/B]. And the new god of modern world is [B]“power”.[/B]

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] Golding does not see [B][I]man as rational being but an instinctive being[/I][/B]. To him, instinct is more powerful then rationality. He believe Darwin’s view of, [B]“The survival of the fittest”[/B] and in [B]“Lord of the Flies”,[/B] only the fittest survives as Jack proves himself more powerful and fittest than Ralph and in the end of the novel a [B]“naval officer”[/B] loaded with guns and arms proves himself better than Jack. Golding believes that man can’t get rid of his basic instinct of savagery. We see the boys [B][I]turning from human being to animal[/I][/B] and [B][I]then from animal to cannibals[/I][/B].

[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana] Actually, Golding is telling the story of civilization. He is [B][I]conservative[/I][/B] and looks [B][I]backward[/I][/B]. He is [B][I]not a progressive writer but a regressive[/I][/B] one. He discusses his hypothesis how civilization developed. It is an [B][I]inverted Utopia[/I][/B] that is called distopia. This is Golding’s idealism that a man is at heart a savage and the heart is full of darkness.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana]We see the paradise-like island into a hell. [B][I]Death of Simon[/I][/B] is the [B][I]death of virtuousness[/I][/B], [B][I]death of Piggy[/I][/B] and the [B][I]breakage of his glasses[/I][/B] is the [B][I]death of intellect[/I][/B], the [B][I]breakage of conch[/I][/B] is the [B][I]end of civilization[/I][/B] and on the other hand [B][I]painted faces[/I][/B] and [B][I]mock hunting[/I][/B] is the [B][I]symbol of evil and grief.[/I][/B][/FONT]