Lord Of The Flies By William Golding - 1271 Words

After following in his father s footsteps and teaching English and philosophy to unruly boys at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, Golding abandoned his profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Golding has said of the war, â€Å"I began to see what people were capable of doing. Anyone who moved through those years without understanding that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or wrong in the head† (â€Å"William Golding†). Written in the early 1950’s in Salisbury, England, Lord of the Flies depicts an allegory for World War II which allows for social commentary on the events of the war. Many of the people, symbols, and events of the war reflect the characters, symbols, and events in the novel in order to defend the essential values of democracy, and attack the downfalls of the Axis Power’s governments. In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to Jack, the leader of the choirboys, who is initially rejected as the leader of the entire group, due to Ralph’s popularity at the time. However, as the novel continues, Jack develops into a feared, bloodthirsty dictator who craves only the power of leadership and the thrill of the hunt. We can see similar characteristic of Jack’s situation in Adolph Hitler’s early life, when he flunked out of his college preparatory school and â€Å"refus[ed] to bow to the discipline of a regular job† (â€Å"Adolph Hitler†). It was during this time of Hitler’s vagabond existence that sparked his fascination for massShow MoreRelatedLord Of The Flies By William Golding869 Words   |  4 PagesLord of the Flies Psychology Sometimes people wear fake personas like a cloak over their shoulders, used to hide what is really underneath. This harsh reality is witnessed in William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies, a novel that is famous for not only its sickening plot, but also for the emotional breakdowns all of its characters experience. These issues are akin to those shown in certain real-world psychological experiments. A summary of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, combined with the evidenceRead MoreThe Lord Of The Flies By William Golding1347 Words   |  6 Pages The theme of The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is the reason society is flawed is because people are flawed. Although Piggy is knowledgeable, he has many flaws including his laziness and physical inabilities. Ralph is an authority seeker. He sets rules and laws, yet does little to enforce them. Ralph wants to be the ruler, without doing the work to enforce his laws. Jack is persistent. He is rude, harsh and violent in or der to get what he wants. He wants to be supreme. Piggy’s flaws areRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1123 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding, the characters Ralph, Piggy, and Jack represent important World War II leaders Franklin Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, and Winston Churchill. Golding, who had served in World War II, was well aware of the savagery created, and used it to base his book on. Ralph represents Franklin Roosevelt , Jack represents Adolf Hitler, and Piggy represents Winston Churchill. Ralph being of the novel’s main protagonist is important in the outcome of the story becauseRead MoreThe Lord Of The Flies By William Golding1065 Words   |  5 PagesThe Lord of the Flies Essay The Lord of the Flies written by William Golding and published on September 17, 1954 is a story told about a group of stranded boys and their fight for survival against the wilderness and themselves. In this story many signs of symbolism are used by Golding to point out certain aspects of society that Golding thought strongly of. This story on first read may just seem to be a survival- esque piece of literature but, on a deeper look one can find Golding’s true motiveRead MoreLord of The Flies by William Golding619 Words   |  2 PagesGovernments are no different; they fight for power just like the rest of us do. They just do it on a much bigger scale. Qualities from Oligarchy, Totalitarianism, Democracy, Dictatorship, and Anarchy governments are used in several parts of Lord of The Flies that represent different characters and different situations. An Oligarchy is a small group of people having control of a country or organization. A Totalitarianism government is a form of government that permits no individual freedom and thatRead MoreThe Lord of the Flies by William Golding1306 Words   |  5 PagesIn The Lord of the Flies, William Golding creates a microcosm that appears to be a utopia after he discharged from the British Royal Navy following World War II. After an emergency landing, Golding places a diverse group of boys on the island that soon turns out to be anything but utopia. The island the boys are on turns out to be an allegorical dystopia with inadequate conditions (Bryfonski 22). The boys reject all lessons they learned from their prior British society, and they turn towards theirRead MoreLord of the Flies by William Golding932 Words   |  4 Pagesdiscussing two particular themes from a novel called Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Lord of the Flies was written in 1954 after World War II. Ruler of the Flies is a purposeful anecdote about something that many readers can’t really describe. Individuals cant choose precisely what. Its either about the inalienable underhanded of man, or mental battle, or religion, or personal inclination, or the creators emotions on war; however William Golding was in the Navy throughout World War II, or perhapsRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1383 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to Lord of the Flies is still a Blueprint for Savagery by Eleanor Learmonth and Jenny Tabakoff, the words â€Å"I’m afraid. Of us† first appeared in Golding’s novel 60 years ago. Lord of the Flies by William Golding follows a group of schoolboys trapped on an island after a plane crash during a world war. At the beginning, they celebrate as the y have total autonomy as there are no adults around. They attempt to establish a civilization but when order collapses, they go on a journey from civilizationRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding Essay1475 Words   |  6 Pages Outline Introduction Short intro for Lord of the Flies Short intro on Gangs The bullying and group mentality demonstrated in gangs has resemblances to the characters in Lord of the Flies. II. Bullying/Group mentality Gangs Drugs/Loyalty B. Lord of the flies Jack kills the pig/Jack and Ralph fight III. Effects B. Lord of the flies Jack killing the pig aftermath Violence IV. Conclusion Gangs are considered a group of people that have a common link togetherRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding962 Words   |  4 PagesBischof Language Arts 10 11 December, 2015 In William Golding s Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature is. Throughout the story Golding conveys a theme of how obscured and horrible human nature can lead us to be. Many different parts of human nature can all lead to the destruction of society. A few of the concepts of basic human nature that Golding included in the book are destruction, and panic

Our Mutual Friend Free Essays

Wider Reading Books Research: Name: Our Mutual Friend Author: Charles Dickens Synopsis: The multiple plots of Our Mutual Friend, Dickens’s last complete novel, twine around the miser John Harmon’s legacy of profitable heaps of refuse (â€Å"dust†). Harmon dies and leaves the dustheap operation to his estranged son John, on the condition that he marries Bella Wilfer, a young woman unknown to him. When a body found in the Thames is believed to be the younger Harmon, travelling home to receive his inheritance, the dustheaps descend instead to Harmon’s servant Noddy Boffin (â€Å"The Golden Dustman†). We will write a custom essay sample on Our Mutual Friend or any similar topic only for you Order Now Boffin and his wife respond to their new status by hiring Silas Wegg, a â€Å"literary man with a wooden leg† to teach Boffin to read; arranging to adopt an orphaned toddler from his poor great-grandmother; and bringing the socially ambitious Bella Wilfer into their home, where she is watched and evaluated by John Rokesmith, a mysterious young man employed as Boffin’s secretary. Rokesmith is actually John Harmon, who has survived betrayal and attempted murder and is living incognito so that he can observe Bella. Boffin’s negative transformation by his wealth, Bella’s moral awakening as she witnesses the changes wealth produces in Boffin and in herself, and the developing love relationship between Rokesmith and Bella form one key sub-plot. Another is the romance between gentlemanly idler Eugene Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam, the daughter of the waterman who finds the drowned body. Class differences and the obsessive love and jealousy of schoolmaster Bradley Headstone threaten their relationship, but they are finally married with the help of the crippled dolls’ dressmaker Jenny Wren. The smaller plots that interweave these sensation/romance narratives comment on the hypocrisy of fashionable life (â€Å"Podsnappery†) and the destruction of the family lives of both rich and poor by an industrialized, materialistic society. Characters: John Harmon, Bella Wilfer, Noddy Boffin, Mrs Henrietta Boffin, Lizzie Hexam, Charley Hexam, Eugene Wrayburn. Themes: One of the most prevalent symbols in Our Mutual Friend is that of the River Thames, which becomes part of one of the major themes of the novel, rebirth and renewal. Water is seen as a sign of new life, used by churches during the sacrament of Baptism as a sign of purity and a new beginning. In Our Mutual Friend, it has the same meaning. Characters like John Harmon and Eugene Wrayburn end up in the waters of the river, and come out reborn as new men. Wrayburn emerges from the river on his deathbed, but is ready to marry Lizzie to save her reputation. Of course, he surprises everyone, including himself, when he survives and goes on to have a loving marriage with Lizzie. John Harmon also appears to end up in the river through no fault of his own, and when Gaffer pulls his â€Å"body† out of the waters, he adopts the alias of John Rokesmith. This alias is for his own safety and peace of mind; he wants to know that he can do things on his own, and does not need his father’s name or money to make a good life for himself. [29] Throughout Our Mutual Friend, Dickens uses many descriptions that relate to water. Some critics refer to this as â€Å"metaphoric overkill,† and indeed there are numerous images described by water that have nothing to do with water at all. [30] Phrases such as the â€Å"depths and shallows of Podsnappery,† [31] and the â€Å"time had come for flushing and flourishing this man down for good† [31] show Dickens’s use of watery imagery, and help add to the descriptive nature of the book. Historical Background: Our Mutual Friend was published in nineteen monthly numbers in the fashion of many earlier Dickens novels and for the first time since Little Dorrit (1855–7). A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1860–1) had been serialized in Dickens’s weekly magazine All the Year Round. Dickens remarked to Wilkie Collins that he was â€Å"quite dazed† at the prospect of putting out twenty monthly parts after more recent weekly serial. Our Mutual Friend was the first of Dickens’s novels not illustrated by Hablot Browne, with whom he had collaborated since The Pickwick Papers (1836–7). Dickens instead opted for the younger Marcus Stone and, uncharacteristically, left much of the illustrating process to his discretion. After suggesting only a few slight alterations for the cover, for instance, Dickens wrote to Stone: â€Å"All perfectly right. Alterations quite satisfactory. Everything very pretty† Stone’s encounter with a taxidermist named Willis provided the basis for Dickens’s Mr. Venus, after Dickens had indicated he was searching for an uncommon occupation (â€Å"it must be something very striking and unusual†) for the novel. How to cite Our Mutual Friend, Papers

The Barriers In Our Mind free essay sample

â€Å"The biggest obstacles in our lives are the barriers our mind creates†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Unknown) This quote has gotten me through the roughest parts of my life. I saw this quote at an old friend’s house when I was about eleven and based my life on it. When tried out for the basketball team; not making it was my biggest fear. I went to the tryouts but only sat on the sidelines and watched. One of the coaches seen my height and told me that I had nothing to lose, but everything to gain. I missed out on making the team, but not because of my lack of skills. The barriers that I put in my head were harder to get around then shooting the ball. I was devastated, but I also realized that sometimes I might not make the team, especially if I create the barriers in my mind. We will write a custom essay sample on The Barriers In Our Mind or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The year continued, and at that age I had not gotten over the fears that I created in my mind. Football season had come and yet again I had to try out for the team. My knees buckled, my head was spinning, and I was sweating without moving. I looked at all of the kids standing to my left and right and almost cried. I knew that at least 8 kids were going to be cut from something much bigger than a team; it would feel as if you are being cut from a family. I tried out, but not to my best abilities. Once again the barriers in my head kept me from doing something that I love. From that moment on I knew that god would not make barriers if no one could get over them. I started training, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Before I knew it I was going to the gym and church daily. I figured that no person on earth could tell me that I was not good enough, or too small, or I just was not good enough. I installed in my head that if I was not good enough for something then no one was. I was in the best shape of my life, and by the time football season came again I would be ready for the worst. I went to a small school in the country, were the kids were bigger then trucks, and the teachers did not care if you succeeded or not. I went to practice every day and competed as it was my last day outing on a helmet. The barriers that I had once put in my head were just a small obstacle course, a few cones, a wall, and me. Later that week I had made the team, but I had only made junior varsity. In my eyes this was not good enough, and I could do a lot better. I strapped on my shoulder pads, buckled my helmet, and put forth my best effort in the classroom as well as on the field. In the middle of the season the coaches said I was ready to play with the big boys, and before I knew it I was starting as a freshman. I had come a long way from the little boy that was scared of his own shadow. I had confidence in everything that I did. I tried out for wrestling and made the team, the AAU basketball team and made that to. I then realized that I was an all-around athlete, and the obstacle course started to become smaller. â€Å"The biggest obstacles in our lives are the barriers our mind creates.† I chose to better myself and let nothing get in my way.