Literature Analysis: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Collaboration with Lindsey Wong!  Check her blog out for the other questions!





CHARACTERIZATION:

1.  Golding uses a combination of both indirect and direct characterization in his novel.
Direct Characterization: "The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Ralph.

He whispered. 'They used to call me Piggy!'"... This quote is from Piggy in the first chapter.  It sets the tone for the rest of the book as how he is teased.  Piggy is a constant source of mockery.  The boys actually murder him and show no remorse.  Talk about being bullied...  But the description of him is clear.  He is an overweight kid.

Indirect Characterization: "The booing rose and died again as Piggy lifted the white, magic shell."  “Which is better –to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?”... Piggy longs for order on the chaotic island.  He sees democracy and reason as necessary to survive unlike Jack's tribe.  The conch itself is a symbol for democracy and Piggy's description above connotes that Piggy believes democracy to be magical form of government.

2. Golding's syntax and diction changes as he focuses on character.  Characters speak in more fragmented sentences than his normal sentence structure.“when they had done laughing, Simon stroked Ralph’s arm shyly; and they had to laugh again.”  His typical diction has symbolic connotation.

3.  Ralph is a dynamic and round character.  He is one of the few boys who has a moral compass and looks to reason and order on the island instead of falling prey to its chaos.  He kept the goal of getting out of the island in his sights.  He was forced into isolation as Jack's tribe killed off his friends.  Ralph was then hunted by Jack's tribe on the beach as they were rescued.

4.  I personally couldn't really imagine meeting such savages like Jack and his tribe.  I could, however, see Piggy, Simon, and Ralph as realistic portrayals of people.  Those boys still have a sense of humanity and good.  Although Simon's hallucinations with the Lord of the Flies does freak me out a little bit...   They all knew what was right and fair which I admire in characters.  “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.”   I could relate most to these characters.