English Literature GCSE Revision

Lord of The Flies

Name the 7 key themes explored in LOTF

• Good vs Evil - the duality of Human Nature

• The Heart of Darkness - the beast within

• Rules and Society

• Nature vs Nurture

• Survival of the Fittest

• Fear

• Humans and their Nature

Name the 6 Main Characters

• Ralph

• Jack

• Piggy

• Simon

• Roger

• Samneric

THEME QUOTES

5 Quotes each theme

Good vs Evil 1

“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

Context: This is at the end of the novel when the boys’ are rescued. Ralph and the other boys are crying because they realise how much they had changed.

Golding’s intentions:

• Golding says that ‘Man produces evil as bee produces honey’ so we could conclude that Ralph’s feelings are Golding’s himself, realising how evil mankind is

• Ralph cries because he realises that none of the boys’ will ever be the same again

• Golding enforces his main message that there is evil of everyone and that everyone is capable of evil, even children

Good vs Evil 2

“Kill the beast! Cut her throat! Spill her blood!”

Context: The chant that the boys continuously sing throughout the novel when they go hunting

Golding’s intentions:

• This quote clearly conveys the boys’ descent into savagery as they feel no remorse in killing a pig, a group of young boys are not expected to be so ruthless

• It portrays the boys’ loss of humanity, as this is not what children typically say

• The boys begin to glorify violence and bloodshed 

Good vs Evil 3

“Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilisation that knew nothing of him, and was in ruins.”

Context: Even though Roger wants to hurt or scare the child, invisible rules from his old life stop him from aiming directly at him.

Golding’s intentions:

• This quote reinforces the fragility of civilisation

• ‘Was in ruins’ highlights that civilisation is quickly fading away on the island, the one thing that keeps them all together and safe

• Roger not throwing the stones directly at the littl’un further shows that Roger’s violent instincts are controlled only because of the rules and society he learnt from society 

Good vs Evil 4

“Bollocks to the rules!”

Context: Jack says this during an assembly called by Ralph (the elected leader) to address the fear of the boys’ along with the breakdown of order on the island

Golding’s intentions: Jack says this and it is a turning point as he stops pretending that he cares about rules and admits he prefers power and hunting over order and agreement.

Good vs Evil 5

“The creature was a party of boys”

Context: Ralph first sees a dark creature figure walking around but then he realises it was Jack’s choir.

Golding’s intentions:

• Loss of individualism: Marching in strict parallel lines strips the choirboys of individual identity, showing them as a single and governed by rules.

• Foreshadowing the beast: Comparing the choir to a collective monster immediately establishes a motif that the true "beast" on the island is internal, coming from the boys themselves rather than an external monster.

• By using the word ‘creature’ Golding hints at the boys’ savagery long before they become violent.

Good vs Evil Further Analysis

• Simon represents human goodness. He can be viewed as a Christ-like figure. Golding suggests that goodness doesn’t make one popular, as Simon is presented as a loner and outsider who is later killed by the boys collectively. His noble actions do not persuade others to follow his lead

• Roger is represented from very early on as being able to contain his desire to commit violent acts

• Ralph and Simon both recognise humanity’s capacity for evil: Ralph acknowledges his part in Simon’s murder, and his own potential for evil

Human Nature 1

“He found for them the fruit they could not reach.”

Context: Simon helps the littl’uns get fruit from a tree because they can’t reach

Golding’s intentions:

• Simon’s kindness connects him positively to nature

• Simon is contrasted with the hunters, who exploit and destroy nature for pleasure and power.

• Simon chooses to remain good although it doesn’t do him much good on the island as savagery is promotes and favoured

Human Nature 2

“The island was scorched up like dead wood - Simon was dead - and Jack had withdrawn all sense of civilisation.”

Context: Simon is murdered, marking the end of goodness on the island. Everything goes further downhill

Golding’s intentions:

• Highlights how the boys’ destructive actions, like setting fire to the island, and harming nature, mirror the loss of civilization among them

• Simon’s death contrasts natural goodness and innocence with the boys’ destructiveness

• Simon is contrasted to Jack, showing Good vs Evil, and how both had the option to regress to their primal instinct, but Simon chose not to, whereas Jack let it entirely consume him

Human Nature 3

“The beast was harmless and horrible; the news must reach the others as soon as possible.”

Context: Simon climbs up the mountain and sees that the ‘beast’ that Samneric described was just a dead parachutist. He wants to tell the boys’ as soon as possible but is killed shortly after by the boys’ themselves who mistake him as the beast

Golding’s intentions:

• Golding wants to show that the true danger isn’t from nature, but from human fear and misunderstanding

• Nature itself is neither good nor bad

• Simon recognises the true nature of the ‘beast’ unlike the boys who project their fears onto the natural world

• This highlights how much fear can effect someone and the way they behave

Human Nature 4

“Here, invisible yet strong, lay the taboo of the old life.”

Context: Even though Roger wants to hurt Henry, an invisible barrier stops him. This barrier is the leftover rules, morals, and fear of punishment from his old life in civilised society.

Golding’s intentions:

• Golding portrays the importance of civilisation and how the rules that people learn through civilisation stop them from committing evil acts; even Roger, the character who commits the most evil acts; holds onto what he learnt and doesn’t aim directly for the littl’un.

Human Nature 5

“The mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.”

Context: Jack uses mud and materials from the island to paint his face, creating a mask out of nature itself. The mask allows him to give in to primal instincts and savagery, illustrating nature’s power to remove boundaries of civilisation.

Golding’s intentions:

• Golding suggests that in a wild and natural environment, without society’s rules, humans can lose their inhibition and unleash their inner savagery

• Golding shows that morality is just a thin layer taught by society. Once the rules are gone, people naturally lean toward evil

• Golding draws on his own experiences with war and human cruelty. He uses Jack’s transformation to demonstrate how dictators rise to power by using fear, violence, and the removal of individual conscience (The Rise of Tyranny)

Human Nature Further Analysis

This theme further conveys the importance of civilisation and rules. We see characters like Piggy, that desperately hold on to civilization, and then we see characters like Jack and Roger, that embrace the traits that make them evil. They aren’t taught this behaviour but Golding enforces that this is their nature, along with every person; everyone is capable of evil and civilization is very important in all circumstances, even for children.

Rules and Society 1