The Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis
Creation Myth- Cosmogenesis
After investigating many creation myths, I have narrowed it down to two myths which I believe relate closest to the creation myth of Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
The first myth I explored was an Alaskan creation myth. This myth states that in early times there was only darkness and no light at all. Lord of the Flies begins with a similar situation. There is light literally, of course, but otherwise there is no light because no one knows what is going on or where they are or why they are there. The first characters we meet are in the dark about many things. This is how many civilizations start out. As the Alaskan myth goes on it says that one day a girl goes out, swallows a feather and becomes pregnant. She then gives birth to a baby with a ravens bill. She can not find a toy for the baby to play with so she allows it to play with a toy from her fathers house that he strictly prohibits. The toy is then broken and it sheds light on all of Alaska creating light forever. The next day the baby disappeared. This reminds me of how Piggy is the intelligent one who always insists that there should be a fire burning in order for them to be rescued. No one listens to him much just as the lady in the Alaskan myth does not listen to her father. Piggy then gets killed and not long after that, the rest of the boys are rescued because of Piggy’s intelligence about the fire. Piggy was then gone just as the baby shed light on Alaska and then disappeared. I found this myth similar to the story in those ways.
Another creation myth that helped me relate to The Lord of the Flies was the Japanese creation myth of Izangi. This myth says that Izangi and his wife were given the task of creating a world. I really believe that the boys in Lord of the Flies were placed on the island with the task of creating a world together. Whether it would work was the question. Izangi’s wife then died giving birth. Izangi went to the underworld to retrieve her but she refused and they then parted forever. When Izangi came back he washed his left and right eyes creating the sun and moon goddesses.
Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.
The creation story I chose to read was The Potawatomi Story by the Native American tribes of the Wisconsin area. The story is actually two stories combined which tell of the creation of humans and the friendship the tribes developed. The Earthmaker or Great Spirit is the creator in the story. Initially he creates the world and it is beautiful with trees, rivers, hills and the general splendor of everything. But, then he realized there were no humans so he decided to make some from clay he scooped from the river. He created a hearth and formed the figures to bake in the hearth. On his first try, after he removed the figure from the fire, he cooled it and moved its limbs and breathed life in it, but after it walked away, he decided it was only
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a peculiar story about boys stranded on an island, and the plot and characters relate to many prevailing events and problems. A specific problem that is currently occurring is the mutual hatred and enmity between North Korea and South Korea. This is a current event, but the North and South’s hostility has been ongoing since 1945, when Korea was split into North and South, Communist and Capitalist. When the 38th parallel(Border between North and South Korea) was created, Kim Il-Sung ruled the North, and Syngman Rhee ruled the South. As of now, a power hungry dictator, Kim Jong-un rules the north, and an optimistic president who wants to see change was recently elected in the South, named Moon Jae-in. In Golding’s book, Ralph is a character who aimed to keep everyone alive and to stay together. Jack on the other hand, wanted to have fun and hunt, and although he also wanted to be rescued, he made no effort to help. In this sense, North Korea is a clear representation of the character Jack and his quest for power, and opposingly, South Korea is a representation of Ralph and his strive for order, democracy, and civilization.
One of the main points of dispute at the trial was of Packard’s religion in relation to the virtues of True Womanhood. Cheree Carlson point out that “in the minefield of womanhood, even a pure moral life can be used against you?” This was because the plaintiff was in question of Packard’s sanity in relation to how well in past experiences she has embodied the ideals of True Womanhood. Her new religion was argued to be a sign of her madness but it seemed to be that it was only an issue because it went against her duty as a wife to submit to all of her husband 's wishes. Infact religiosity was known to be at the very core and nature of a women and was classified under the element of piety which was very desirable in a woman.Her Purity was also put into question when a “love letter” between her and Dr. MacFarland was presented to the court. This letter was a desperate attempt of Packard trying to persuade herself to freedom and any reasonable person could sympathize with a person who was unjustly incarcerated and labeled
Importance of Leadership Leadership is something that stands out in people. In a group, people tend to look for the strongest person to follow. However, the strongest person may not be the best choice to follow. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack each have leadership qualities. Jack is probably the stronger of the two; however, Ralph is a better leader.
Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed. But all share a common themes, such as a form of chaos or nothingness before life is created. Joseph Campbell notes that “... the idea of an absolute ontological distinction between God and man – or between gods and men, divinity and nature - first became an important social and psychological force in the near East, specifically Akkad, in the period of the first Semetic Kings, c. 2500 B.C.,” showing another similar trait – a god or set of gods exists to create in each story (626). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison of how both Genesis and the Book of the Dead of Egypt share the same idea of their bodies belonging to their god in some way, or being reabsorbed into them at death (630-631). Others, like the Japanese and Iroquois creation myths, claim the Earth was once covered entirely of water before land was formed. Adam and Eve of Genesis and Izanagi and sister Izanami of Shintoism provide examples of myths that share both a passive and active pair of people who eventually create the Earth's population. In any case, certain popular creation myths, some closely tied to prominent religions, share more common characteristics than others. An entire sub-study, called comparative mythology, gives insight into this subject.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954 about a group of young British boys who have been stranded alone together on an island with no adults. During the novel the diverse group of boys struggle to create structure within a society that they constructed by themselves. Golding uses many unique literary devices including characterization, imagery, symbolism and many more. The three main characters, Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are each representative of the three main literary devices, ethos, logos, and pathos. Beyond the characterization the novel stands out because of Golding’s dramatic use of objective symbolism, throughout the novel he uses symbols like the conch, fire, and Piggy’s glasses to represent how power has evolved and to show how civilized or uncivilized the boys are acting. It is almost inarguable that the entire novel is one big allegory in itself, the way that Golding portrays the development of savagery among the boys is a clear representation of how society was changing during the time the novel was published. Golding is writing during
Have you ever noticed why so many creation myths seem to talk about the same thing? The world being created by the body of a god is a common one. Many myths mention how humans at one point got destroyed or wiped out, or something happened that made their lives difficult forever. The most common motif I seemed to find is that humans were made from organic material such as bones left from dead gods, clay, mud, corn, trees, and even tears. It never occurred to me how so many motifs had so many similar things in them.
The creation myths that I have studied are similar in many ways. They also have differences that show an inherently different way of thinking about the world. All have creators-gods that make the world into what is now. There are conflicts within their world, and these conflicts change the face world. God to god or human to god maybe be involved in these conflicts. Their bloody struggles prove who is more powerful, causing change in the control of the world. Some gods are beneficial to man and others are self-serving, using man only as a tool.
Around the world, there are many myths from culture to culture. Creation myths explain how the world and the universe came to be. They also describe how the animals and mankind came to be. All of these myths have one main creation god or branch off from other gods who then create other things. One of the most well-known myths is the Greek creation myth. Some other ones come from Ancient Egyptian and Norse mythology. Those would be some of the biggest myths that most people have heard about at some point in their lives. It is interesting because all these myths revolve around similar motifs. Some of these include primitive chaos, the struggle between gods, and the creation of man.
The greek story of creation is an especially fascinating one. According to Manual of mythology. Greek and Roman, Norse and Old German, Hindoo and Egyptian by Alexander S.
The story of creation is left up to the person you ask. Different cultures and societies have different stories about how the world was created, also known as creation myths. A creation myth is a story that shows how the world they lived in was created or how the first people came to inhabit it. It usually reflects their culture and beliefs. The Native Americans have very elaborate creation myths. Culture plays a big part in their creation myths. They used their views to make a creation myth that applied to their lives and values. Even though the Modoc and Lakota creation myths focus on respecting living creatures, the Ononadaga creation myth in contrast focuses on not giving up.
One definition of myth is defined as a widely held but false belief or idea. When discerning the bible and its contents a novice reader tends to think that its stories and characters are myth. The book of genesis can be considered a myth but not in the sense that it holds a false belief or idea. It can be defined as a myth because it contains a story of origin that pertains to a certain event, the creation of life. In Genesis 1-11 we see this story of origin and its transcending affect in the relationship between divinity and humanity. The two primordial stories that focus on the changing relationship between God and man are the garden of eve story and the flood story. These stories will provide pivotal points that forever
Creation myths have many similarities and differences that lead me to believe the common motifs could be true, while the differences may be false. In many creation myths around the world they try to explain life from the beginning, three main motifs exist in these myths: A battle for power, incest, and the use of organic materials to create human beings. A battle for power I find surprising because coming from a Catholic family we believe the world started from only two human beings, while in many other creation myths there were many individuals at the beginning of time trying to secure their throne. The motif of incest I also find surprising because in today's world, we see incest as inferior, and have proved that the offspring can be born
For my movement, I decided to talk about Autism Speaks. I chose to talk about this organization because I believe that they are an organization that has truly been helping people and families who have children that have been diagnosed with autism. The goal of this paper is to share the message of Autism Speaks and share how they have helped people along the way.