Subconsciou Integration of Elements in Literature: Lord of the Flies

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What brings a story to life? Better yet, what creates the world within the story that captivates the attention of those holding the open pages? The reader sifts through the lines of texts trying to escape the real world; trying to enter a place structured in fiction and the imagination of some far off writer from a different time. Little does the innocent audience know about the subconscious mental feeding, rich in both history and moral values. While the writer has control over the pen in his or her hand, the reader remains powerless. An excellent example of this subconscious integration of elements from the author’s time appears in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. By analyzing Golding’s book the reader can discover the correlation between the behavior of the children on the island and the historical and personal influences that the author used to bring to life the novel’s characters.

Ralph, the first character that appears in the Lord of the Flies, represents Golding’s view of democracy. Right from the beginning, a born leader takes center stage. Even before Ralph says a single word, Golding describes him as “a boy with fair hair” and by mentioning that “there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (Golding 7, 22) These descriptions may not seem like much, but they create a character with which the reader wants to associate; they depict an image of power and control. As the story progresses, the reader becomes more attached to Ralph’s personality due to the social concern that this character presents through his interest in maintaining order and keeping everyone safe. From the obvious choice...

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...end it” (Brooks). Just from this activity it can be seen where Golding got his ideas for the separation of the two groups of boys on the island.

The behavior of the children on the island clearly identifies with various elements from Golding’s life, both historical and personal. By using Ralph and Jack to represent two different leadership styles, the author taps into a dilemma faced by many people during much of the Cold War: should one join one side or the other. Although Golding presents two clear choices by utilizing the concepts of democracy and dictatorship, he does not emphasize the advantages of one over the other; however, the author does emphasize the violence of which both groups are capable of and bases this on his childhood and teaching career. A story may come from the imagination of an author, but that imagination has to come from somewhere else.

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