Why Lord of the Flies?

Why ‘Lord of the Flies’/why do you think this is a good title for the novel?
This was a particularly fiendish question that appeared on the paper in 2005. Here are a collection of possible ideas that you could select from and then illustrate.
Don’t forget, it’s not just the power of your thinking that gets you marks, but your ability to support them with evidence, quotation and analysis of language and structure that determines your final grade.
What is the significance of Golding’s use of the word ‘Flies’:
Word ‘flies’ refers to human evil/savagery.
Decaying pig’s head attracts flies like the boys are attracted by savagery.
Jack – flies like the boys attracted to Jack – represents most savage.
Flies are the boys themselves – they follow unquestioningly, and swarm around decay, like the boys/all humans are attracted to evil.
Flies associated with dirt and decay, as are the boys – refer to thc changes in their appearance to support this.
Flies swarm round head like boys drawn to Jack
Represents how human evil is like flies. You can’t brush it off – it will keep returning.
As things decay, flies gather more and more, like evil grows on the island and in the boys.
Flies are ‘prole-like’ – i.c. they represent the masses, unthinking followers – maybe even insignificant figures, but ruled by the ‘beast’ inside them, that is their ‘Lord’.
Why use the word ‘Lord’?
Suggests how evil can rule over us.
Why does the ‘beast’ becomes ‘lord’? Jack calls the Pig a ‘beast’ – to scare them into following him, as he will hunt. So why does Golding start calling the ‘beast’ a ‘Lord’?
Savagery inside the boys controls them, it is their ‘Lord’.
Does the title suggest the novel is Christian* in perspective? * = one where good triumphs over evil, one where there is hope for saving mankind through spirituality?
Simon withstanding the temptation of the L of F alludes to Christ’s temptation by the devil.
Lord of the Flies is a translation of the Hebrew word ‘Beelzebub’, which means devil.
OR: does Golding use this word ironically – to emphasise the fact that there is no hope, no redemption?
Why both words in title?
Lord – civilisation – class system – maybe reference to God but flies too = decay.
Maybe suggests civilisation is breaking down. Title is ironic then?
The title is a metaphor for mankind destroying itself and causing decay.
Flies associated with dirt and so are boys. Led by ‘Lord’ = savagery. Title ironic.
‘Lord’ = sign of a Christian, civilised society. Flies = decay. Title uses words in this order because we begin with a civilised society and move to one that is decayed.
Order of words in title mirrors the structure of the novel and what it has to say about a civilised society that is breaking down.
Schoolboys swarm around female pig which slowly decays, but they are brought back to civilised behaviour at the end of the novel. But the title reminds us this decay is always there – it’s just disguised by civilised behaviour.
Why ‘Lord of the Flies’/why do you think this is a good title for the novel?
‘Lord’ refers to Jack – himself a symbol of evil, and ‘flies’ represents the boys – who swarm and follow him without question – it’s like they are drawn to him, like human beings are drawn to savage behaviour.
The word ‘flies’ suggests that the evil side of some people are overwhelming, and almost feeding on our good sides, like parasites.
We as human beings are the Lords of our own evil, and it’s our own state of mind which destroys us.
Comments on structure of novel you could make:
‘L of F’ not referred to until Ch8, so keeps the reader in suspense as to why novel is called this.
Turning point in novel – when Simon meets L of F. Spirituality meets Evil, good meets evil, and evil wins.
Until Ch8, boys think they are in control of the killing. After this chapter, it is clear that the Lord (i.e. savagery itself) is in control of everyone.
The decaying of the pig’s head is directly related to the boys’ increasing savagery.
Other thoughts and ideas:
Title suggests the horror at the heart of the novel, and of human behaviour.
Lord of the Flies is at once ‘sick and heroic’ – what does this mean? ‘sick’ because it’s a reminder of the savagery of the boys, and ‘heroic’ because it’s what they worship, what they are driven by.
At first, there are pigs that are hunted, and there are the beasts. Jack uses the boys’ fear of the beast to encourage them to follow him. Then, a pig’s head on a stick becomes referred to by Golding as ‘the Lord of the flies’, and it speaks in the voice of ‘a schoolmaster’. So… the symbol of savagery is almost a god, something to be worshipped.
Lord of the Flies is a translation of Hebrew for ‘Beelzebub’ = Devil. Fall of Lucifer matches the boys’ fall from grace, and Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden of Eden.
Island even begins like a version of Paradise, which is destroyed. Title alludes to the notion of original sin – and suggests we are all evil.
The title puts together words representing good and evil, because the novel concerns the conflict between the two – and suggests that evil wins.
Since this novel is a fable, the title acts as a warning.
The only thing we worship, that is our Lord, is the Devil, or evil.
Pigs head on a stick is a physical representation of the savagery in human nature.
Two rituals in novel – hunting, and worship of L of F. Two different ways of controlling behaviour.
Remember: select a few good points, and put them in order – more obvious to most clever would be best. Then, you need evidence and quotations to back up your claims and show your detailed knowledge of the novel.