Lord of the Flies : Key info
Lord of the Flies is a notable literary work by William Golding. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Lord of the Flies.
Key info
Key Facts
-
- Full Title: Lord of the Flies
- Author: William Golding (1911–1993)
- When Written: 1952–1953
- Where Written: Salisbury, England
- When Published: 1954
- Literary Period: Post–World War II; Modern Allegory
- Genre: Allegorical Novel; Adventure; Dystopian Fiction
- Time Setting: During an unspecified nuclear war (mid-20th century)
- Place Setting: An uninhabited tropical island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean
- Climax: When the boys, in a savage frenzy, kill Simon; and later when Jack’s tribe hunts Ralph and sets the island on fire
- Point of View: Third-person omniscient (mainly focused on Ralph’s perspective, but sometimes shifts to others like Jack or Simon)
- Tone: Dark, symbolic, ironic, and tragic
- Main Symbols:
The Conch Shell: Order, law, and democracy
Piggy’s Glasses: Reason, knowledge, and technology
The Beast: Inner human evil and fear
The “Lord of the Flies”: The devil within humanity; pure savagery and corruption
The Signal Fire: Hope, civilization, and the boys’ desire to be rescued
-
- Protagonist: Ralph
- Antagonist: Jack (and symbolically, human savagery itself)
- Famous Line:
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”