How Does Golding Present Death In Lord Of The Flies
How does Golding present death in Lord of the Flies?
Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding uses a variety of methods in order to present death, and his presentation of death changes throughout the novel. Between the initial failed killing by Jack of the sow to the murder of Piggy, the attitude, and therefore the presentation of death, alters significantly.
Firstly, Jack tries and fails to kill the pig in the beginning of the book. This has been used by Golding as a method to link the lack of death to the boys’ retained innocence, showing that the boys are at first reluctant to kill either creatures or humans as they have been taught that it is wrong. This can be seen by Golding’s use of ‘a pause, a hiatus’, showing that there was a gap between Jack initially wanting to kill the pig and ultimately not being able to. Golding also uses the word ‘enormity’ in the same paragraph, showing that killing is still a big thing for the boys, even though it is only the life of a pig and not a human.
Towards the middle of the book, Golding uses the parachutist as another way of showing death in the novel. Rather than being killed by something or someone on the island, he is killed by the war outside of the island. The parachutist’s death presents it as a violent and evil thing, much like the war outside of the island, but its movement from outside of this paradise to onto it shows that death is corrupting the island and making it more into the warzone in the wider world.
Simon’s death in Chapter 9 also changes Golding’s presentation of dying, as it is more of a bloodthirsty and violent death certainly than the failed killing of the pig and even of the unknown parachutist. All of the boys are involved with his murder, including the previously uninvolved Ralph and Piggy. This is a turning and defining point of the story, as it shows that the innocence and civilisation that the boys previously possessed has truly gone. They ignored when Simon was ‘crying out’ and kill him in a
Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding uses a variety of methods in order to present death, and his presentation of death changes throughout the novel. Between the initial failed killing by Jack of the sow to the murder of Piggy, the attitude, and therefore the presentation of death, alters significantly.
Firstly, Jack tries and fails to kill the pig in the beginning of the book. This has been used by Golding as a method to link the lack of death to the boys’ retained innocence, showing that the boys are at first reluctant to kill either creatures or humans as they have been taught that it is wrong. This can be seen by Golding’s use of ‘a pause, a hiatus’, showing that there was a gap between Jack initially wanting to kill the pig and ultimately not being able to. Golding also uses the word ‘enormity’ in the same paragraph, showing that killing is still a big thing for the boys, even though it is only the life of a pig and not a human.
Towards the middle of the book, Golding uses the parachutist as another way of showing death in the novel. Rather than being killed by something or someone on the island, he is killed by the war outside of the island. The parachutist’s death presents it as a violent and evil thing, much like the war outside of the island, but its movement from outside of this paradise to onto it shows that death is corrupting the island and making it more into the warzone in the wider world.
Simon’s death in Chapter 9 also changes Golding’s presentation of dying, as it is more of a bloodthirsty and violent death certainly than the failed killing of the pig and even of the unknown parachutist. All of the boys are involved with his murder, including the previously uninvolved Ralph and Piggy. This is a turning and defining point of the story, as it shows that the innocence and civilisation that the boys previously possessed has truly gone. They ignored when Simon was ‘crying out’ and kill him in a