Tuesday 20 November 2012

Past Essay

Student response to:

How does Golding present death in Lord of the Flies?

 The candidate strays at times from the focus of the question and, at times, the piece feels like a review rather than analysis of the text.  Though the candidate achieves a high mark there is room for development through language and structure.  They have not discussed how the deaths and the brutality and awareness of actions builds from ignorance to 'demented' ecstasy to rational murder.  Moreover the candidate has not opened up the language used by Golding in the deaths to a secure Band 6 standard.

 ...
Throughout Lord of the Flies Golding does not shy away from presenting to the reader the consequences of human interference with nature and how, ultimately, this can lead to death.

Death is presented to us as surrounding humans wherever they go and is something that, because of who we are, will surround us forever. From the moment the boys set foot on this seemingly beautiful paradise they cause destruction. Golding writes 'All round him, the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat', and this being one of the first sentences of the first chapter, we can see it is something Golding wished to portray from the outset. The scar is of course the trail of destruction caused by the plane as it plunged into the island, like an enormous wound on the face of 'paradise'. It isn’t long before the island claims its first victim.

It is in chapter two that death manifests itself within the boys, as a child is killed by a fire that got out of hand. The fire had been built to save them, yet through the boys' own foolishness and lack of foresight, their huge pile of dead wood sets the forest alight, trapping a little'un. Instead though, of panicking or attempting to douse the flames, the boys' first reaction was to break into 'shrill, excited cheering' as they witnessed the devastation of their paradise. This could relate to Golding's belief that man's nature is one of destruction, and the boys' cheering symbolises all of our naivety of that fact. The characters don't yet see the trouble they have placed themselves in, or its consequences. Golding describes the noises of this fire as 'a drumroll that seemed to shake the mountain'. This metaphor draws up animalistic and tribal images of warriors and ignorance, and is a brilliant example of foreshadowing the boys' descent into eventual anarchy and chaos. Nothing describes this eventual decay of morals like the tragic murder of the character Simon.

By chapter 9, 'A View to a Death', the innate savagery within the boys is starting to eat through them. Jack has announced his formation of a new tribe, shunning the democratic and 'civilised' Britishness of Ralph and Piggy and replacing it with tribalism. This rejection of authority and civilisation is just the start. Upon hearing the thunder, the boys begin to chant, done in circles and mime slaughtering a pig. Suddenly a figure emerges from the forest and the 'demented but secure society' becomes a horse-shoe, trapping and killing the beast that had crashed out of the woods. Simon lay dead on the sand, and it is in this frenzied and unjustifiable killing that we really see the true capabilities of man.

Following Simon's death, Piggy comments 'It was an accident...he asked for it'. This is yet another of Golding's examples of human ignorance about death, as despite playing a role in Simon's killing, Piggy will not take responsibility. This could be because despite the tribal urges that compelled him to take part in the killing, he cannot escape the entrapment of his upbringing in mainstream society so he is feeling guilty. Unable to deal with these feelings, he attempts to blame Simon for his own killing. Piggy's feelings here could be argued further substantiate Golding's opinion that man, although cultured into civilisation, could easily slip back into animalistic tribalism without rules and justice that prevent this. It also shows that despite everything, men can still feel guilt.

Although just a novel, Golding intended us to realise that once we escape entrapments of our 'civilised' society, we are all still animalistic beings we once were, and death as a consequence will always surround humanity. After all, even if good should prevail, death will still meet us at the end anyway.
 
All band 5 with 6.5 26/30
6.5 Convincing/imaginative interpretation of ideas/themes

9 comments:

  1. a very imaginative piece, overall a great read and extremely delicious

    ReplyDelete
  2. I now have a deep incite to the Novel itself and how to answer the questions in great detail. Rather voluptuous

    ReplyDelete
  3. sir is it true your an AQA examiner?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, but I'd rather not go on about it Conor.

      Delete
  4. This is an incredibly interesting and enlightening piece, FANTASTIC!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. fantasticsome amusunny inteliger

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gaulding shows that the boys have become aware of their surrounding's and there action's, the murders show the two different mind set's... Its almost like the initial shock of the crash and the chaos of trying to sort out a sense of civilization or society has faded and the boys have started to look around them ,this is could highlight the death of there innocence. Children don't take in changes in there life they just accept it, whereas adults tend to be effected and have more of a opinion about changes such as a Plain Crash.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like this idea that the shock has faded - that shock is what keeps them subdued and once they are accustomed to their situation they truly descend into savagery.

      Delete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.