Historical Context Flashcards
WW2, Golding, Garden of Eden etc.
The perfectibility of man
- Golding believed humans would get better over time
- WW2 changed that opinion
Intertextuality in ‘Lord Of The Flies’
Coral island
Coral Island
Book about 3 boys stranded on an island who work together and never argue
Why does Golding use the intertextuality of ‘Coral Island’?
To criticise how unrealistic the book is and present a more realistic presentation of boys stranded on an island with no adults
William Golding early life (3p)
-He wasn’t from an elite social background
- He went to a grammar school
- He was a teacher at a boys public school
Why does Golding only put boys on the island? (2p)
- He didn’t want there to be girls so it wouldn’t be about lust or sexual desire
- Boys because it was a patriarchal society
William Golding in WW2 (3p)
- He was a a navy officer
- He was a commander and bombed ships
-There he discovered mans’ ability to do evil
Historical context (2p)
- Written after the end of WW2
-Nuclear war was a threat
Nazi doctors (WW2)
- Would experiment on children and people
- They were given the freedom
- Purest form of evil eg. Roger
- Doctor= most educated people
Nazi doctor in WW2
Josef Mengele
Hitler
- He was a dictator
- Xenophobic towards Jews, homosexuals, disabled etc.
- eg, Jack
Purpose of LOTF (3p)
- Explores the “darkness of man’s heart”/ darker side of human nature
- Shows that there is evil in everyone
- Explores evil as something that is part of us, not a separate entity
Golding’s opinion of fear
- He believed fear is in all humans
- Humans transfer their fears onto other things (the boys transfer it onto The Island)
- If fear is exterior, it is easier to get rid of
Transference
when people redirect emotions or feelings about one person to an entirely separate individua
Transference in WW2 (2p)
-Nazis transferred their anger and fear onto the Jews
- Blamed the Jews for the loss of WW1
Allegories in LOTF (2p)
-Political allegory: WW2
- Religious allegory: Garden of Eden and paradise (Genesis)
Freudian psychoanalysis
Freud’s understanding of the human mind
ID
darkest fears and desires
eg. Jack and Roger
Ego
Keeping the ID under control because you are aware of the consequences
eg. Ralph
Superego
Keeping the ID in control for the moral good of society
eg. Simon
LOTF setting
- Set in an imaginary WW3 where they boys are being evacuated
- World with no adults
- No adults=no structure
How many people dies in WW2
60-80 million people
