Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies: Guiding questions/points  Ch. 1-2

What are some of the differences we know right away between Ralph and Piggy? Don’t limit your answers to appearance and personality.  How will these differences shape their roles on the island?  How do these traits transfer to “civilized” life?

Who is Jack and who are the boys with him?  What is very apparent about Jack right away?  While it may be kept in check by the expectations and natural social balances of “normal” life, think about how a situation with no social/legal “infrastructure” would be affected by someone like Jack.

What characters can we already guess are going to have a conflict?  What will the conflict involve?

What happens when the explorers find the wild pig in the woods?  What is the significance of the outcome?

How do the personality traits of Jack, Ralph and Piggy affect their interactions with each other, with the other boys and with their environment? (Pg. 33 and 38)

On pg. 40, the first real “disregard” for rules/norms takes place with Piggy’s glasses.  What does it lead to, and what does it set the stage for regarding the rest of the book?

After the fire, a boy has gone missing, but what happened to him is left fairly ambiguous by Golding.  Why is this done, and what ramifications does it have for future decisions made on the island?

Lord of the Flies
Ch. 3-4 Study Guide

What is the struggle between Ralph(shelter building) and Jack(hunting) symbolic of?

What is the true importance of the shelters?  Why is this so important?

Why is Jack so obsessed with killing a pig?  What will it mean for him?

Where does Simon fit into the society?  What is his role and what does he represent? (Find the part where he walks off into the jungle)

When Jack describes what it is like to be out in the jungle by himself, what is he basically admitting?

What are some of the signs of a breakdown in civilization? (Up to and including Ch. 4)

What does this breakdown mean for the characters who are involved?

What is the symbolism behind Piggy’s glasses being stolen and broken? 

What do Roger and Henry have in common?  What does Golding think about the presence of evil in human beings?





Ralph vs. Jack (where is their relationship?)

LOF Guiding Points for Ch. 5-6

Looking back to the beginning of the novel, what is the relationship dynamic between characters now?  How does this evolution fit Golding's theory about people vs. systems?
Jack/Ralph
Piggy/Jack
Simon/Everyone
Jack/Everyone
Ralph/Everyone

After 6 chapters and the evolution that Golding has illustrated through them, what appears to be the biggest threat/danger on the island?  What literary techniques does Golding use to illustrate this?

Why does Ralph have to agree to go hunting for the beast with Jack even though we all know there is probably no physical beast?  What unusual occurrence takes place between Jack and Ralph on this hunting trip?  What symbolic elements are illustrated?

How would you describe “The Beast” using terms and words that are not visual-based?

As the island society slowly deteriorates, the two potential leaders remain.  What positive character elements do Jack and Ralph still retain?  What powers has Golding created that are working against them at this point?

Look for symbolic "signs" that the memory of what it means to be "civilized" is fading for the boys.  What narrative techniques does Golding use to show this?

What is the symbolism behind Piggy’s glasses being stolen and broken?

What do Roger and Henry have in common?  What does the scene on the beach have to do, metaphorically, with Golding's views on mankind's flaws?

Ch. 7-10

1.  When Ralph and Jack see the “beast” on top of the mountain, why does Ralph say it “squats by the fire?”
2.  When Simon says “I think we ought to climb the mountain” in Ch. 8, what does this foreshadow (be specific)?
3.  What does Piggy’s suggestion that they move the fire down to the beach show about the boys in regard to the presence of the beast?
4.  If Jack and the beast have the most in common due to their total reliance on the boys’ fears and insecurities, which boy has the most in common with the LOF itself and why?
5.  Write the original chant.  Write it as it has changed in Ch. 9.
6.  With Simon’s death, human life has been taken.  However, one could argue that it was done in the heat of the moment and was an accident.  What is the next logical step for the author in the deterioration of civilization?
7.  When the hunters raid the camp, what do they take and why?
8.  What does Piggy think they wanted to take and why?
9.  What prophecy from the LOF(pig’s head on a stick) has come true?
10.  What aspect of human nature would Golding and Stephen King say is definitely present by the end of Ch. 10?


Ch.11
Pg. 169: Piggy’s blindness and what it symbolizes.
Pg. 171: Piggy’s rant about what is happening.  The acknowledgement of death and his last ditch effort at preserving civilized morality
Pg. 180-181: What it represents both immediately to the boys and in the arc of violence that has taken place over the course of the story.
Pg. 182: How have the characters, and the group, come full circle in relation to Golding’s point about human nature?
Ch. 12
-Why is Jack safe in the knowledge that he will never really have to face consequences for any deaths, even the hunt and murder of Ralph, on the island?
-The big hunt and Ralph’s transition from bystander, to hunter, to prey
-The irony of the island fire.  Jack’s role as savior/hero in that he gets them rescued, and he uses Ralph’s method to do it while trying to kill Ralph.
-The irony of who rescues them and what he says to them (last pages).