Psichological Insights in Lord of the Flies

psychological insights in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

by K. M. Parivelan

As a novelist, William Golding developed a unique style characterized by simplicity and economy of expression. He deliberately refrained from excessive narration and consistent characterization. His treatment of the novel has been called 'anti-science' since he equated scientific and technological progress with dehumanization and traced the shortcomings of the modern society to the inherent negativity of human nature. His first novel, Lord of the Flies was published in 1957. The work features a group of schoolboys abandoned in an island and forced to survive without adult supervision. Initially the boys attempt to organize themselves on the lines of their parent civilization. Later, they transform to a more primitive societal pattern dominated by blood-thirst, cruelty, aggression and rituals. The underlying theme of the work is 'end of innocence'. In many ways, the novel has a fable-orientation, conveying morals allegorically, the most fundamental being the 'darkness of man's heart'. The author's psychological insights are brought to fore by concise depiction of perverted behavior and degrading moral standards.

The four major characters, Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon, represent passion, will, reason and conscious respectively. On the basis of this 'human-self' analysis, Golding explores the mutual interactions of various characters. The revelations underline the basic antagonisms of human nature. The author firmly believes men must learn to live with the chaos of existence without attempting to reshape it towards his means or ends. While man cannot alter his nature, Golding feels, he can certainly be conscious of it. And it is this consciousness, according to him, that contains the supreme achievement and delight of being a human being.

A study of the psychological insights in the Lord of the Flies clearly underlines the degeneration of virtuous characters into diabolic....