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I have had occasion recently to teach this book again after a gap of nearly 45 years. What is evident to me now looking at the novel again is that William Golding's basic assumptions about humanity are very dark. Quite simply his thesis is that humanity = a piece of shit. However because he is an artist he can structure this very banal thought into a series of dramatic events.The basic technique would appear to be that of the spiral. First the event is briefly and fleetingly broached, then it is returned to in more depth. this is how the topic of evil appears. First the little ones speak of a beast. This talk is dismissed. Then one of the little ones seemingly vanishes, but nobody can explain this, nor are they sure it has happened and in any case they will not talk about it. Then there is a fuller discussion (round p. 111) and here the central conflict at this discussion is between Piggy and Simon, but he disguises this with a lot of sleight of hand about holding the conch, which conveys the right to speak at the assembleys. It would seem that the major protagonists at the discussion are jJack and Ralph, but it is Piggy's ideas versus Simon's ideas that Golding is targeting. Piggy is fully of common sense and routine. The Piggys of the world get up, walk to the station, buy the paper, sit there on the train and read it, get to their office and then repeat the whole procedure backwards. Arrive home and go to bed and so on for the rest of their lives. They question nothing and take all for granted. Simon is however at a different level. He is the mystic who wants to see into the heart of things and what he sees deeply disturbs him. He sees that humanity is intrinsically flawed/ evil or a piece of dirt. His encounter with the beast is strange and quite mystical. Simon gets into a dialogue with the head of a pig which has been put on a stake as a sacrifice to the "beast". The pig is presented as saying to Simon - "You knew didn't you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason why it's no go? why things are what they are?" Mystics close the distance between themselves and god - they merge with their creator - whatever that is and then fall into silence. So Simon merges into an awareness of the dark forces within himself. No mystical union is ever likely to happen to Piggy because day to day living has dulled his consciousness, but Simon lives on a deeper plane of terror. Now what of the central thesis humanity = piece of shit? What are the political implications of it? Well of course there is no point in reforming anything because humanity is shit and will always make a mess of it. Life is doomed to be nasty brutish and short as Hobbes put it. Better to leave things as they are in case they get worse. That is the heart of the conservatism of Golding's art. It helps of course to have a conservative view of the world if one is at the same born into a middle class family and becomes a success later in life. In any case, we get the kind of dystopic classic which can safely be recommended for generations upon generations of school boys. In many ways Lord of the Flies is the natural successor to Animal Farm./ ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
