Discussion questions on Lord of the Flies PDF

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Diskussions frågor på engelska om Lord of the Flies....

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Discussion questions on Lord of the Flies Make sure to give plenty of examples from the novel! 1. Why do you think the novel has gained so much recognition and fame and is often referred to as one of the greatest classical novels in history? What characteristics of a classic novel are to be found in it? I consider Lord of the flies to be a timeless novel, which is typical for a classic novel. It was written about 60 years ago, and it is still as relevant then as today. It discuss issues and teams that are relevant before and after the book were written, like power and leadership. The novel also has a high recognition factor since it is really about ordinary boys, since everybody has a connection with children in some short of way. The story take place in the nature that are a setting that everybody, regardless time era, can understand. There is no technonicol things that will destroy the eternal time limbo. Which I believe are reasons why it gain so much attention and are still famous today 2. Compare and contrast Ralph and Simon. Both seem to be “good” characters. Is there a difference in their goodness? Bothe Ralph and Simon are good and kind, but not in the same way. Ralph care about everyone, but his way of showing it is throw sayings for example when he defends piggy and lead the grope. Simon on the other hand seems to be kind all throw his body. He always want to help everybody else and always sacrifice himself to do the hard doing. For example he came up with the idea of building shelters and keep the fire going for ships to see, mean well Simon helped ralph and are loyal to him and the others. Also on page 128 to 129 Ralph think about piggy with all the little ones by himself while all the others are out hunting after the beast. He says to others “We can´t leave the littleuns alone with piggy. Not all night”. This is an example when he shows his caring for the whole grope. And then Simon offers himself to cross the island alone in the dark when he says “I´ll go if you like. I don’t mind, honestly.” 3. Piggy is clearly a clever boy, but he is a victim too. How is he important in the novel? Piggy take the most reasonability. He always says what the problem is, even if the others don’t want to hear. That’s make him a victim and that’s why they are mocking him. When he brings up the sensitive subjects, the other boys sees him as the problem and not the problem itself. That’s why the boys don’t like him, and they take his clever mind for granted. He is

also an important character because Ralph uses him for his right hand and help him. 4. The sow’s head and the conch shell each wield a certain kind of power over the boys. In what ways do these objects’ power differ? In what way is the novel about power? About the power of symbols? About the power of a person to use symbols to control a group? I think the sow’s head symbolizes the fear in the boys. The main reason to why the boys from the beginning choose to put up the sow head was because they were afraid of the beast and they used the head as a gift for it so that it wouldn’t hurt them. In that way the sow’s head has a big connection to fear. The shell was the thing that brought the boys together and they used it to create order, for example they created a rule that the only one allowed to talk during their meetings is the one holding the shell. For a long time every one respected the shell and listened to the one holding it and in that way the shell had a very big power over the boys. I think that the shell is supposed to symbolize civilization and order. Respect.

5. Compare Jack and Ralph. How do their leadership qualities/personalities differ? Jack and Ralph have different priorities, they value different things. First of all Jack don’t think that they are going to be rescued, therefor are Jack’s biggest priority hunting. He also thinks that he decides everything with no consideration with the others, differ to Ralph who always before a diction he calls an assembly to see what the others think and vote. Ralph is more mature then Jack, who only want to have fun for example jack pained his face with warrior paint and sing warrior song, just like it was a game, he says “bullocks to the rules! We’re strong – We hunt! If there is a beast. We’ll hunt it down!We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat -“ when Ralph biggest issue is how to be rescued. Jack also seem to have a much bigger power desire than Ralph which you can tell even in the beginning when Jack purposes that he should be the chief, he has a big confidence, and when he didn’t get chosen chief he became very upset and angry at Ralph. I think that the boys in the beginning wanted Ralph as chief because they saw him as a stabile leader that could steer things up, but later in

the book they wanted Jack as chief since he was an unafraid strong leader which was what they wanted when the fear of the beast took over their sanity.

6. Discuss how sanity and madness are defined in the book? What are some instances of madness in the novel? The different characters see different on what is sanity and what is madness. Ralph and Piggy thinks that the sanity is what grow-.ups would do. They want to be civilized which the conch and its rules result in. They think the most sensible is to build shelters and have fire guards. Madness according to Ralph and Piggy is prioritizing hunting and having fun before getting rescued which is what Jack does. I think that one example of when the madness is starting to take over some of the boys is when Jack and some others kill their first pig. The killing makes the boys feel really proud of themselves and the killing gets to a point where it is some kind of urge, which I think is pretty mad. 7. Lord of the Flies begins with making friends, and ends in death and violence. Discuss what you think are the main reasons for this change, and what you think the writer is trying to show by this. I think the main reason for the change is that they split up when they realise that they have different priories. Instead of interact and compromise they chose to go separate ways. That led to misunderstanding and conflict. I think that what Golding wants to show with this is what can happen in a society or a grope when you let things like fear and jealousy take over and the society or a grope scatter. 8. What are the themes (fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work) of this novel? The main them is power and hierarchies, and democracy vs. dictatorship. 9. Discuss the title of the novel.’ When I hear the title I think about death and decay. Mostly because you often find flies around dead thing and gorse thing like poop. But I think the lord of the flies stands for something bigger that are controlling the boys to become savages, fear. Maybe the fear of never getting home. 10. Choose a passage that you found very interesting. Motivate your choice and discuss it with the others. Page, 168 -169. When they killed the beast that is Simon. I chose this passage from the novel because it is interesting that they are so up in there self that they kill Simon without thinking. There’s instings and adrenalin took over the situation and the boys did whatever the others did.

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11. Prepare your own discussion question Who is talking (lord of the flies) Where did the little boy with the birthmark go? Why didn’t piggy introduce him at any point in the book? And just let them call him piggy?

Prepare yourself well at home. You are allowed to bring key words and your novel to the seminar....