Lesson 8: Defects of Human Nature
Getting Started
When William Golding was asked to describe the central idea of Lord of the Flies, he said, "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature." The theme of a text is its main idea or viewpoint. Though he stated a major theme of the book quite directly in the interview, Golding never did so in the novel. Instead, he used the characters and the story to convey his ideas.
To portray the defects of human nature, Golding wrote of boys who fail to cooperate in ways that would make their lives better. They don't help build shelters and they continually put the safety of their own food source at risk by defecating near it. They wrestle with irrational fears of an imagined enemy, but even this terror can't motivate them to keep the signal fire burning. Through their own carelessness one of them has already died, and as the story progresses the danger they pose to one another escalates. The boys display the same characteristics that often lead to failures in the real world — the real adult world.
To portray the defects of human nature, Golding wrote of boys who fail to cooperate in ways that would make their lives better. They don't help build shelters and they continually put the safety of their own food source at risk by defecating near it. They wrestle with irrational fears of an imagined enemy, but even this terror can't motivate them to keep the signal fire burning. Through their own carelessness one of them has already died, and as the story progresses the danger they pose to one another escalates. The boys display the same characteristics that often lead to failures in the real world — the real adult world.
Stuff You Need
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- dictionary* (Activity 2 - optional)
* - denotes an optional material that may or may not be needed
Ideas to Think About
- What makes an individual powerful?
- What are the implications for contemporary society?
Things to Know
- The theme of a text is its main idea or viewpoint.
- William Golding described the central idea of Lord of the Flies as follows: "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature."
- A novel can have more than one theme, and some themes are more central to the text than others.
- Minor themes support, expand, or elaborate on a main or central theme or themes of a story.
- Know the definitions of the following vocabulary words: incredulity, guano, dun, oblong, obtuseness, luxuriance, illusive, theological, propitiatingly, ululation.
Skills
- Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. (LA)
- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. (LA)
Introducing the Lesson
In this lesson, students learn to identify major and minor or supporting themes in a book. In Golding's own words, "The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature." This is a major, or central theme of the novel.