Lit Openers
Episode 11: Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
Interactive Biography Chart
ESSENTIAL BIOGRAPHIC INFO |
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| Author Name: | William Golding | |
| Pseudonym: | /// | |
| Nickname: | Bill | |
| Date of Birth: | 19th September 1911 | |
| Place of Birth: | Newquay, Cornwall, England | |
| Date of Death: | 19th June 1993 | |
| Time Period: | 20th Century (Post-WWII / Contemporary) | |
| Type of Education: | University education; switched from Science to English Literature. | |
| School/University: | Brasenose College, Oxford | |
| Places where the author lived: | Cornwall, Oxford, Salisbury, Wiltshire | |
| Peculiar events: | He was a commander in the Royal Navy during WWII and took part in the D-Day landings; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 | |
LITERARY PRODUCTION |
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Main works |
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| Complete title: | "Lord of the Flies" (1954) | |
| Genre: | Dystopian Fiction | |
| Synthesis: | A group of British schoolboys is stranded on an uninhabited island during a war. While they initially try to create a democratic society using a conch shell for order, they eventually split into two factions: the "civilized" and the "savages." The novel ends in a terrifying hunt, suggesting that without the constraints of law, the "beast" inside every human will emerge. | |
Other works |
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| Title: | "The Inheritors" (1955) | |
| Genre: | Philosophical novel, science fiction | |
| Brief Synthesis: | Set at the dawn of humanity, the story follows a group of peaceful, imaginative Neanderthals who encounter "The New People" (Homo sapiens). Through the eyes of the innocent Neanderthals, we see the newcomers as sophisticated but inherently violent and cruel. It serves as a tragic allegory for how human "progress" is built on the destruction of innocence. | |
| Title: | "The Spire" (1964) | |
| Genre: | Historical novel | |
| Brief Synthesis: | Set in the Middle Ages, Dean Jocelin is obsessed with building a massive 400-foot spire on his cathedral, believing it is a "prayer in stone" commanded by God. As the construction proceeds, the heavy spire begins to sink into the unstable ground, mirroring the Dean’s own moral decay and the dark, hidden secrets of the community. | |
| Title: | "To the Ends of the Earth" (Trilogy: "Rites of Passage" (1980), "Close Quarters" (1987), and "Fire Down Below" (1989)) | |
| Genre: | Historical novel | |
| Brief Synthesis: | A series of three novels following Edmund Talbot’s journey to Australia. While the first book, "Rites of Passage", focuses on a single tragic death, the full trilogy explores the physical and moral decay of a ship. It is a masterpiece of historical pastiche, imitating the writing style of the 19th century to critique the arrogance of the British Empire. | |
The short will be published on 18th February 2026 at 16:30
Ep 11 Lord of the Flies ANSWERS
Created for LnT
by Anna Maria Bellomo
Former High School English Teacher
Created for LnT
by Anna Maria Bellomo
Former High School English Teacher