LOTF Context
Task 1:
● What does the term ‘context’ mean?
● What does the context of the novel tell the reader about its
purpose?
● How does Golding relate the events on the island to those in
the wider world?
● What use does he make of the fears of people in the 1950s?
●● How has Golding used his own experiences in the novel?
The context of a novel means the circumstances at the time it was
written — the social, historical and literary factors that influenced what
the author wrote. Lord of the Flies was written in the early 1950s and
published in 1954. The world in which it was written is different from the
one in which we live today. In order to understand the book you need
some knowledge of the context in which it was created. In addition, you
should show a grasp of the context and setting when writing about the
book as part of an English literature course.
This is not meant to be a history lesson, but some
understanding of the time at which it was written will
give you a deeper insight into the book. Here are some
points to consider:
●● The people of Britain had just been through the
Second World War.
●● Food was still being rationed in Britain.
●● It was thought that there might be a nuclear war
between Western countries and the Soviet Union.
●● Golding worked as a teacher in a boys’ school.
●● Britain was having to come to terms with the loss
of the British Empire.
●● Public schools still produced most of Britain’s
leaders and top professionals.
●● Nazi Germany had adopted a system of rewarding
the strong and attacking the weak.
●● The adults the boys wish could help them are the same ones who are
fighting the war that has led to the boys being stranded.
●● The boys are rescued by a naval officer who is part of the war, yet
he asks if they have been ‘Having a war or something’ (p. 223).
The Second World War
Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and the war in
Europe lasted for almost six years. In the novel Golding explores some of
the ideas that lay behind the Nazi government of Germany.
●● The German leader Adolf Hitler adapted ideas from science and
philosophy for his own ends. Compare Hitler’s ideas of racial purity
and the supremacy of the Aryan race with Darwin’s theory of natural
selection and survival of the fittest (see the Themes section of this
guide for more detail). On the island, the boys have varying degrees
of physical and mental strength. You need to think about which
characteristics Golding portrays as gaining supremacy.
●● One of the most feared of the Nazi organisations was the SS
(Schutzstaffel: defence corps). The SS was fiercely loyal to Hitler and
was renowned for never showing human weakness. The often brutal
way in which the SS treated its enemies is similar to the way Jack
uses Roger to terrify the other boys into submission.
●● Millions of ordinary Germans were involved in the war and some
