Golding's Introduction to Lord of the Flies

William Golding discusses his great novel, origins & meaning.
Lord of the Flies: amzn.to/3o0G5RD
For those interested, this was taken from the version of the book narrated by Golding himself; 2005: Lord of the Flies (read by the author), Listening Library, ISBN 978-0-307-28170-8
The audio book can be found on audible here: www.audible.com/pd/Lord-of-th...

[@guidine7]

RIP William Golding - so nice to hear the voice of the author after he has passed away. Being a german we read this novel in school in english

[@martm216]

Good little talk by Golding. I was fortunate to be introduced to Lord of the Flies when we had it as a set text at school. It was the first book I had read that I was conscious of being a novel rather than just a story. I was entranced. Then I gradually moved onto Golding's other novels. I found The Inheritors difficult and Pincher Martin impenetrable at first, indeed for many years. I enjoyed Free Fall and The Spire, and I loved The Pyramid. My favourite of his, alongside Lord of the Flies, is Darkness Visible. I enjoyed very much The Paper Men, also the sea trilogy. I did eventually reread The Inheritors and enjoyed it, and have reread a couple of times Pincher Martin with a bit more understanding, aided by essays about Golding's novels.

[@TheICE1024]

This book reminded me of why I drink Damn islands...

[@SamOwenI]

Thanks for uploading! Very interesting.

[@jennifersairyon279]

Beautiful book

[@cartooningfanart]

I have tremendous respect for William Golding and his good respect for women and their values and strength. But I have to say that his idea that women would not kill each other on an island or form groups and find a "loser" to kill is a little (sorry for my word choice) romanticized. Women are human beings like men. There are different but also have the same urge for control, or words, or security - it depends on the individual. But the methods would have been different and all the murders more indirect. I feel if the boys were actually girls then their strategies would have been different. Girls are majorly different then boys. They are more manipulative and they hold on to anger. I feel like the story would have been similar with a few differences. Many girls still would have died. But I don't believe that the girls would have hunted or killed so openly. I feel as though the girls would have been more secretive. Made things look like an accident. But I feel the outcome would have been the same, many children dead and eventually they are rescued. Women can be exactly as bad and heartless as any man if they are put in the right situation. And if you do not believe it, see here: 6:03 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJy7o4GfqMqImKc

[@AbecedariusRex]

Right on. Seems to happen amongst other animals, too. Why not our species?

[@davids.3584]

Yea but men have more testosterone which causes more animalistic tendencies

[@xenomorphbiologist-xx1214]

“Women are human beings like men” That’s debatable

[@AjaxNixon]

I think a situation like LoTF is definately a real possibility, but I think it's dependent on things like group dynamics and the type of people who are there, especially among the boys who are strong and/or cunning. Same with female groups. Some girl groups would be hopeless at doing almost anything on their own, while some may have some go getter girl(s), and I think what you would see in some girl groups is that if you had one girl who was basically keeping all the girls alive, the group of girls would turn on her. This seems to be a higher potential case among girls/women than boys/men. They tend to cut down people who rise up, whereas men tend to follow those people, even sometimes to a fault (like becoming a murderous tribe)

[@johnk.lindgren5940]

Thanks a lot.

[@taters1123]

As mentioned in the clip, parts of human nature/society are boiled down to as small of a scale as possible. Jack represents the savagery and desire to break social order in our society, Ralph is on the opposite end of the continuum, representing rational thought; maintaining order, etc. Simon represents pure goodness, also assuming the Christ-like role in the novel. So yes it is about the natural evil in our hearts, but there's a great deal more to it than that.

[@JudythHill]

When was this filmed, please? And where? background would be wonderful - I am citing this in a book...

[@tillydancer101]

ahh thanks so much!

[@skvasishta2210]

thanks for giving us golding, my favourite novelist. could i have anything on his Inheritors or darkness visible/

[@AbecedariusRex]

gosh. my father taught at Kentucky U and at Notre Dame - he had this on cassette. Not sure if I have the documentation on it but I'll dig around and see what I can find.

[@yeto30003]

Did you find anything?

[@AbecedariusRex]

@@yeto30003 yes - I put it into the description above. It seems to be the intro to the version narrated by the author himself. 2005: Lord of the Flies (read by the author), Listening Library, ISBN 978-0-307-28170-8

[@HappyLandfiil23]

I love his voice.

[@sarahnasir9388]

what year was this recorded?

[@VoidHalo]

The audio stuttered when he said "first class idea" and it sounded like "first ass idea" I was confused and had to do a double take.

[@johnk.lindgren5940]

kiitos

[@mikebelbin]

If he'd written about a group of boys and girls, some would have paired off and created homesteads which they would have defended with their lives and the children would have carried on defending their property like Cleopatra. Savagery is not just about marking your face.

[@eggsaladinthetub]

Of course, I believe what people often perceive when people make statements such as Golding's is that they use it as justification to discriminate against people simply for being something. These criticisms are never meant to be applied to an individual, they are mere observations of general groups.

[@arabpredator651]

My teacher sent me here, PLEASE HELP!!!

[@Jobe-13]

Sounds like a very philosophical dude. Nice. Great book.

[@PoliticalBooks]

Lord of the Flies is brilliant! I've done a review of it on my channel :)

[@waveygiirl]

I think that we misunderstand the true nature of "boys" and "girls" - since birth they are socialized differently: boys and girls have to fulfill different expectations of behaviour and conduct, they are rewarded differently and perceived as different and this shapes a persons personality and actions. One personality trait that makes a girl empathetic and thoughtful may be perceived as weak in a boy. Such social conditioning has profound effects and influences the ways that each gender acts. It`s really hard to tell what's biological and what is actually social since it can be argued that "female" forms of aggression like manipulation are just the socially acceptable way that females express the same thing as males. If the novel truly wishes to show the collapse of society and it's rules and show us the true nature of humans it would have actually been even more powerful to have girls - who are commonly socialized *against* violent behaviour - be the ones committing violence as well (versus boys who are sometimes encouraged to be violent with attitudes such as "be a man" "hit the bully back" etc). I find the argument that women are better than men quite as insulting as if you said men were better than women (although, often, well intentioned): both men and women can be good, bad, or something in between. Saying that women are "superior" or better just oversimplifies the truth: humanity is not so easily categorized and women are actually complex human beings, just like men are.

[@user-se2nq6vo6j]

It does not work like that. Women were the ones who pushed men in order them to be enfranchised..And basically that’s true with everything. Nothing is given to you, you have to earn it. Both women and men respectively fought to gain the right to vote. As Martin Luther King said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed”. It is like saying white people just gave rights to black people. Actually, nothing was just given, they fought for it and some even lost their lives. You have a very romantic view of reality.... You said that some women say that if they were the only sex, they would still live in mud huts. What a silly thing to say. With the same logic, no man can give birth and they even faint when they see their wives to give birth. Have you ever done anything in order gender equality to be a reality ?

[@constracted7331]

@@user-se2nq6vo6j What exactly is your point?

[@user-se2nq6vo6j]

@@constracted7331 My comment was about a guy under this comment who said men gave women the rights they currently have. That is my point

[@davids.3584]

It's not *just* upbringing, Men and women are wired differently

[@tillydancer101]

where did you find this recording? I'd love to use it as a source for a research paper I'm working on

[@ThurmantheBear]

I'm looking for somewhere where Golding explains his own opinion of what the theme is. Anyone know of a website? Or book? Or something?

[@TheICE1024]

+ThurmantheBear sparknotes

[@leitfie3579]

Why does there have to be a theme? Isn't that rather limiting?

[@ThurmantheBear]

@@leitfie3579 good take, and a timely take. thank you for the quick reply.

[@spacepirate1342]

"The struggle for order against chaos"

[@PittsBurghFuzz]

although I do like Golding's view on not having girls in the novel, it would be interesting if there were little girls as well, just a thought.

[@gloria9424]

ive thought about this a lot, especially considering factors like menstruation, and how that would work out.

[@Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaron]

Ayo what you mean by that Joe

[@lesliegordon2313]

An absolute no-no.

[@PoliticalBooks]

Totally agree with you, just one thing: 'Lady Macbeth' is a fictional character, perhaps not the best e.g. to call on.

[@kelman727]

The change of title might have helped. 'Strangers from Within' was never going to set the imagination alight.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Actually I think there's an awful lot of subliminal sex in Lord of the Flies. Some of the language, especially around Jack and Ralph, is fearfully homoerotic.

[@seanwebb605]

Holy crap! I'm reading the book right now and I'm amazed at how much The author describes their state of undress, sweat dripping from their body, features of their body and such. He goes into great detail to discuss their lips touching the shell and such. WTF? And I don't understand why he portrayed an entirely single sex situation. Why weren't there any girls on the plane?

[@turqussy]

@@seanwebb605 i think it was like a school field trip and it was an all boys school

[@bub777]

I remember hearing this intro in high school, and I kept remembering him say "inferior" instead of "superior". The difference a word makes that determines if one's a feminist or a misogynist.

[@zdrastvutye]

the story reminds me of "white squall" which ended as a tragedy 1:29 girls will act different than boys. is that always true?

[@AbecedariusRex]

@AlbinusMakedonion thanks for that. I'm of the opinion that men are what they are and women are what they are; better and worse are merely prompts to goad us to treat one another more decently. Honestly SOME men are better than SOME women and SOME women are better than SOME men - but as a sex? nah. There are some women who are far worse then most men (Lady Macbeth) and some men that are far worse than most men, too. Love your wife, honor your family, and pray for rain in a dry time.

[@AbecedariusRex]

@rozenheart LOL - that's funny.

[@AbecedariusRex]

@rozenheart Depends on the woman, I suppose. Though if we go by the philosophic principle that the last thing created is the first thing intended then Eve, not Adam, is the paragon of creation. Check out my readings of Macbeth. You might enjoy them.

[@WKRPinCINN]

@rozenheart - you didn't chase the poor old chap from hell to breakfast in order to get him to confess it, i hope.

[@ballsconnoisseur]

hi

[@ndc_17]

salut

[@AbecedariusRex]

@Martyrofthefallen I suppose you're correct, though this is the man himself.

[@sugarfreelemonade]

Good god he's brilliant

[@UberNick1]

Recently Ive seen a different version of this on instagram and pintrest. It doesnt sound like his words "if you give her sperm she will make a baby. If you give her a house she will make a home" "if you give her any crap get ready to take a ton of shit" it sounds kind of american? Can anway tell me if its a true quote or made up?

[@johnpijano4786]

If Golding thinks that women are better to men in the island, then what is the point of the new movie of Lord of the Flies with an all female cast?

[@mile2jay]

Did you hear that? "I think women are foolish to pretend that they are equal to men, they far superior and always have been." That's true some men are suited for roles that women aren't for example when it comes to heavy work or lifting or such, men are more suited for that role, they have more upper body strength. To see women trying to act like they could do the same which you can if you want to but it seems foolish trying to prove a point that women are equal to men just based on that. It's just pointless you're not proving anything you're just proving that YOU can do it not your whole gender.

[@adyingdream4585]

and people putting a lot of symbolism into his books...just listen to the own author damn! =_=

[@AbecedariusRex]

@rozenheart LOL. I guess I did something right for a change.

[@rozenheart]

@AbecedariusRex geez chillax. aight? why so uptight about the fact that he stated? im just agreeing with what he said :P

[@rozenheart]

@WKRPinCINN im just agreeing with what he said. chill my friend.

[@KitRuthieandCaroline]

To all the people who think the girl remake is a good idea...

[@AbecedariusRex]

@rozenheart Just being told to chill out. I always say way too much. God of TMI, I guess.

[@guilhermesilveira5254]

Great distopia.

[@TexasGirl0868]

love this video "women are far superior"

[@rozenheart]

@AbecedariusRex what's funny

[@cheekyboy5000]

I think women ARE civilisation. They carry it within them. Their sense of what it means to have a child forces them to think ahead and want a world to bring that life into. Ok, it's a generalisation, but I do think there's some truth in it.

[@royaltyblessed2454]

nitroandy5960 How really? Sure physically stronger on average. But if we take out the fact that because men have the jump on women due to society then what really makes a man superior to a woman and vice versa?

[@rosabscura]

cheekyboy5000 i just feel like we balance eachother out. I honestly don't think an all girl society would be peaches and cream either.

[@LukeLikesToDraw]

Golding: “Women are far superior to men.” 11 year olds: S to the I to the M to the P!

[@seanwebb605]

He wants to talk and write about how people really are, but then he pretends that in a single sex environment sex doesn't exist. But it does! It really does! Some of the boys portrayed were hitting puberty. If they really thought that they would never be rescued and would stay on the island forever at some point they must have started to think about girls and dating. And some portion of the boys would have been gay. But that's not even necessary in a single sex environment. We saw them creating status systems. We saw the strong imposing their will and preferences over the smaller and the weak. Prisons, the navy or English boarding schools. Eventually boys will discover themselves. And their notions of appropriate sex play will be abandoned long before they kill a pig or roll a boulder onto one of their own.

[@RichardStrong86]

Golding comes from out a previous era. If he saw women drunk off their faces on a night out (when social inhibitions are nil) then that admiration of them as the fairer sex would be gone.

[@90sHONEY]

Richard, just say you hate being rejected so much. Then lose your sexist attitude and you might be more attractive to women. And what makes you think this gentleman has never seen a drunk woman?

[@rozenheart]

@AbecedariusRex atleast u posted this awesome video. which i can refer from for the superiority of women. =) hahahhaah

[@ancientfinn3738]

The problem with authors like Golding is that their brilliantly written books lead people to wrong beliefs about the nature of things.

[@kelman727]

?

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Agreed. Human beings are fundamentally cooperative, as evidenced by disaster situations in real life, such as those Tongan boys who were shipwrecked on an Island far worse than the one Golding imagined. Any situation of crisis, be it war or natural disaster, does not change people's nature at all, but rather reveals their true nature--bad people get worse, but good people get better; or rather, show themselves to be as bad and good as they always have been inside.

[@AbecedariusRex]

I completely agree.

[@shawnpan7141]

要不是中国的直女癌，估计也没多少中国人知道William Golding

[@cyclos12]

No he's just not an American. Brits respect women.

[@mohithbiradar9914]

bad

[@scattyman69]

This is Gay #Bolles

[@NellSmith]

And there you have it: One only has to contrast the wise and useful narrative in the video with the vapid and utterly pointless comment above, complete with the silly little "hashtag", to see EVERYTHING that is rapidly going wrong with this world... while we sit back with our ridiculous "smartphones", giggling inanely and welcoming our slide into destruction.

[@AbecedariusRex]

Fantastic grow the evening gowns; Agents of the Fisc pursue Absconding tax-defaulters through The sewers of provincial towns.

[@milsub59]

Did you feel good cretin?