Some final symbols. (rw5, Lord of the Flies)

The very last sentence of Golding's novel tells us how the smartly dressed naval officer, who compares the boys adventure to Coral Island, to give the boys some privacy as they recover from their crying, "[allows] his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance" (1954, p. 202).

Why does Golding go into so much detail when he describes the officers dress? What is its symbolic importance?
Why does the officer mention Coral Island? What does this symbolize?
And what sort of symbol is the cruiser that concludes the story?

__________

References

Golding, W., & Epstein, E. L. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.

Carving up roast animals: What do you think?

Read the following introduction to "Carving the Roast Beast", a sixteen page essay and dialogue by Stephen Law.

Every year in the UK, more than 25 million turkeys are killed for our Christmas dinner. Is this mass slaughter justifiable merely to satisfy our preference for a certain kind of meat? Shouldn't we be carving nut cutlets instead?

The Wilson family are sat around the Christmas dinner table. Dad is carving the turkey when he glances a little apprehensively at his eldest daughter, Gemma.

Mr. Wilson: Some turkey, Gemma?

Gemma: Of course not. You know I'm a vegetarian.

Mrs Wilson: Only since last week. And it's Christmas. Can't you join in just this once?

Gemma: No. It's morally wrong to eat meat. I'm not going to do something morally wrong just to make you happy.

Much the same conversation will be familiar to parents around the world. Teenagers are increasingly becoming vegetarians, often on moral grounds. It can be irksome for the parents: special meals have to be cooked and time and effort put into making sure that their offspring get a balanced diet.

Still, while Gemma's views might be inconvenient, that doesn't make them mistaken. And in fact Gemma does have some rather good arguments up her sleeve. (Law, 2003, pp. 124 - 5)

Now, in a comment below, write your response to the topic and main idea of Law's sixteen page essay. Although I've asked you to respond to Law's topic and main idea, this is a response writing, so we can be pretty flexible. The important thing is to respond to the reading in sentences that clearly state your ideas.

I suggest you write for five to ten minutes without stopping, and then publish your comment.

You can also respond to a classmate's comments if you thought it was interesting. You might think it was interesting because you agree or because you disagree with your classmate, or for any other reason.

You can leave as many comments as you like.

You do not have the next fifteen pages of Law's essay: that is not a problem. Don't worry: I'll give you the full essay tomorrow, after everyone has written their response to the introduction above.

__________

References

Law, S. (2003). Carving the roast beast. In The Xmas Files: The Philosophy of Christmas (pp. 124 - 140). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Political Correctness or Newspeak? (Lord of the Flies and 1984)

The edition of Lord of the Flies that we read at AUA is published in New York, and the Perigee editors have changed a word. On page 180, Golding originally has Piggy describe Jack's group as "a pack of painted niggers", not "Indians" (Golding & Epstein, 1954). British editions, such as the Faber and Faber edition, continue to use the original niggers (Golding, 1997, p. 200).

Do you think that the American publisher was right to change the word niggers to Indians?

__________

References

Golding, W., (1997). Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber.
Golding, W., & Epstein, E. L. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.

What's right's right! Or is might right? (rw5, Lord of the Flies)

In "Castle Rock", when Ralph blows the conch to call a meeting for the last time at the platform where they first gathered, Piggy proclaims his intention to confront Jack with the conch and ask for his glasses back "not as a favour, [not] ... to be a sport", and "not because you're strong, but because what's  right's right" (p. 171).

What does Piggy mean here? What is he saying about right and wrong?
What is the opposing view of moral right and wrong held by Jack?

Who do you think is right?  Piggy or Jack?
Which view of morality is more common in your culture?
Why does this matter? (Does it matter?)

__________

References

Golding, W., & Epstein, E. L. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.

Child Murderers in Paradise (rw5, Lord of the Flies)

"The Shell and the Glasses" begins with Ralph and Piggy discussing the awful conclusion to the party, with communal feasting, dancing and singing, which they enjoyed  at Jack's place the previous evening (Golding & Epstein, 1954, p. 155 - 158).

• Did the children murder Simon? 
• Are Piggy and Ralph as guilty as any of the rest? Are they more guilty? 

__________

References

Golding, W., & Epstein, E. L. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.

Should the traitors to the nation be punished? (1984)

As their bold words, and actions, make abundantly clear in chapter 1 of Part II, Winston and Julia are clearly traitors to the legitimate government of their nation, Oceania (Orwell, 2008). In Winston's case, we have long known that he is a traitor, and Julia proudly proclaims her own long standing disloyalty.

Should they be punished?

__________

References

Orwell, G. (2008). Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

We didn't ought to 'ave trusted the buggers. (rw6, 1984)

In chapter 3 of Nineteen Eighty-Four, when he should be touching his toes, Winston reminisces about the never ending war that began in his childhood. The specific detail is the awful grief of a gin soaked old man, but Orwell manages to pack a lot more into the short account:

In his childish way Winston grasped that some terrible thing, something that was beyond forgiveness and could never be remedied, had just happened. It also seemed to him that he knew what it was. Someone whom the old man loved--a little granddaughter, perhaps--had been killed. Every few minutes the old man kept repeating:

'We didn't ought to 'ave trusted 'em. I said so, Ma, didn't I? That's what comes of trusting 'em. I said so all along. We didn't ought to 'ave trusted the buggers.'

But which buggers they didn't ought to have trusted Winston could not now remember.

Since about that time, war had been literally continuous (Orwell, 2008, p. 35 - 36)

Discussion Questions

• Which buggers do you think they were? 
• Why shouldn't they have been trusted?  

__________

References

Orwell, G. (2008). Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

(In case you don't have the paper version of the novel handy, it's also available online @ http://wikilivres.info/w/index.php?title=Nineteen_Eighty-Four/Part_I/Chapter_3&oldid=93701 )