wgolding.lordoftheflies-第63部分
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in depth (impossible in an article of this length); but it should be pointed out that Golding has chosen as explorers those who have dominated the history of man: the totalitarian; the parliamentarian and the mystic…poet And; as is clear from the text; Simon is the realist of the triumvirate。 When the boys examine the bushes on the mountain; Simon accepts them for what they are。 Ralph and Jack are concerned only with how the buds can be used That Golding's figure of religious faith accepts reality as it is provides an interesting ment on the limited approaches of the parliamentarian and the dictator。
As we follow Simon through the novel; we discover that he is the mystic who separates himself from the others to ponder the mysteries of existence。 Simon is the carpenter who continues building the shelters after the other boys have abandoned the work; Simon feeds the 〃littluns〃; Simon encounters the beast in all its loathsomeness and does not succumb to the beast's temptation to despair。 This encounter is the boy's Gethsemane: he es face to face with evil; recognizes it for what it is; and; despite the agony and horror of the meeting; he is neither defeated
4。Simon's martyrdom; however; indicates that the saint or Christ…like personage (in spite of his spiritual strength) fails to rescue man from the nightmare of history。…Eds。
nor intimidated by it。 Immediately after he recovers consciousness; he ascends the mountain to free the dead pilot; whose parachute lines have bee entangled in the rocks。 In other words; Simon climbs the mountain to free 〃fallen man。〃
He returns then to the boys to announce the good news; they need no longer fear the beast。 But the group will not listen to him。 Like the One in whose place he stands symbolically; Simon is murdered during a religious festival… the diabolical liturgy of the pig。 His death occurs while the island world cowers under the lash of a gigantic storm。 And it is only after Simon has actually died that the dead man in the parachute is finally freed and washed out to sea; the sea which is Golding's symbol of mystery; not chaos。
Finally; Simon has his symbolic hour of glorification: his body is surrounded by 〃moonbeam…bodied creatures with fiery eyes〃; gleaming in this unearthly phosphorescence; he is carried gently out to sea。 And it is difficult not to recognize the hint of a resurrection motif here; for the pattern is that of the hero carried through the waters to his apotheosis。
Lord of the Flies; as I have suggested; is not an optimistic novel; but at least it is pessimistic about the right things。 It states quite clearly that the time has e for the Western world to abandon its fantastic belief in the Rousseauvian concept of the natural goodness of the human species; which goodness must lead inevitably to the total perfection of the race。 It shows what happens to scientific man; when he trusts only in the activity of his unaided reason。 It castigates the Western democracies for their blind acceptance of salvation through militarism。 It pictures the tragic destruction of any society which nourishes and exalts the dictator。 Ultimately; it presents the awesome spectacle of a world which; not satisfied with murdering Simon; continues to neglect the significance of his sacrifice。
But William Golding's world is not merely pessimistic。 There is goodness in his characters; there is order in his universe。5 However; like all authors who have tried their
5。It might well be noted; however; that the goodness and the order are overe in every instance。 True; Ralph survives and he steps forward to announce himself to the rescuer〃 as the leader; but the rescue is decidedly ironic; the boys are freed from primitive and childish militarism only by sophisticated adult militarism。…Eds。
hand at the intellectual exercise we call fable; he wants to teach man some hard truths about his own 。nature。 In the plexity and ambiguity of a highly elaborated symbolism; he has reminded modern man of the fact of original sin。 This is a reminder that we all need every so often。 In a later novel; The Inheritors; Golding places the following ironic words in the mouth of one character: 〃People understand each other。〃 Lord of the Flies answers: 〃Perhaps; but not well enough。〃
〃Men of a Smaller Growth〃:
A Psychological Analysis
of William Golding's
Lord of the Flies1
CLAIRE ROSENFIELD
When an author consciously dramatizes Freudian theory… and dramatizes it successfully…only the imaginative recreation of human behavior rather than the structure of ideas is apparent。 In analyzing William Golding's Lord of the Flies; the critic should assume that Golding knows psychological literature;2 and must then attempt to show now an author's knowledge of theory can vitalize his prose and characterization。 The plot itself is unplicated; so simple; indeed; that one wonders how it so effortlessly absorbs the burden of meaning。 During some unexplained man…made holocaust a plane; evacuating a group of children; crashes on the shore of a tropical island。 All adults are conveniently killed。 The narrative follows the children's gradual return to the amorality of childhood; a non…innocence which makes them small savages。 Or we might make the analogy to the childhood of races and pare the child
1。This essay appeared in Literature and Psychology; 11 (Autumn; 1961); 93…101; and is reprinted in a revised version here by permission of the author and the editor; Leonard F。 Manheim。
2。Note Golding's ment that he has read 〃absolutely no Freud〃 in 〃Lord of the Campus;〃 Time; LXXIX (June 22; 1962); 64。 Reprinted in this volume; p。 285。…Eds。
to the primitive。 Denied the sustaining and repressing authority of parents; church; and state; the boys form a new culture; the development of which reflects that of the genuine primitive society; evolving its gods and demons; its rituals and taboos; its whole social structure。 On the level of pure narrative; the action proceeds from the gradual struggle between Ralph and Jack; the two oldest boys; for precedence。 Consistent clusters of imagery imply that one boy is godlike; the other satanic…thus making a symbolic level of meaning by transforming narrative events into an allegorical struggle between the forces of Good and those of Evil。 Ralph is the natural leader by virtue of his superior height; his superior strength; his superior beauty。 His mild expression proclaims him 〃no devil。〃 He possesses the symbol of authority; the conch; or sea shell; which the children use to assemble their miniature councils。 Golding writes; 〃The being that had blown 。 。 。 'the conch' had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees; was set apart。〃 Jack; on the other hand。 is described in pletely antithetical terms; he is distinguished by his ugliness and his red hair; a traditional demonic attribute。 He first appears as the leader of a church choir; which 〃creature…like〃 marches in two columns behind him。 All members of the choir wear black; 〃their bodies; from throat to ankle; were hidden by black cloaks。〃 3 Ralph initially blows the conch to discover how many children have escaped death in the plane crash。 As Jack approaches with his choir from the 〃darkness of the forest;〃 he cannot see Ralph; whose back is to the sun。 The former is; symbolically; sun…blinded。 These two are very obviously intended to recall God and the Devil; whose confrontation; in the history of Western religions; establishes the moral basis for all actions。 But; as Freud reminds us; 〃metaphysics〃 bees 〃metapsychology〃;4 gods and devils are 〃nothing other than processes projected into the outer world。〃 5 If Ralph is a projection of man's good impulses from which we derive the authority figures…whether god; king; or father
3。P。 16。 All page references are to this edition of Lord of the Flies and will hereafter be noted in parentheses in the text。
4。Sigmund Freud; The Psychopathology of Everyday Life; as quoted by Ernest Jones; The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (New York: Basic Books; 1957); III; 53。
5。 Ibid。
…who establish the necessity for our valid ethical and social action; then Jack bees an externalization of