Lord of the Flies: New Educational Edition

Author(s): William Golding

Contemporary

Lord of the Flies is a novel that has captivated schoolchildren ever since it was first published in 1954. A teacher himself, Golding clearly understood what excites and interests children. It is not only a gripping story, with strong, sympathetic characters, but it also raises timeless and profound questions.

Part of its lasting appeal, particularly in schools, surely arises from the way it tackles universal issues.The novel is a catalyst for thought-provoking discussion and analysis, not only concerning the capabilities of humans for good and evil and the fragility of moral inhibition, but beyond. The boys' struggle to find a way of existing in a community with no fixed boundaries invites readers to evaluate the concepts involved in social and political constructs and moral frameworks. Ideas of community, leadership, and the rule of law are called into question as the reader has to consider who has a right to power, why, and what the consequences of the acquisition of power may be. All of these concerns are current today and can be easily related to the novel through effective teaching and learning.

This new educational edition encourages original and independent thought from students, as well as guiding them through the text. The introductory material includes a biographical section on William Golding as well as providing information about the novel's historical context, which will be ideal for students completing GCSE and A-Level courses. At the end of the text there are chapter summaries, comprehension questions, discussion points and activities plus a glossary of less familiar words or phrases. This new edition includes William Golding's essay on Lord of the Flies, 'Fable'. All of these are intended to inspire and generate creative teaching, learning and love of the novel.


Product Information

A new educational edition, fully revised and updated with new material, and featuring artwork by the winner of the Faber/Guardian illustration competition.

William Golding was born in Cornwall in 1911 and was educated at Marlborough Grammar School and at Brasenose College, Oxford. Before he became a schoolmaster he was an actor, a lecturer, a small-boat sailor and a musician. A now rare volume, Poems, appeared in 1934. In 1940 he joined the Royal Navy and saw action against battleships, and also took part in the pursuit of the Bismarck. He finished the war as a Lieutenant in command of a rocket ship, which was off the French coast for the D-Day invasion, and later at the island of Walcheren. After the war he returned to Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury and was there when his first novel, Lord of the Flies, was published in 1954. He gave up teaching in 1961. Lord of the Flies was filmed by Peter Brook in 1963. Golding listed his hobbies as music, chess, sailing, archaeology and classical Greek (which he taught himself). Many of these subjects appear in his essay collections The Hot Gates and A Moving Target. He won the Booker Prize for his novel Rites of Passage in 1980, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. He was knighted in 1988. He died at his home in the summer of 1993. The Double Tongue, a novel left in draft at his death, was published in June 1995.

General Fields

  • : 9780571295715
  • : Faber
  • : Faber Children PB
  • : 0.01
  • : November 2013
  • : 198mm X 126mm
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 823/.914
  • : English
  • : Paperback
  • : William Golding