The boy with the fair hair lowered himself down ...
Those seven words, which open William Golding's classic coming-of-age novel Lord of the Flies, would take me roughly thirty minutes to teach when I began the novel each September. And that is my introduction for my freshman on how to study
literature at the high school level. After the students have had the
book for a couple days, and have been asked to read the first chapter, I
open with a discussion of effective reading strategies. This follows
an earlier class when I exposed them to the possibility they were fake reading. And, I propose that we revisit the chapter and "read it aloud"
employing reading strategies such as "asking questions during reading"
and being metacognitive. They seem surprised but intrigued.
So,
I begin. I read, "The boy ..." And then, I pause. "So, what do you
know?" I ask. They seem confused. "There's a boy," they say. But what does that
mean? Why does Golding start with the word "boy"? Why not Ralph, as
the boy is identified a couple pages later? The reason, of course, is
that we must know him as a boy, not a man. He is a child - one who is
still innocent - and he will come of age by losing that innocence when
he recognizes and understands the darkness that is in man's heart.
Thus, by beginning with boy, and not man or person or Ralph, Golding
establishes a potential bildungsroman.
"And
why not a girl?" I proceed to ask. Would it be a different novel with a
group of girls on the island? Of course it would. We discuss the more
physically aggressive, immature, and potentially savage nature of boys
versus girls. We ponder the drama that might arise among a group of
adolescent girls. We discuss the difference between boys and girls at
all ages. I share stories of nieces who, as toddlers, would passively
observe the flowers in my parents' garden, whereas as my nephews would
walk right in, trample, even pick them. I point out that if there is a
group of young children frying ants on the sidewalk in your neighborhood
in the summer, it will most definitely be boys, not girls. I point out
that girls and women would never have invented skateboard halfpipes or
MMA fighting. And, then I share with them Golding's answer when asked
why he chose adolescent boys as his characters. "Well," he said in
perfect deadpan voice, "when you get right down to it, the
fourteen-year-old-boy is the closest manifestation of true evil you will
find anywhere in the world." The class erupts. The girls
enthusiastically agree, and the boys concede and shrug their shoulders.
Golding's diction, "the boy," is absolutely significant in conveying
theme.
We proceed. The boy has
"fair hair." Is that an important detail? Absolutely. An author of
great literature will not bother to mention a character's hair unless
that quality is significant. In this case, the boy's fair hair is a
reflection of his demeanor and role in the novel. He is the "good guy."
Light is a positive motif, and in Western allegory light is symbol of
the forces of good in the battle of good and evil. Additionally, Ralph,
the boy, attempts to establish a system of order and justice. Thus, he
is "fair." And, hair becomes a primary motif throughout the work, as
numerous characters are identified by their hair. However, the next
point is that the fair-haired boy "lowers himself down." Is that
significant? Of course, it is. Just as light and dark are symbolic of
good and evil in Western civilization, directions of up and down are,
too. Obviously, heaven is up and hell is down, and gods are always
considered to be up on the mountain or up in the sky. Thus, the boy -
coming from civilization - is going down. This foreshadows and will
symbolize man's "fall from grace" as the boys on the island descend into
savagery and wickedness. Additionally, the reflexive pronoun is
significant as the boy "lowers himself." Our hero plays a role in his
fall - just as Adam and Eve or any tragic hero. He is partially
responsible.
Following this
analysis, the class realizes my expectations for them in terms of close
reading and the task of analyzing how the author uses language to
achieve his purpose. Certainly, they argue, if they spend that much
time on each word, the novel will take years to read and analyze. Alas, I
explain that much of this dialogue should be going on inside their
heads, subconsciously. And as we continue to study, they will learn to
instinctively apply such knowledge and ask such questions. The
remaining time in class is spent on the rest of the first paragraph.
The boys are in an Edenic-like setting. It has been damaged with a
"scar" from the airplane which crashed. We discuss the connotation of
"scar" and the idea that man's actions have damaged the innocent natural
world. Other details include the boy shedding his clothes, trailing
this sign of civilization behind him. The scar is a steamy bath of
heat, and a the silence is broken with a "witch-like cry" of a red and
yellow bird. These particular words create an ominous tone,
foreshadowing the evil to come and the fire that will also become a
significant motif. At the end of the class, we realize we'll need
another period for the rest of chapter one.
Ultimately,
this class is time well spent, as the students are introduced to the
ideas of close reading and style analysis. Expectations are set for
studying literature beyond the elements of the novel on which they
focused in middle school. They will eventually compose a written
passage analysis of this first paragraph when they are asked to re-read
the passage and analyze the way "the author uses language to convey his
theme."
1 comment:
Thank you. Such a powerful introduction into the book and theme and world of the boys
Post a Comment