What has principally interested you in your study of Lord of the Flies so far?
             Firstly, I intend to explain why, over anything else, Golding's reflection of the macrocosm within a microcosm has particularly intrigued me. I also hope to convey my interest in the way many of the large factors in this novel are intertwined with others (often ironic) – for example, that the paradise the boys seek to create becomes simply a replication of the warring, chaotic world they emerged from. Finally, I want to show why I find the characters so compelling, and show how many have elements that any reader can empathise with, and show why their complex interaction fascinates me.
             Golding seems to write to dramatise the conflict between the civilising instinct and the barbarian instinct that exist in all human beings. Every time Golding moves to describe the scenery, the weather, or even the atmosphere surrounding the boys, his choice of words seeks to represent this conflict that occurs worldwide. His dramatic technique is to show the rise and swift fall of an isolated, impromptu civilisation. So far as I have read, Golding seems to be establishing the parameters in which his civilisation will function.
             Golding's choice to make his characters boys is significant: young boys are only half-formed, perched between culture and savagery in such a way as to better dramatise the novel's thematic conflict. Golding's assumption throughout the novel is that the constraints of morality and society are learned rather than innate--that is, the human tendency to obey rules, behave peacefully, and follow orders is imposed by systems of power and control, and is not in itself a fundamental part of human nature. Young boys illustrate this premise, as they exist in a constant state of tension with regard to the rules and regulations they are expected to follow; left on their own, they often behave with instinctive cruelty
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