William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Fascism

Williams Golding's novel Lord of the Flies (published 1954) was written at a time which was very different than today regarding e.g. gender roles, technology and the political landscape. This master thesis contains an analysis of the novel from a hermeneutic approach in order to demonstrate that the many changes in the world since the novel's publication have not changed its status as an important piece of fiction. Freud’s theory of human aggression, Jung’s idea of anima/animus and the moral and political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes are used in order to unfold important aspects of this novel. The last section contains a discussion about fascism, presidential leadership and other aspects which underline its relevance today. According to the theories of Freud and Jung, this study finds that Golding's characters show signs of aggression due to underlying, psychological structures as well as society's expectations of them, personal ambition and as a reaction to each other's behaviour and way of being. This is particularly due to an imbalance between the conscious and unconscious as well as feminine and masculine qualities - especially on the part of Jack but also, across time, Piggy and Ralph. Their failure to act in accordance with Hobbes' theories of maintaining a state according to a covenant (a 'social contract') becomes the demise of Ralph's rule and makes Jack's group more powerful in the end. Piggy symbolizes the not-so-ideal citizens who are often victimized in totalitarian states (including Fascist states) because they become a threat to the leader when they speak out against injustice and/or are an example of a flawed human being who does not fit into the state's propagandistic narrative. The study concludes that Golding's novel is still relevant because the condition of the isolation on an island is only an allegory and there are still many examples of conflict-ridden areas and nations in the world with problems such as the ones addressed in Lord of