1. English literature after World War II

Retake Midterm

Group 303

Mirzayeva D

Variant 18.

1. English literature after World War II

2. The elements of dystopian novel in " The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.

1.World War II showed its all-round impact. The post-World War II period was largely marked by depression and anxiety. The negative effects of World War II helped to create a number of new traditions in literature.One such movement began in the early 1950s. This radically new era was called "Angry young men". The literature of this century mainly represents a rebellious and critical attitude towards post-war English society. The "Angry young men" consisted of English writers and playwrights, mostly with middle or working class and university education. "Angry young men" label is believed to have borrowed from Leslie Paul's autobiographical book, Angry Young Man (1951).In the 1950s and 1960s, new poets also began to emerge.Two of these poets were Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes.One of Larkin’s most famous collections of poems was The Whitsun Weddings (1964). The poem Whitsun weddings in this collection has become one of his most famous poems. Hughes's first book of poetry, The Hawk in the Rain (1957), was dedicated to his wife Sylvia Plath who was American poet.This collection of poems includes poems about animal relations and war events.

One of the novelist in this period was Kingsley Amis. He often wrote social critic novels. His first novel, Lucky Jim (1954), is probably his most famous and follows the character Jim Dixon as he becomes a lecturer at a prestigious university.

British writers from the Modernist period like Dylan Thomas, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene and W.H. Auden (see Modernist introduction) continued to write well beyond World War II, but a new generation of writers would soon take their place.

2. In dystopian literature the authors use utopias to convey a message about the world we live in.

Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a dystopia “because it shows the breakdown of civilised life and firstlings of totalitarian rule” - said Trahair. On the island, they started with the attempt to establish a democratic “Neverland,” yet they ended up waging a war. Liberal democracy did not stand a chance faced with Jack’s totalitarian regime. Ralph could not reason enough with the boys to make them see the importance of the signal fire and building huts. Even he had to be constantly reminded by Piggy. On the other hand, Jack’s boys were uniform, not only in terms of clothing and masks but also in their behaviour and undisputable obedience and loyalty to Jack. At the beginning of the novel they are described as a dark “creature” because of their cloaks, hats, and coordinated movements (Golding, Lord 12). Jack exercises full control over them. He is a striking figure with his long cloak fluttering about him and the golden badge on his hat. Even though overwhelmed by heat they do not take off any part of their uniform, and when Jack yelled “‘Stand still!’” they “huddled into line and stood there swaying in the sun” (Ibid 13). No wonder Jack managed to hold them under his control until the very end and attract other boys by means of propaganda offering food and protection.

Golding’s boys are his guinea pigs in his social experiment, whereby he shows that “man’s capacity for greed, his innate cruelty and selfishness, was being hidden behind a kind of pair of political pants,” which is the reason why most social systems produced dystopian rather than utopian societies; for instance, the idealist concepts of primitive socialism eventually turned into Stalinism and German political idealism culminated in the rule of Adolf Hitler (Golding, “Fable” 57).

In Lord of the Flies William Golding conducts a literary social experiment showing how humans conditioned by the primeval evil, spoil their chance of a new beginning and create a savage dystopian society.

Boys' microcosmic dystopia reflects the violent events occurring in the world of adults. Bakhtin’s idea of carnival can be recognised as another dystopian element in this novel. Jack’s gang rejects constraints of civilisation and turns to savagery. They mask their faces resembling carnivalesque fools and conduct a ritual dethroning by sticking a sow’s head on a spear, which becomes the “Lord” of the flies that swarm on it. By doing so they also create the likeness of the true “Lord of the Flies,” the lord of the devils, Beelzebub, thus emphasizing the notion of the evil’s strengthening grip over them. This idea of man’s innate evil may be observed in the light of the terrible events that occurred during the Second World War.