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16 comments:
“The Lord of the Flies” is a bit of both a comedy and a tragedy. A comedy is a literary work with a plot undergoing hard times but having a happy ending. It could also be a literary work that provokes laughter. A tragedy is the opposite. It is an art-based work for the audience pleasure where the plot is going through happy moments but ends either in death or unhappily.
However, “The Lord of the Flies” is a bit of both a comedy and a tragedy. I cannot place “The Lord of the Flies” in ONLY comedy or ONLY tragedy. Throughout the book there are moments of comedy, such as “They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate.” (Page 55). This quote refers to Ralph and Jack in chapter three, that besides their different objectives, they managed to set them aside, for the moment. However, there are moments of tragedy, such as the deaths of both Simon and Piggy, two dear main characters to the plot.
The ending would define a comedy or novel, correct? The ending to “The Lord of the Flies” can be interpreted as a comedy or a tragedy. The officer, coming to rescue them, will have turned the experience the boys had into something terrible leaving the island will be good. In that sense, it is a comedy. However, after all that has happened, Ralph and the officer may simply leave the island, leaving all the other boys in the island to die, ending in a tragedy form. The problem is, the ending is enigmatic, so it ends up to interpretation.
How do you interpret “The Lord of the Flies”, a comedy or a tragedy?
Sergio, Pick one side. It cannot be both. Do you laugh or jest to yourself as you read? What would author consider this? Does he want us to laugh at the situation or cry in horror of our humanity?
In response to what English said, the author would have wanted us to probably jest at this. Mr. Golding would most likely consider his work a tragedy throughout. The horror of humanity is shown everywhere, either symbolically or contextually. During the period "The Lord of the Flies" was written also would explain the horrors shown in this book. Children were used in World War II against other countries, there were atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and people had become savages. "The Lord of the Flies" was written in a period of tragedy (Cold War), and is about a tragedy.
I disagree with Sergio. This was not a tragedy novel. Instead it was like a novel that taught about how society can disappear easily. “Lord of the Flies” gave teachings about how innocent boys can become savages. It wasn’t too sad too see the change of the boys because they made what they became. The boys created their ugly society, so it is their fault if they become savages. No pity should be felt for them because it was their responsibility to act educated and not wild running around. That is why it was not felt as tragedy.
However, Ahra, like English said, do you laugh or jest at the novel? Does it end all happy with everyone living happily ever after? Or is there something that doesn't seem right that makes it comedic? It's one or another. I put the definitions in my first post, so you can choose from there.
Mrs. Hogshead, this does not count as a blog post!
This was not tragic AT ALL!
When I finished reading i had this sense of disgust, but a cruel sort of...well...HAHA! YOUR FAULT!!!
Its like a "survival for morons - what NOT to do" guide.
This story did NOT have to end like this it was the boys own fault, everything that happened, except the parachutist, that man was going to die anyways.
However I do not know what kind of book this IS.
Except for what I said about survival for dummies, yeah do NOT set an island on fire.
i agree with ahra. the novel is not a tragedy, for me it's more like a lesson that wants to tell us that we kids need adult supervision, and that some kids, cannot be together, also that one person can change the way they are.
Isn't tragedy a story in which the heroes or protagonists die due to their own flaws? If so, then as Sergio said "The Lord of the Flies" does have a part of tragedy in it. In the end of the book, Ralph almost gets killed, and in some way one could see it as if it was due to his flaws.
He was elected leader in the beginning and he took that role. As the book progresses he fails to keep things under control, the way he wanted them to be. A leader is someone who leads and gets a group to do something. Ralph could not get the rest of the children (except Piggy and Simon) to follow him. So in a sense, Ralph almost dies because of his flaw (not being a good leader in spite of taking the role of one).
I too agree with Sergio because this novel is more of a tragedy than a comedy. The reason I say this is not because it is tragic that Simon was killed by all of the kids or that Piggy was killed by one but it is the overall theme of the whole book. Don’t you think that it is tragic to see kids, who are supposed to be the picture of innocence and ¨all that is good¨ start becoming savages and to know that that is what would happen to all of humanity if we were left on a deserted island.
The tragedy of Lord of the Flies is that even though history has repeated itself over and over again, we don’t bother to change.
I agree with Ahra it is not a tragedy. Yes, there were deaths, but those deaths taught us a lesson. This book was 100% survival. Without the deaths the book would not have the same intensity as it does now. Not only did the book show us deaths, but what could happen to society if we all were to lose control.
I think its some twisted and cruel comedy except for the end. What makes me think of it as a comedy is how it exposes the harsh truth because we can't deny it, its situation could happen.
I guess it could see a tragedy as boo hoo pooor little kids are loosing their innocence and forced to be savage to survive!
But I DON'T see it like that. Its something that i actually did biterly laugh at points because it makes you admit some harsh truths about the nature of humans and the extremes to which the most seemingly sweet child can go.
So, Lord of the FLies is not a tragedy, but a sort of bittersweet comedy.
Lord of the Flies is a tragedy because it includes several very sad events. Espcially, Lord of the Flies includes Simon's death and Piggy's death. Even though the parachute guy is a death, it's not a very sad event, so I wouldn't encounter it. These deaths have made the story a tragedy
I completely disagree with Ahra even though one part she is right. I agree that the story shows lessons, but it's not justa bout lessons. I disagree with her because Piggy's death and Simon's death may be sad for some people. As I noticed, these people are the ones that can help in many ways of not being selfish and following the rules as Simon and Piggy demostrated throughout the story. So, the deaths have made the book into a tragedy book too.
I agree with Won because even though Simon and Piggy's deaths were tragic, they taught and important lesson to readers. This story cannot be a tragedy because only to of the characters died and if they hadn't the story would not be as affective.
As most people already said, I don't believe that the novel " The Lord of the Flies" is tragic.
Yes, the deaths of Simon and Piggy are tragic and are not justified, but the story itself is about adventure and human instincts. The novel also teaches the reader a valuable lesson about how society works.
I would say that in my head, although it does sound brutal, it is a comedy. It is a story where a couple of suckers die and the strong prevail over the weak. The death of Simon i have to admit was a little tragic him being cool and all but he was weak, just like Piggy and Ralph, who almost died.
I think that this is a comedy because it just shows how some humans can be stupid and crazy which is frightening but it is cool how the strong can prevail over the weak and stupid.
Life is based on survival of the fittest. Problem is, we have abused all that with all the modern medication and all of that and so there is no such thing as weakness and that is why this planet is so overpopulated!!!
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