A Literary Ethical Interpretation Of Lord Of The Flies

William Golding is one of the most prominent writers in contemporary British literary circle.He got Nobel Prize for literature in 1983 with his masterpiece Lord of the Flies.This novel describes the survival of a group of six to twelve-year-old British children on an isolated desert island after an imaginary nuclear war in the future.They hope to replicate the civilization of human society on this desert island,but they fail.Instead,they turn the island into a hell on earth.Since the publication of Lord of the Flies,many scholars at home and abroad have devoted to the study of this work and have achieved fruitful results.This novel is not only a science fiction,but also contains profound ethical connotation that the author wants to convey.This thesis systematically studies Golding's ethical ideas expressed in Lord of the Flies from the perspective of ethical literary criticism.It analyzes the moral ethics,the ecological ethics and the social ethics in the novel.While revealing the ethical dilemma of the characters,Golding suggests that there is still the possibility of ethical redemption.The thesis is divided into four chapters apart from the introduction and conclusion.The introduction presents William Golding's life,briefly analyzes his main works and summarizes the research status of Lord of the Flies at home and abroad.It indicates the innovation of this thesis,and introduces the central argument and structure of the thesis.The first chapter is the theoretical basis,which makes a systematic introduction to the development and connotation of ethical literary criticism.The history of western ethical literary criticism can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece.Influenced by Plato and Aristotle,many writers and critics have evaluated literary works from the perspective of ethics.Consequently,the western tradition of ethical literary criticism has gradually formed.American ethical criticism is an important part of western ethical literary criticism.Wayne Booth,Martha Nussbauman and other critics emphasize the importance of emotion and perception in literary criticism.The literary critics of our country have paid more attention to ethical literary criticism,which has developed into a perfect subject system.The first chapter also elaborates how the thesis combines the ethical literary criticism with the specific text of the novel.The second chapter analyzes how to get rid of moral ethical dilemma by employing moral ethical criticism.When the children arrive at the desert island,they have a kind nature.Then they have been trapped in the desert island for a long time,and they show the evil of their human nature gradually.And at last,under the influence of religion and civilization,they have got their moral ethics again.The third chapter analyzes the construction of ecological ethics and discusses the ways to realize ecological ethical redemption.Initially,the children follow the rules of ecological ethics,and the ecological environment of the island is harmonious and stable.But when someone sees the island as his own territory and tries to control other organisms,the life on the island is in deep trouble.Therefore,the anthropocentric view of ecology,which emphasizes the conquest and dominance of nature,will inevitably lead to the ecological unbalance,resulting in the morbid social eco-environment and abnormal spiritual ecology.The fourth chapter explains how to realize social ethical redemption from the perspective of social ethical criticism.Only with a firm belief in science and democracy can a fair and reasonable social system be constructed.And when the animal nature and irrationality occupy the dominant position,the constraints of democracy and the rationality of science will be broken,and the society will fall into ethical chaos.The last part is a conclusion of the study.It points out the findings and the shortcomings of the thesis,and it is expected to provide some references for subsequent researchers.The thesis points out that Golding expresses his ethical concern for human society and environment by describing the darkness of human nature,and he demonstrates the hope of human spiritual redemption at the same time.