Desert Island Imagery In English Literature--On William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

The desert island has been functioning as a literary metaphor in English literature symbolizing both an earthly paradise, which also suggests the possibilities of new life and freedom, and the locus of dangers and despair. There are varied presentations of the image in the literary works of generations of English writers including William Shakespeare, Daniel Defoe, and William Golding. In spite of different emphases, which result from varied understanding of man and the universe, the desert island tends to be the source of inspirations of many English literary works in presenting these authors' ideals and worries. It is the Garden of Eden on earth in early desert island stories and Utopian literature, representing the optimism and faith in human nature and the future. The rosy dream, however, is substituted by the nightmare of wars and dictatorship. The desert island is depicted as a location of crimes and destruction, embodying the worries about and the defects in man and society. William Golding discloses the destructive nature in man in his Lord of the Flies, which breaks up the "desert island myth" in English literature and makes his contribution to the desert island image. With a study of the desert island tradition and Utopian literature, this paper discusses the significance of the desert island image in English literature and argues that this image has been picturing the development of man's search for the nature of man and society. There has been a shift of focus from a romantic vision of or faith in man and his world to the critical thinking and questioning of the defects of man and his society. The duality of the desert island image reflects the duality of human nature. As a common setting of English desert island stories and Utopian literature, the desert island actually has become an important literary image in the great tradition of English literature.