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Lord of the Flies - Setting

This GCSE English Literature quiz looks at setting in Lord of the Flies, exploring how the island’s beaches, jungle and mountain shape atmosphere, conflict and power.

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Fascinating Fact:

The platform by the lagoon becomes the main meeting place, so this calm, open space is linked with assemblies, decisions, and attempts at democracy.

In GCSE English Literature, you need to show how the island setting shapes the story. Changes in the beach, jungle and mountain help you discuss power, order, fear and breakdown of civilisation.

Key Terms

Setting: The time and place where the story happens, including landscape, buildings and weather.
Symbolic setting: When a place stands for a bigger idea, such as democracy, violence or isolation.
Atmosphere: The mood or feeling created for the reader through description of place and sound.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

Why is the setting in Lord of the Flies important for GCSE exams?

The setting is important because Golding uses the island to explore big ideas about power, fear and human nature. Writing about place helps you meet AO2 in GCSE English Literature.

What should I focus on when analysing setting in Lord of the Flies?

Look at how different locations are described, how they change over time, and which events happen there. Then explain how these choices support themes such as order, violence and leadership.

How can I include setting in a PEEL or PEE paragraph?

Make a point about how a place reflects a theme, choose a short quotation describing the setting, then explain key words and link the atmosphere back to the boys’ behaviour and the exam question.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

"Darkness poured out, submerging the ways between the trees till they were dim and strange as the bottom of the sea. The candle-buds opened, their wide white flowers glimmering under the light that pricked down from the first stars." These lines describe which place on the island?

The shelters

The Castle Rock

Simon's hiding place

The mountaintop

Simon's hiding place is a source of wonder at night, when the white flowers open. This spot is near the place where Jack and his hunters later set the pig's head on a spear

2 .

How does the setting of the Lord of the Flies affect its meaning?

The setting on an uninhabited island becomes the basis for plot development; the events could not take place in the presence of adult society

The island and its population of children becomes a microcosm of human society; the children's violence mirrors the violent destruction practised by the adult world

The island provides a self-contained world, one which could be paradise if not for the evil in the hearts of its human inhabitants

All of the above

An interesting question to ask would be whether the novel would be at all the same if it were to take place elsewhere. Can you think of an alternate setting which could achieve the same effects?

3 .

Where is Lord of the Flies set?

In Hong Kong

On an uninhabited island in the Indian Ocean

On an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean

In the Caribbean

The flight which the schoolboys are on crashes into the jungle on an uninhabited island in the Pacific

4 .

Which of the following is NOT present on the island?

A volcano

A jungle

Beaches

A lagoon

The island has a mountain, beaches, a lagoon and coral reef, a jungle and cliffs

5 .

"His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence." How does the novel's conclusion present the relationship between the island and its inhabitants?

The unkempt outward appearance of the boys is reflected by the destruction of the island

The unkempt outward appearance of the boys is contrasted to the state of the island

The unkempt outward appearance of the boys demonstrates how the island is unfit for human habitation

These lines demonstrate the unpleasant effect of the island environment, which has worked against the boys' natural desire to be civilised

As a group the boys have neglected those tasks necessary in tending, nurturing and maintaining life, destroying themselves and their environment in the process

6 .

"The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of the rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat." Which of the following is correct of these opening sentences?

The first introduction of the island makes it seem to be an unspoiled paradise

Although the island, once explored, appears to be a paradise, these lines foreshadow the horror to come

The natural and the human are in complete sympathy with one another at first

The island is presented as a mild and gentle environment in these first lines

The metaphor of the scar through the jungle, the overwhelming heat, the hair plastered to the forehead by sweat and the use of the violent word "smashed" introduce the island in a decidedly dark tone. The arrival of humans on the island takes the form of a scar through nature

7 .

The first camp the boys set up is located on the beach near the lagoon. Where is Jack's rival camp?

By the fruit trees

On the mountain

At the rocks

Deep in the jungle

Jack is struck with the idea that the rocks look like a castle fortress. Jack's thoughts turn to defence, even though the only danger comes from other boys, while Ralph is unimpressed with the area because it lacks shelter. The place becomes known by the boys as Castle Rock

8 .

When is the novel set?

1900-1910

During the First World War

During the Second World War

During an unspecified time after the invention of atomic weapons

The time of the novel is left unspecified, although atomic warfare has arrived. While there are many similarities with the events of WWII, which had come to an end less than a decade before the novel was published, the war which is being waged over the Pacific is between Britain, where the boys are from, and the "reds", or Communists. Setting the novel during a fictional war allows the reader to see human violence as an ongoing problem, rather than one which has been resolved through victory

9 .

The tropical setting means that night falls quickly. What effect does this sudden nightfall have on the meaning of the text?

The sudden nightfall makes the boys more friendly and cooperative as they realise they need each other for survival

The sudden nightfall helps the boys to feel at home

The sudden nightfall is contrasted with the brilliant sunshine of midday, emphasising a sharp distinction between good and evil

The sudden nightfall is contrasted with the warmth and comfort of the lagoon, emphasising that all nights ultimately come to an end

Night represents fear and the evil which gives rise to fear. Day represents safety and goodness. The sharp distinction is an illusion: Simon finds beauty in the darkness and daylight itself becomes unsafe when Jack's tribe waits for sunrise to begin hunting Ralph

10 .

The boys survive by eating....

Shellfish

Fruit

Meat

All of the above

The boys eat fruit, shellfish and roast pork. These food sources represent varying levels of difficulty to obtain: fruit is the easiest and the least satisfying; shellfish requires catching and cooking; hunting pigs takes skill and much more effort, but can feed the entire group of boys

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Lord of the Flies

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)