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Golding is a masterful prose stylist whose language choices carry enormous thematic weight. To achieve top marks at GCSE, you need to analyse not just what Golding writes but how he writes it — at the level of individual words, images, and techniques. This lesson covers the novel's key patterns of imagery and language.
Golding uses animal imagery to track the boys' descent from civilised humans to savage creatures:
| Character / Group | Animal imagery | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | "Ape-like" (Ch 3); moves "dog-like" on all fours | He is regressing from human to animal |
| The hunters | "A pack" — compared to hunting dogs | Loss of individuality; collective predatory instinct |
| Roger | Described in terms of darkness and predation | He becomes a predatory creature without empathy |
| The littluns | Graze on fruit "like cows" | Passive, vulnerable, herded |
| The hunted sow | Described in disturbingly sexual terms | The kill is not just violence but violation |
The killing of the sow is described in language that suggests sexual assault:
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