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   VERBAL REALIZATION OF THE THEME “LIGHT” IN THE NOVEL                                                                                                                                                                  
                      “LORD OF THE FLIES” BY WILLIAM GOLDING     
          
                                                  Kishko O.V.  
                                     Uzhhorod National University 

         Statement of the problem.   The name of William Golding became widely known to the general public after the publication of his novel “Lord of the Flies” in 1954. Since then his works have been discussed both in Great Britain and abroad and have aroused a lot of controversial opinions.
          Philosophical ideas concerning the value of the individual beyond social context never played a noticeable role in the history of the traditional English novel, because analysis of the society surrounding man was always of primary importance.        The given article deals with the influence of the genre of a literary work on its vocabulary. We will try to confirm the hypothesis about the genre-determined character of the lexical structure of a literary work. It is plausible to presume that each literary genre has some definite invariant lexical model, which is embodied in a great number of concrete variants, changing with the development of ideas, points of view and human society and consequently, with the evolution of the genre itself.
      The main idea of the philosophical fable of William Golding is the struggle between good and evil both in the outside world and in the very nature of man. People must be aware of the fact that evil is not an external force embodied in society, but it resides within each person. Evil is usually associated with darkness and good with light and sun. 
       The creative work of William Golding has attracted attention of many literary critics, among them: Zinde M.M. [8], Pavlychko S.D. [9], Cox C. B. [1], William Kinhead-Weekes [2], Moody Ph. [4 ], Lang P. [3] and others. But none of the above-mentioned scholars investigated lexical peculiarities of the novel “Lord of the Flies”. 
        The topicality of the investigation is predetermined by the fact that the novel “Lord of the Flies” by W. Golding has not been the object of special linguistic investigation and the peculiarities of functioning of the lexical semantic group “light” have not been researched. 
       The aim of our investigation is to study the peculiarities of functioning of the lexical semantic group “light” in the novel.
     The following tasks were put forward for the better achievement of the aim: to define the theoretical apparatus of the investigation according to the fundamental notions of the theory of lexical semantic fields and lexical semantic groups; to distinguish the elements of the lexical semantic group “light” with the help of dictionaries; to analyze the peculiarities of functioning of the given group in the novel. 
Findings and discussion. Many linguists dealt with the problem of the lexical semantic groups. We want to mention some of them: O.N. Seliverstova [10] , A.A. Zaleskaya [7], Z.P. Sokolovskaya [12], V.G. Gach [6]. The research of such prominent scholars as L.M. Vasilyev [5], I.P. Slesareva [11] and others has been dedicated to the problem of the correlation of the lexical semantic group and lexical semantic field.
As a working definition in our research, we accept the one given by I.P. Slesareva where a lexical semantic group is understood as “linguistic and psychological reality, fundamentally singled out union of words, whose members have the same grammatical status and are characterized by the homogeneity of semantic relations- relations of semantic proximity of the synonymous type”[ 11,p.52]. In addition, the notion of relations of “the synonymous type” includes not only synonymy, but the relation of partial semantic intersection (i.e. the cases when the common paradigmatic semes are singled out in the semantic structure of the words).
The first stage of our investigation is to distinguish the elements of the lexical semantic group “light” with the help of the dictionary. It is rather numerous and consists of such words: : light, blaze, brilliance, flash, glare, gleam, glint, glow, illumination, radiance, ray, shine, sparkle flare, beacon, star, dawn, daybreak, daylight, daytime, morning, sun, sunbeam, sunrise, sunshine, fire, whiteness [13]. The analysed   words are used both in the author’s narration and dialogues. It should be mentioned that Golding took into consideration age peculiarities of his characters, consequently dialogues are rather short with neutral and colloquial vocabulary prevailing. The elements of the lexical semantic group “light” are therefore predominantly used in the narration and descriptions.
The most widely used word is light (35 examples)
He turned over, holding his nose, and a golden light danced and shattered just over his face [14, p.47]
At first the life on the island was peaceful and calm and the children thought they were in paradise because nature was light, bright and glamorous.
Ralph lifted the cream and pink shell to his knees and a sudden breeze scattered light over the platform [14, p.74].
The simple statement, unbacked by any proof but the weight of Ralph’s new authority, brought light and happiness [14, p.80].
But when the night falls, it brings darkness, cold and fear.
 The sun in the west was a drop of burning gold that slid nearer and nearer the sill of the world. All at once they were aware of the evening as the end of light and warmth [14, p.88].
Since they had not so far to go for light the creepers had woven a great mat that hung at the side of an open space in the jungle. The whole space was walled with dark aromatic bushes, and was a bowl of heat and light [14, p.105]. 
There was no light left save that of the stars [14, p.155].
A silver of moon rose over the horizon, hardly large enough to make a path of light even when it sat right down on the water; but there were no other lights in the sky [14, p.156]. 

The scene of Simon’s death impresses us with its intensity and emotional colouring, it is imbued with high poetical vocabulary and we feel the attitude of the author to his personage. As the waves creep towards the body of Simon beneath the moonlight, the brilliantly realistic description of the advancing tide typifies all the beauty of the world which promises eternal reward to those who suffer. The advancing waves are like moon-beam creatures, gently washing the body of Simon free from all stain, and dressing him in pearls, silver and marble. Instead of seeking to introduce ancient myths into the modern world, Golding creates his own, basing his symbols on the actual wonder of life itself. The intricate beauty of the waves is not merely a pleasing arrangement of light and matter, but an incredible manifestation of the wonder of the world:
Now it touched the first of the stains that seeped from the broken body and the creatures made a moving patch of light as they gathered at the edge. The water rose further and dressed Simon’s coarse hair with brightness. Somewhere over the darkened curve of the world the sun and the moon were pulling [14, p.234].
The next words from the lexical semantic group “light” are   sun, sunlight, daylight, brilliance, dawn which children associate with the hope to be rescued and in general with security and peace:
Sleep enveloped him like the swathing mirages that were wrestling with the brilliance of the lagoon [14, p.49].
A blur of sunshine was crawling across his hair [14, p.50].
 With openness came the sun [14, p.67].Then they broke out into the sunlight and for a while they were busy finding and devouring food [ 14, p.73]. 
There’s too much talk about ghosts. We ought to have left all this for daylight [214 p.149].
An interminable dawn faded the stars out, and at last light, sad and grey, filtered into the shelter [14, p.161].
The sun was bright and danger had faded with the darkness [14, p.173]. 
After the death of Simon and Piggy Ralph remains alone, face to face with the savages that made him run away and hide in the jungle:
The afternoon died away; the circular spots of sunlight moved steadily over green fronds and brown fibre but no sound came from behind the Rock [14,p.271].
The slanting sticks of sunlight were lost among the branches [14, p.273].
The best thing to do was to ignore this leaden feeling about the heart and rely on their common sense, their daylight sanity [14, p.273].
At the end of the novel when Ralph is hiding from the hunters, light means escape and life:
Daylight might have answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no [14, p.275].
He could see the sun-splashed ground over an area of perhaps fifty yards from where he lay: and as he watched the sunlight in every patch blinked at him [14, p.291].
“Lord of the Flies” is a very complicated, gripping work with a whole system of symbols. Such simple things as fire, spectacles and conch have all symbolic meanings. They interact sometimes ironically, sometimes tragically, creating an elusive atmosphere that is not revealed even at the end of the novel. Thus, fire in the first chapters is associated with rescue, it is a kind of a signal, but at some moment it is not under control and kills one of the boys, as if warning about the danger. The fire is put out when Jack kills his first pig, becoming a terrible force at the end of the story while Ralph is being pursued across the island by Jack and his hunters. And again due to the unusual twist in the plot, this fire helps to find the children on the island and rescue them. So, the next word under analysis is fire:
There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.
A fire! Make a fire! [14, p.81].
We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire [14, p.87]
Smoke was rising here and there among the creepers that festooned the dead or dying trees. As they watched, a flash of fire appeared at the roof of one wisp, and then the smoke thickened [14, p.89]. 
Those who were aware that a ship had passed the island while the fire was out were subdued by the thought of Ralph’s anger [14, p.134].
The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make? [14, p.137].
I said before the fire is the main thing. Now the fire must be out… [14, p.165]. 
Then Ralph was running beneath trees, with the grumble of the forest explained. They had smoked him out and set the island on fire [14, p.290].
The fire reached the coconut palms by the beach and swallowed them noisily. The whole island was shuddering with flame [14, p.295].
The conch, which Ralph and Piggy discover in the lagoon and use to call the children to assemblies, is not just a symbol of order. From the very beginning Golding does justice to the strange attraction of the shell, with its delicate, embossed pattern, and deep harsh note which echoes back from the pink granite of the mountain:
Piggy paused for breath and stroked the glistening thing that lay in Ralph’s hands [14, p.52]
The conch was silent, a gleaming tusk [14, p.53]
The green light was gentle about them and the conch lay at Ralph’s feet, fragile and white [14, p.256]
When towards the end of the story the conch is smashed, we feel that sadness which comes when any object of exquisite beauty is broken. The symbolic meaning, that this is the end of the beauty of justice and order is not forced upon us, but is reflected through our emotional reaction to the object itself:
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee: the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist [14, p.268].
The island itself is boat-shaped, and the children typify all mankind on their journey through life. In the opening scenes the island has the glamour of a new-found paradise.  With the green shadows from the palms and the forest sliding over his skin, Ralph is overcome by wonder. He lolls in the warm water, looking at the mirages which wrestle with the brilliance of the lagoon.
Ralph picked his way to the seaward edge of the platform and stood there looking down into the water. It was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral.[14,p.46]
Golding’s novel has a “remarkably complete and solid structure” [2, p.15]. With the exception of Ralph’s dream, it follows chronological order. It begins with the arrival of the boys on the island, the tension rises between Jack and Ralph and the crisis is reached in chapter five when Simon comes face to face with the personification of evil, lord of the flies. The tension mounts gradually as the story unfolds and the climax is at the point when the conch is shattered and Piggy is dead. After this the story comes to an end with the arrival of an army officer. The end of the novel is unexpected and Golding himself called it a gimmick. The writer deliberately makes us forget that the main characters of the novel are only young children. Their drama and conflict typify the inevitable overthrow of all attempts to impose a permanent civilization on the instincts of man. The surprising twist of events at the end of the novel is a highly original device to force upon us a new viewpoint. The crazy, sadistic chase to kill Ralph is suddenly revealed to be the work of a semi-circle of little boys, their bodies streaked with coloured clay. But the irony is also directed at the naval officer, who comes to rescue them. His trim cruiser, the sub-machine –gun, his white drill, epaulettes, revolver and row of gilt buttons, are only more sophisticated substitutes for the war-paint and sticks of Jack and his followers. He too is chasing men in order to kill, and the dirty children mock the absurd civilized attempt to hide the power of evil:
A naval officer stood on the sand, looking down at Ralph in wary astonishment. On the beach behind him was a cutter, her bows hauled up and held by two ratings. In the stern-sheets another rating held a sub-machine gun. [14, p.294]
And so when Ralph weeps for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the death of his true wise friend, Piggy, he weeps for the human race.
Conclusions. Each literary genre has some definite invariant lexical model, which is embodied in a great number of concrete variants, changing with the development of ideas, points of view and human society and consequently, with the evolution of the genre itself.
The main idea of the philosophical fable of William Golding is the struggle between good and evil both in the outside world and in the very nature of man. People must be aware of the fact that evil is not an external force embodied in society, but it resides within each person. Evil is usually associated with darkness and good with light and sun.
 
                                 Literature  
1. Cox C.B. Lord of the Flies./ C.B. Cox // Critical Quarterly v.2, № 2 1960 –pp.112-117.
2. Kinkead- Weeks Mark and Gregor Ian. William Golding a critical study. / Mark Kinkead- Weeks and Ian Gregor – London-Boston.: Faber and Faber, 1984. -292p.
 3. Lang P. A New Reading of William Golding’s Fiction./ P. Lang. – Bern.: International Academic Publishers, 2008 - 241p.
4. Moody Ph. A. Lord of the Flies./ Ph. A. Moody. – New York: Macmillan, 1968 -57p.
5. Васильев Л.М. Теория семантических полей / Л.М. Васильев // Вопросы языкознания – 1971 №5 – с.105-113.
 6. Гак В.Г. К проблеме гносеологических аспектов семантики слова / В.Г. Гак // Вопросы описания лексико-семантической системы языка – М., 1971 – с.95-98.
7.Залесская А.А. Вопросы организации лексикона человека в лингвистических и психологических исследованиях / А.А. Залесская – М., 1975 – 145c.
8. Зинде М.М. Предисловие ./ М.М. Зинде // Голдинг У. Повелитель мух. Пирамида. Чрезвычайный посол. – М.: Прогресс, 1982 – 496с.
9.Павличко С.Д. Філософські романи. Вільям Голдінг/ С.Д.Павличко // Література Англії ХХ століття – Київ.:Либідь, 1993. – 269с.
10. Селиверстова О.Н. Об объекте лингвистической семантики и адекватности ее описания / О.Н. Селивестова – М.: Наука, 1976 – 130с.
11. Слесарева И.П. Проблемы описания и преподавания русской лексики/ И.П. Слесарева – М., 1990.
12. Соколовская Ж.П. Системы в лексической семантике / Ж.П. Соколовская – Киев, 1979 – 190с.
13. Hartrampf G.A. Hartrampf’s vocabularies / G.A. Hartrampf – New York.: Grosset and Dunlap, 1933
14. Golding W. Lord of the Flies. / W. Golding – Moscow.: Progress Publishers, 1982 – 297p.
 
                                              Резюме
           В статті розглядається питання мовної реалізації однієї з основних тем філософського роману-притчі “Володар мух”, адже лексика є одним із жанротворчих ознак роману, так як саме на лексичному рівні можна найбільш чітко простежити зв’язок між змістом та організацією мовних засобів.