Descriptions
of the political and social climate of the time related to the subject matter
of the writer’s works
Writers go
through what the rest of us do; they are not prodigies that are immune to what
the rest of us experience. They are affected by the problems in society and they
are able to perceive characteristics of human nature. They write about them in
novels and poems so we can examine them and learn more about them. Writers are
affected by the events that happen around them, political and social. William
Golding was no exception. He lived through some harsh years and the
reminiscence of them can be seen in his writings.
On of
the events that took most importance in his writing career was World War II. William
Golding was born in the year 1911 and died in 1993. He lives through some harsh
and ominous times, through one of humanities most “titanic conflicts”, World
War II [1].
Adolf Hitler had previously tried to abolish
the Germanic government (1923) but was unsuccessful. When he became chancellor
in 1933 he abolished democracy and began with his plans to revise a racially
motivated new world order through a rearmament campaign. He believed that the
treaty of Versailles imposed harsh limitation gave Germany the right to fight
back for what was rightfully theirs. He wanted more land, especially to the
east, to expand in accordance with the Nazi policy of lebensraum, “living
space” [2]. He has successfully obtained the country of Austria and
Czechoslovakia without starting a war. Great Britain and France did now want to
repeat the bloodshed of World War I and let him have it with out any problems.
They did not understand at that point that Hitler goal of acquisition of land
was more that those two countries.
Hitler
was part of the German National Socialist (Nazi) party, a racial form of
fascism which had begun in Italy by the first fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
in 1922[5].
Germany
invaded
Poland in 1939; this marked the beginning of the war. When Poland was attacked
other countries believed they had to protect it which led them to take part in
the fight. By the evening of September 3rd Britain and France were
at war with Germany and with in a week Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South
Africa had joined the war.
Hitler
was part of the axis, with Japan and Italy. They tried to get of dangerous
enemies like Russia a communist state. States that had already been invaded
previously or were threatened by the axis formed the Allies, the three main
forces of the Allies were the United Kingdom, the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics.
William
Golding was part of the Royal Navy of Britain. He briefly took part in the
sinking of Germany’s mightiest battleship, the Bismarck. He also participated
in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day; he commanded a ship that fired rockets
onto the beaches. William Golding participation in the war let him observe and
think about the human character of which he later expressed in his literature.
One of
the most tragic events of World War II was the Holocaust. It was a Nazi Germany
state sponsored extermination of people that were considered
The war
lasted six year and is the most financially and humanely costly war. The
outcome was set in place by the power with the most personnel, economic and
industrial capacity. When the war did end he returned to teaching and
writing. Two powerful weapons resulted
from the war, the atomic bomb and long range rockets [5].
World
War II is clearly present in his works Free Fall and Darkness Visible
they are subtly present in Lord of the Flies and other works by the
author. Many of his works fall in the survivalist, historical fiction, and Robinsonade genre. This demonstrates
the effect war had in him that yearn for survival.
[1] Home page. World War 2. N.p., 10 Jan.
2006. Web. 29 Jan. 2010.
[2] Zalampas, Michael (January 10,
1989) (Google Books). Adolf
Hitler and the Third Reich in American magazines, 1923-1939. Bowling Green University Popular Press. p. 62. ISBN 0879724625. http://books.google.ca/books?id=WrcA0sAqwgsC&pg=PA62. Retrieved
2010-01-14.
[3] about.com
Picture Credits http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/#german
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