Eliciting Empathy with William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

Abstract: Some literature creates fictional worlds similar to the one we live in and others create worlds that are very different from ours. By inviting us to identify with characters, literature raises empathy.  William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is viewed by many as an emotional novel that can make its reader feel fear, confusion, empathy and anger, which makes it a useful tool to use when teaching about empathy. Developing empathy is an important process and while we cannot teach empathywe can evoke empathy using literature. According to the Swedish curriculum, students should be able to empathize with and understand the situation of other people. This study will analyse and present the ways in which William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies can be employed to cultivate empathy using different hypothesis and techniques suggested by Suzanne Keen, and with a lesson plan given at the end of this essay. This essay argues that Lord of the Flies cultivates empathy using the character of Piggy. The passages where Piggy is bullied are closely interpreted, as well as passages with Ralph, Simon and Jack. The analysis show that Piggy’s vulnerability makes him the victim. Readers tend to empathize with characters that show a vulnerable side or that are treated unfairly. Piggy’s role in the narrative is to make readers feel empathy because of the way he is portrayed, a fat boy with short hair and bad eyesight. The lesson plan presented at the end of this essay will show how these passages can be used by teachers.