On The Theme Of Evil In William Golding’s Early Novels

William Golding is a prominent writer in England after the Second World War, who wonthe Nobel Prize in Literature in1983. Compare with the studies about him of the West,academic studies on Golding in China start late, and most studies focus on Lord of the Flies,other works of him have been too much ignored. The first five novels in Golding’s writingcareer are the objects of study. Taking the angle of methods of narrative, skills of symbolicrepresentation and the animadvert upon human nature with application of closed readingmethod and general study method, the dissertation discusses the constitution of the Theme ofEvil in his novels and the attempt to find the way to goodness. The dissertation contains sixchapters. Chapter one summarizes Golding’s life experience and his works, and the academicstudies of William Golding in China and aboard, suggests the necessity of focusing on thetheme of evil in this dissertation. Chapter two analyses the methods of narrative in Golding’searly novels, revealing that binary opposition, closed narrative space and the breakthrough arevital to the constitution of the Theme of Evil. Chapter three analyses the main imago inGolding’s early novels, revealing that the uniqueness of symbolic representations perform avital role in the constitution of the theme. Chapter four begins with animadverting upon powerin Lord of the Flies, revealing that Golding’s anxiety about the fall of man and the attempt tofind the way to goodness. Chapter five is concluding remarks of the dissertation.