A Carnival Feast

William Golding is one of the most outstanding novelists in contemporaryBritain. The theme of his maiden work Lord of the Flies is related to the dark side ofhumanity, and at the same time, conveys a kind of misty optimism. Although fewscholars, as far as I know, have interpreted this novel in the light of Bakhtin’s theoryof carnivalization, the carnivalistic elements have already glimmered in the text.Therefore, this thesis will approach this novel from this angle.The present thesis consists of three parts: The first part is an introduction, withthe emphasis on the feasibility of applying carnivalization in the study of the novel.The second part includes three chapters. Chapter One analyzes the carnivalisticfeatures of characters in the novel including the clowns as Roger and Maurice, Jackthe rogue, and Ralph the carnival king. Chapter Two is devoted to the discussion ofthe carnivalized plots which are embodied in the two aspects: the carnival hell withfire and the ritual of crowning/decrowning with shell. Chapter Three focuses on thecarnivalized connotation based on the first two chapters—the carnival sense of theworld conveyed in the novel which is characterized as the ambivalent duality and thejoyful relativity. The third part serves as a conclusion. In addition to the summary ofthe whole thesis, it restates the importance of carnivalization study on this novel andthe contribution of this research.All in all, enlightened by Bakhtin’s carnivalization theory, the analysis of thecarnivalistic elements in terms of characters, plots, and the ambivalent duality andthe joyful relativity covered under those elements, reveals the carnival sense of theworld in Lord of the Flies, and demonstrates that the extremism, which containsidealism and totalitarianism in the novel, will doom to be subverted.