Lord of the Flies, Chapter One
The Characters have to Overcome a Plane Crash and Living on a Tropical Island
As you know, most novels start off with the exposition. This is where the reader will learn about the characters and setting of the story. You may also remember that characterization includes the means by which the reader learns information about the character’s traits like personality, appearance, and intelligence. It is important for readers to understand a character’s personality in order to comprehend the decisions and actions of the character throughout the course of the novel. It is also important to be able to examine the interaction of the characters with each other as well as their contributions to the plot. Please review the definitions of characterization in the table below.
- Direct characterization – the author provides the reader with descriptive words or phrases to reveal the character traits of the characters.
- Indirect characterization – the author reveals the personality of a character through the character's thoughts, actions, and appearance.
Direct Characterization |
Indirect Characterization |
| He is a strong man. | He lifted the three hundred pound rock like it was a feather. |
| The news made her sad. | When she heard the news, her eyes welled up with tears. |
| She is a compassionate and giving young lady. | After seeing the news special on the homeless children, the young lady decided to donate her entire savings account to help them. |
Author William Golding will use a mix of both direct and indirect characterization in Chapter One. This chapter focuses on the first interactions among all of the boys who are stranded on an island because of a plane crash. There are no adults. The boys must decide who is going to be in charge of their group and what other roles and responsibilities the other boys will have.
Read Chapter One of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. As you read and take notes about each character you encounter, be sure to label the descriptions of each character as either direct or indirect characterization.
Lord of the Flies Character Review
In this non-graded interactivity, read the character description(s) from Chapter One of Lord of the Flies. Once you have read the description(s), use the drop-down menu to select the character who is being described. Then, on the slides that follow, select whether each example is direct or indirect characterization. To check your answers on each slide, click SUBMIT. Click the player button to get started.