Discourse Analysis of Lord of the Flies: A Systemic Functional Approach

Tianyue Wang

doi:10.4236/als.2021.93013

Abstract

This study used a systemic functional linguistic approach to interpret the theme of Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel written by British writer William Golding. On the basis of the clause, this research analyzed the author’s ways of writing and interpreted the functional meanings he tried to convey through the wording and structure of the novel. Excerptions from Lord of the Flies were analyzed in terms of the three metafunctions of language, namely, ideational function, interpersonal function, and textual function. More specifically, the current study focused on the author’s lexico-grammatical choices in the transitivity system, mood system, and thematic structure of the clauses and revealed that different choices encode different meanings, all contributing to the manifestation of the theme: without proper constraints, human’s inner evil will be magnified indefinitely and their reversion to savagery will be inevitable.

Highlights

Lord of the Flies, published after World War II, was written by British writer William Golding
This study used a systemic functional linguistic approach to interpret the theme of Lord of the Flies, an allegorical novel written by British writer William Golding
Excerptions from Lord of the Flies were analyzed in terms of the three metafunctions of language, namely, ideational function, interpersonal function, and textual function

Summary

Introduction

Lord of the Flies, published after World War II, was written by British writer William Golding. Lord of the Flies tells the story of several groups of boys who were left on an isolated island during the evacuation from an atomic war and depicts their harrowing reversion to savagery It is an influential philosophic fiction in that the characters and their behaviors are all highly symbolized. Since the publication of Lord of the Flies in 1954, the novel has received much attention and intrigued many readers as well as literary critics Extensive research of this novel has been conducted and vastly diversified in theory and methodology. Focusing on some of the excerptions from the novel Lord of the Flies, the following sections will analyze how the use of certain words and constructions performs the three metafunctions respectively and how the three metafunctions work together to serve the ultimate theme of the novel

The Ideational Analyses

Material and Behavioral Processes

Mental and Verbal Processes

Relational and Existential Processes

The Interpersonal Analyses

Mood Analysis of the Conversation between Simon and the Beast

Mood Analysis of the Conversation between Ralph and Piggy

Imperative Mood This conversation contains only one imperative sentence:

The Textual Analyses

Thematic Structure Analysis

Thematic Progression Analysis

Conclusion