The Use of Gimmick in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, and Pincher Martin

The problem that this paper deals with is that the unexplained or surprising endings in some of William Golding’s novels can affect the thematic structures of the novels concerned. Furthermore, they influence the nature of the messages desired to be communicated by the author. Unexpected incidents in stories, such as uncalled for discoveries and revelations, can occur at any part of a story, serving the intention of heightening the readers’ suspense. Story endings (especially when they are vaguely unexpected, unprepared for, and unexplained) are influential in turning the direction of events completely. Golding, as a famous modern British writer, is successful in employing special ways or tricks (he calls them “gimmicks”) to conclude the plots of his novels strikingly. Because of this complicated manner of presentation, the endings of the first three of his novels, namely, Lord of the Flies (1954), The Inheritors (1955), and Pincher Martin (1956) all share tricky endings. Gindin, in his study of the gimmick in Golding’s novels (1960: 145-152), tries to relate the shift of emphasis in Golding’s endings to the use of metaphor. The aim of this paper is to examine how such seemingly unfitting endings are organized in such a way as to fit into the whole thematic structure of the novels. Likewise, it aims at examining the plots and the nature of characters and other elements that twist the course of events in the stories, causing some radical changes in readers’ views. Among the findings of the paper is that Golding, through certain incidents, presents hints that help in preparing for unexpected later results.