The Void and the Metaphors

Book excerpt: This book aims to revise the traditional interpretation of William Golding's fiction. The author investigates Golding's complicated metaphors which fluctuate so widely as to make consistent readings almost impossible. The study reveals that these fluctuating metaphors are created around a void, which is depicted not only as a gap but also as an impenetrable dark spot, or a counter-gaze. The characters in Golding's fiction endeavour to symbolise the void, but it ultimately resists symbolisation. Mainly from the perspective of semiotics, psychoanalysis, and philosophy, the book looks at the way in which the elements excluded from the symbolic system react against it and leave this void. The author then focuses on the void's significance in the creation of unique metaphors.