CONSTRUCTING MIND THROUGH LANGUAGE: A COMPARATIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE DISCOURSE IN SELECTED NOVELS OF WILLIAM GOLDING

This article investigates how narrative discourse functions as a mechanism for constructing consciousness in selected novels by William Golding, with particular focus on Lord of the Flies (1954), The Inheritors (1955), and The Paper Men (1984). The study aims to demonstrate that language in these texts does not merely represent mental processes but actively shapes and mediates them. Adopting a qualitative, comparative methodology grounded in stylistics, narratology, and cognitive poetics, the analysis examines key linguistic features such as syntax, lexical selection, focalization, and modes of thought representation, including free indirect discourse. Through close textual analysis, the article identifies distinct stylistic strategies that correspond to different models of consciousness across the three novels. The findings reveal a clear progression in Golding’s narrative technique, from the linguistically constrained and sensory-based cognition of The Inheritors, through the socially mediated and morally conflicted consciousness of Lord of the Flies, to the self-reflexive and metafictional awareness evident in The Paper Men. This evolution reflects broader shifts in twentieth-century literary discourse, moving from representational realism toward linguistic self-consciousness. The study concludes that narrative language plays a central role in shaping both fictional minds and readerly interpretation, offering new insights into the relationship between language, thought, and narrative form.