The Spire (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: William Golding
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Work: Symbolic allegory
- Time of Work: The fourteenth century
- Setting: An English city resembling Salisbury
- Principal Characters: Jocelin, Roger Mason, Rachel, Pangall, Goody
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Social issues, Religion, England or English people, Faith, Architecture or architects, Cathedrals, Fourteenth century
- Locales: England, Salisbury, England
The Novel
The hero of William Golding’s The Spire, Jocelin, is the dean of a large cathedral and designer of a monumental spire which is to be built atop his church. Set in fourteenth century England and narrated through Jocelin’s own consciousness, the novel concerns Jocelin’s attempt to construct the four-hundred-foot spire with the help of his master builder, Roger Mason — an impossible task, since the church’s foundations rest on a marsh and its pillars are made of rubble. Jocelin is convinced, however, that the building of the spire is an act of faith, a...
[The entire page is 2521 words long]
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