This study attempts to stylistically examine syntactic deviations in William Golding’s novels. It focuses and takes into consideration three novels, namely Lord of the Flies, Free Fall, and Pincher Martin. The study applies the basic principle of stylistics (Linguistic Foregrounding). Linguistic foregrounding can be seen as a key feature of literary style and the cornerstone of stylistic analysis (Leech, 1970). Jeffries and McIntyre (2010) emphasize that linguistic foregrounding is achieved by either linguistic deviation or linguistic parallelism‖. Leech (1969) also states that linguistic foregrounding is realized by linguistic deviation and linguistic parallelism. This research mainly deals with syntactic deviations; that’s, how William Golding deviates syntactically in his three novels. The syntactic deviation refers to the violation of the surface structure. It appears in some unique strategies and techniques, such as Hyperbaton: Stylistic inversion, Chiasmus, Enumeration, Peculiar linkage (Polysyndeton & Asyndeton), Litotus, Ungrammaticality, etc. The aim of this paper is to study and discuss syntactic deviations in William Golding’s three novels and how they are deliberately selected and arranged so as to create certain stylistic effects for readers and listeners.
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