Tolog Review: Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
reviewed by Catherine Bauer

What does it mean to lose innocence? Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an allegory novel that portrays the loss of innocence in those who are least expected, the most innocent, our children. The protagonist, Ralph, struggles to keep his humanity on a deserted island with children who are slowly losing all efforts to be civil. 

Overall, Lord of the Flies was an amazing book and I would recommend it to everyone. It is not a book that needs to be read by one type of reader. Rather, the questions asked throughout are basic to humanity and can relate to any type of person. Admittedly, this book was a bit hard to understand and confusing because of the time, 1954, and country it was written in, United Kingdom, but nothing that could not be clarified. This book dug deep into me and asked me questions that I will be asking for years to come. What is innocence? What is humanity? What does it mean to lose these things? The book leaves it up for me to decide. The situation the group is in leaves them with important questions like “Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?” (Golding 208) On the other end, the reader is left with important phrases to ponder on, such as “Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.” There are certainly many ways to interpret this book, and there is no wrong answer. Depending on the reader’s view, each character has justification for most of their actions, which is another reason I loved this book so much. These questions left me pondering humanity these days and what effect humans have on each other. I loved this book and would most definitely recommend it because of those reasons.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows the underlying loss of innocence through the characters and the setting. The loss of innocence can mean many different things and is left up for the reader to decide. This book was a bit challenging, but nothing intolerable. I loved this book and would encourage everyone to read it.