Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
reviewed by Katie Pallares
In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding explores humanity’s inclination to brutality and chaos as opposed to civility and order. Lord of the Flies begins during an unnamed war, with a group of English schoolboys stranded on an island after a plane crash. At first, the boys try to establish a well-run society mirroring their own, with rules and expectations geared towards their rescue. The boys choose Ralph as their leader, whom Piggy guides with rationality and intelligence, and Jack and the rest of his choir as their hunters. Ralph decides that the group’s biggest responsibility is keeping a fire going at the top of the hill to emit smoke for passing ships to see. However, with the growing animosity between Ralph and Jack and the emergence of a fearful “beast”, the boys lose sight of their goal for rescue and begin to side with the often barbaric Jack. At first their aggressions start off small, such as teasing Piggy and disagreeing with one another, but as the storyline progresses, many of the boys follow Jack into ritualistic hunting, chanting, dancing, and even leaving a pig’s head as a sacrifice to the beast.
Golding uses a plethora of imagery to describe the island and the situation the boys are thrust into. He also uses metaphor to compare major characters and objects to ideas in society: Ralph symbolizes leadership and civilization as he tries to get the boys to understand that rules and order are important. Piggy, who often points out the obvious and criticizes the boys for their immaturity and foolishness, stands for intellect and rational thinking, and the conch that he and the boys treat with awe and respect symbolizes democracy. Jack represents savagery, selfishness, lust for power, and immorality, with his tribe of hunters painting him as somewhat of a dictator. Simon, generous, helpful, and kind, is a figure of morality and goodness, with many similarities with Jesus. The beast is a metaphor for the barbaric instincts within all the boys, and, finally, the pig’s head on a stick is a stark opposite to the conch, as it is a symbol of cruelty and evil. Using these metaphors, Golding equips the reader with a better insight to the boys as they try to form a society and are met with disfunction.
I definitely recommend this book, especially to those interested in philosophy and civilization. Golding’s recurring theme of the primal instincts of savagery is nothing less than gripping. I was surprised a the novel’s effect on me: I found myself concerned with the characters’ well beings . In his short novel, Golding managed to make me feel shocked, uneasy, and even mournful as the plot progressed. Lord of the Flies is a classic example of high quality literature, and ultimately unfolded as an interesting, thought-provoking story.
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
reviewed by Olivia Pieterse
William Golding’s wicked yet satirical fiction novel, Lord of the Flies, focuses on the lives of young boys stranded on an island.This novel analyzes the darker side of civilization and humanity. Golding intricately weaves a story through struggle, innocence, and survival.
The novel begins with “the boy with the fair hair” (Golding 1), lowering himself from some rocks towards a lagoon up ahead. This fair haired boy is Ralph, the main protagonist. The book follows Ralph and many of the boys he meets. The first boy he meets, intelligent yet awkward, is Piggy. Piggy is loyal and stays by Ralph’s side throughout the novel. Once all the boys are together, they elect Ralph be their leader. Ralph is faced with many challenges throughout the story and is constantly required to control and maintain not only his humanity, but the humanity of all the other children on the island. While reading the book a sense of dystopian society came to play. The characters in this novel, both interesting and unique, are very important not only to the novel itself, but to the understanding of innocence, evil, and destruction. Simon, courageous and noble, Piggy, overweight, intellectual and loyal, and Jack, evil and cunning are all affected by the fall of this civilization that they have created for themselves. Golding makes the island sound like a wonderful place in the beginning, but soon it is understood that this perfect world they lived in would soon turn.
Lord of the Flies fascinates readers with a story full of descriptive and satirical language, as well as imagery that captivates his audience. The use of foreshadowing, personification, and allusions make this story that much more interesting. Golding uses symbolism to spotlight the underlying issue of the destruction of innocence and human nature. He also shows us that all people contain primitive instinct that can consume us. Golding emphasizes that it is not just adults that can destroy their purity and humanity, but also children. Each chapter leaves the reader wanting more.
I recommend this book to all. This timeless tale relates to everyone. Each reader can relate to one of the boys in the novel. This book makes you question humanity and how easy it is for human nature to be destroyed without any of society’s issues influencing how people think.
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
reviewed by Emma Condit
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies tells the captivating story of a group of boys who are stranded on an island and have to establish society, morals, and a new way of life. This group of british boys with ages ranging from six to fourteen, approximately, survive a plane crash and are left stranded on an uninhabited island. The boys are quick to establish order, using a beautiful conch shell to summon everyone for meetings. However, the longer the boys stay on the island, the true meaning of the conch shell begins to diminish. These complete strangers must establish society and a new way of life without the help of adults.
Observing the daily lives of the boys is fascinating because, as they lose their sanity, the reader sees their morals change significantly. They go from working together to build shelter and make fire to fighting and stealing from each other. As I read, my curiosity of who would rebel next kept me eagerly turning the pages. The bizarre environment and setting of Lord of the Flies kept me constantly questioning each character’s choice. Ralph ponders life when he wonders “If faces were different when lit from above of below- what was a face? What was anything?” (Golding 72). Ralph’s existential thoughts resonate with me and allow me to understand more fully what the boys go through on the island. Because the boys lose their sense of civility so quickly, Lord of the Flies also provoked in me some self-reflection, causing the me to wonder what would happen to me if I was on the island. Because Lord of the Flies is filled with action and gore along with introspection, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a thrilling survival story. I found the masterfully written novel Lord of the Flies extremely interesting and I hope you will too!
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.
