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The Lord of the Flies by William Golding - review

"Which is better – to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?"

Lord of the Flies isn't your average book, I have to say. Being a reader who loves to dig into books of adventure and mystery genres, upon picking up this book I thought it would be a normal adventure book; the blurb certainly seemed to suggest this. A predictable setting for a story: a deserted island suddenly inhabited by a group of reckless school boys. It's the perfect recipe for an adventure book like any other. Except...it's not like any other.

Allow me to briefly explain the tantalising plot. Set in an unspecified war period, a plane crashes, leaving a group of schoolboys stranded on a desert. Shocking, but not that unbearable. After all, the young boys' dreams have come true: who wouldn't want a whole island to play on all day without any nagging from the Adults? The unlikely protagonists are the fair haired Ralph and his side-kick, appropriately named Piggy. Without any adults, the boys realise that a leader must be elected in order to make sure that everyone has fun and doesn't act unkindly (except to Piggy of course, teasing Piggy is perfectly okay). Ralph ends up being elected due to his leadership skills and popularity with the rest of the boys. Ralph befriends a choirboy called Jack, who turns out to be the antagonist in this story. Both boys grow to loathe each other as the days pass, with Jack getting hungrier for power. Soon, what was initially thought of as a blissful escape from the Adult World quickly develops into something more sinister and unsettling.

Now when I talk about protagonists and antagonists, it's really hard to truly define who they are, for you see, Lord of the Flies isn't just a book about boys becoming independent. It holds a deeper, more subtle meaning to it, making the reader question what it really means to be immoral and the true meaning of evil. All the time, the reader is questioning Ralph, Piggy, Jack and the other schoolboys' decisions and actions, until it comes to a point when the reader is unable to take in what has happened. Innocence is lost and life for the boys will never be the same again.

Although the book spans a few months, fortunately it does not feel rushed. Every chapter leaves you hungry for more. I think the thing that makes Lord of the Flies so successful is the way William Golding manages to drop subtle hints in the story, straight from the beginning, and they become more apparent as the book progresses, and actions turn from worse, to what could only be described as barbaric and bloody. I also appreciate how the development of Ralph is made evident to the reader. Ralph is portrayed as having blonde hair and blue eyes, the perfect recipe for innocence. He is arrogant and care free and the prospect of having a whole island to himself is certainly appealing. However, as time passes by, and things go out of hand, Ralph matures and realises life is not all about how many friends you have and how popular you are, nor is it - sigh - about having fun. On the outside Lord of the Flies may appear to be simply a story about boys trying to live on a deserted island, but reading between the lines will allow the reader to understand and appreciate the dark hints that make this story truly exciting and magnificent in every respect.

I would recommend this book to teenagers, both boys and girls, who want to try something...different, to say the least. Teenagers who like adventure and mystery should certainly try this classic. In other words, if you're the one for romance and happy endings, look elsewhere. But if you like your books to have gripping and believable characters with a plot second to none, then Lord of the Flies is for you. I can promise you that you'll finish the book, left with a new and fresh outlook on the world around you and perhaps a thought as to what exactly Lord of the Flies is about. Indeed its inner meaning is very dark, making the reader wonder how thin the line between good and evil really is.

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Lord of the flies, common sense media reviewers.

Gripping story of marooned schoolboys and mob mentality.

Lord of the Flies book cover: Title in white letters on red background with leaves and reaching light-skinned hands in the foreground and two light-skinned boys standing on either side of the red background

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

The book's basic premise is that some people, depr

The novel raises questions about personal choice a

Ralph is the main character who's elected leader i

The British schoolboys depicted in the novel are W

One boy is bullied. Two characters are murdered: O

A taunt includes calling a character's asthma "ass

Educational Value

The book's basic premise is that some people, deprived of the rules and restrictions of society, will revert to barbaric behavior. This central conflict between nature versus nurture when it comes to morality is found on every page. Readers will also learn something about survival on an unpopulated island.

Positive Messages

The novel raises questions about personal choice and individual humanity in appalling situations. People are capable of selflessness, even when their own lives are at stake. There are times when it's critical to put the needs of the group ahead of individual needs or wants.

Positive Role Models

Ralph is the main character who's elected leader in the name of staying "civilized." He thinks strategically and shows compassion and perseverance, but his motives are questionable, and he does not succeed in his leadership of the group. Piggy, who is brainy and logical, represents the rational side of human beings; unfortunately, he's also deeply unpopular. Only Simon, who looks after the younger boys, seems naturally kind and good, as if born that way. Jack seeks power ruthlessly, but is charismatic, so he's able to command leadership, even when it results in more chaos. Other characters represent baser, more violent human impulses or the innocence of children. The characters, and how they relate to one another, underscore the value of ethics in collaborative situations.

Diverse Representations

The British schoolboys depicted in the novel are White. Their descent into "savagery," a term used repeatedly throughout the book, relies on racist stereotypes of Indigenous peoples from Africa, Asia, and the Americas being more violent and less civilized. The character Jack explicitly differentiates between "savages" and the English, suggesting that only the English know how to "have rules and obey them" and "are best at everything." A boy described as fat is nicknamed Piggy. He also has asthma. For those reasons, he's viewed as weak by the others. Women are not present and are only mentioned when the boys miss their mothers. The comparison to tying their hair back like "a girl" is used in a derogatory manner by the boys.

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Violence & Scariness

One boy is bullied. Two characters are murdered: One is beat to death and another falls to his death after being hit by a boulder pushed by one of the other boys. The acts are described in detail. Frequent mention of blood. Brief torture sequence. Boys hunt a pig and poke a sharp stick up its rear end while it's still alive. The setting and atmosphere are fraught with the potential for violence.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

A taunt includes calling a character's asthma "ass-mar."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Lord of the Flies has been described as dark, brutal, pessimistic, and tragic. Written from the point of view of British author William Golding, the novel tells the story of a group of White British school boys who survive after their plane crash lands on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. The boys bully and eventually kill two members of their group, one in a brutal, frenzied beating, in the other murder, a character causes a boy to fall off a cliff. Both scenes are described in bloody detail. The book often compares being "civilized" with Britishness, while the boys' violent behavior is depicted as more primitive and draws on negative stereotypes of Indigenous peoples -- a false idea that was historically used to justify the colonization and oppression of people in places such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The story deals with a fundamental issue of humanity: Are people naturally prone to evil? This and other issues in the novel are well-suited for parent-child discussion.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

Parents say (12)
Kids say (111)

Based on 12 parent reviews

Great book for deep discussion

The classic of savagery, what's the story.

In LORD OF THE FLIES, a group of British schoolboys is marooned on a tropical island and left to fend for themselves, unsupervised by any adults. At first, the boys enjoy their freedom, playing and exploring the island. But soon the group splits into two factions: those who try to preserve the discipline and order they've learned from society, and those who choose to give in to every instinct and impulse, no matter how chaotic or cruel.

Is It Any Good?

This novel has been a perennial favorite since its first publication in 1954, and when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, William Golding was lauded for his deep concern for humanity. Today, Lord of the Flies remains a staple of school reading lists, although some of its dated views about the nature of savagery are worth reexamining and discussing. Golding's prose is unadorned and straightforward, and the result is page-turning entertainment -- as well as a highly thought-provoking work of literature.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Lord of the Flies is considered a classic and is often required reading in school. Why do you think that is? Are there aspects of the novel that seem dated now? How does the depiction of the boys' bad behavior rely on stereotypes?

The boys on the island hope to survive their ordeal. How do they persevere through their difficult circumstances? What helps them survive?

Do you think people are born "good" or "evil" -- is our behavior always the result of choice? How is it that good people are capable of bad behavior, and vice versa? How do you think you might behave under the circumstances of the novel?

Is it always best to sacrifice your own wants and needs for the common good of a community? What are some examples of when characters show compassion ? What effect does compassion have on the characters and the events of this story?

What do you think some of the prominent elements of the story -- the conch, Piggy's glasses, the sow's head, the island's "beast" -- might symbolize?

Book Details

Author : William Golding
Genre : Literary Fiction
Topics : Adventures , Friendship
Character Strengths : Compassion , Perseverance
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Perigree
Publication date : January 1, 1954
Number of pages : 304
Last updated : August 16, 2023

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Book Review

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Publisher: Faber and Faber | Genre: Allegory, Social Commentary

Title : Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Genre: Allegory, Social Commentary

First Publication: 1954

Language: English

Setting Place: Deserted Tropical Island

Protagonist: Ralph

Major Characters: Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon, Samneric, Roger

Narration: Third person Omniscient

Theme: Evil, Outlets for violence, Human nature, Loss of innocence, Savagery Vs Civilization

Book Summary : Lord of the Flies by William Golding

In the midst of a nuclear war, a plane carrying a group of British school boys crashed on a deserted island. Without adult supervision they must work together and govern themselves to survive. At first the boys are civilized and elect Ralph, a boy of twelve years old, as a leader. Things start out okay and boys use Conch shell as a talking stick.

The first day goes rather smoothly and they discuss about hot to get rescued and what they have to do until then any ship come to bring them home. Ralph is determined about creating a smoke signal, so Samneric, a pair of twin boys, is assigned the duty to start and watch a signal fire. Another group, the choirboys lead by Jack, elect themselves to become the hunters and provide meat for the group. Simon, an enlightened boy and Piggy, a scientific thinker, quickly become the counsel for Ralph. Besides these boys, there are several younger boys about the age of six.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.”

Jack and his group become increasingly interested in killing sows. They begin to paint their faces and track the animals for hunting. All the boys begin to be afraid of an imaginary beast in the jungle. Their fears are further fueled when a dead man with a parachute landed on the top of the mountain. The boys begin to see Jack as a protector and look to him for leadership.

Then the conflict increased between Ralph and Jack. Most of the boys on island joined Jack’s tribe, except Ralph, Piggy, Sam and Eric and a couple of the littluns. Jack and group have become complete savages partaking in daily hunting and tribal dancing.

Character List: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Character List - Lord of the Flies | The Bookish Elf

Ralph- The main protagonist of the story, a twelve year old boy who was elected as leader of the boys. Ralph tries to maintain discipline, order, structure. He represents the civilizing instinct of human beings.

Jack – The antagonist of the novel, and one of the older boys and leader of the choir. Jack becomes increasingly dark and disturbed during his stay on island. He represents the evil that exists within all men in uncivilized situations.

Piggy – Piggy is Ralph right hand man. Though criticized for his weight, asthma and lack of physical agility, He is the scientific mind and the rational thinker of Ralph’s team.

Roger – An oddly secretive and sadistic older boy who thrives on preying on those who are younger and weaker. Roger quickly becomes Jack’s first follower and carries out Jack’s evil wishes.

Sam and Eric – Also known as “samneric”, they are twin boys who seem to be one person. They are follower of Ralph and enjoy their duty of keeping the fire signal going.

Maurice- He is Jack’s key supporters, accompanies him on the raids on Ralph’s camp.

Simon – The “enlightened” boy with a true natural sense of morality who spends a lot of time alone with nature. Simon helps and comforts the younger boys in their dreadful moments.

The Lord of the Flies – It’s the name given to the sow’s head that Jack’s gang transfixes on spear as an offering to the “beast.” The Lord of the Flies comes to symbolize the primeval instincts of power and barbaric nature that take control of Jack’s tribe.

Littluns- The littlest boys, around ages six and up.

Book Review - Lord of the Flies | The Bookish Elf

Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

In 1954, William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, when the world was in the middle of the silent yet terrifying Cold War soon after the World War II . It is not only a tale of boys surviving after their plane crashed on a deserted island; it is an allegorical novel about the conflicts between savagery and civilization.

The significant symbolism which is rather easy to comprehend, made it one of the most popular and admired books in history. Lord of the Flies by William Golding presents a memorable and haunting account of believable characters portrayed so subtly and accurately.

“The thing is – fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is based on a series of events following a plane crash that leaves a group of young school-going children stranded on a deserted Island during the Cold War. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the story of those boy’s shocking survival. The dreams of all the boys have finally come true: after all, who wouldn’t want a whole island all to themselves to play on without any nagging from adults? Soon after a day or two, the boys realize they needed a leader. The main protagonist, Ralph, is elected as a leader of the group because to his popularity and leadership skills, with Piggy as his sidekick.

All the boys befriend one another, because there is nowhere to go. As the days pass, Jack gets hungrier for authority. What seemed to be a joyous escape from the chaotic adult world at first, soon advances into something far more disturbing and sinister.

I remain convinced to this day that Lord of the Flies is one of those controversial classic books that depends upon how you read it. On the surface it could be read as a simple moralistic tale – a portrayal of what happens when you take people away from society.

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”

It may look as if Lord of the Flies is just a children’s adventure story. However, there is also a truth concealed deep inside the novel where Golding makes reader conscious of certain issues. The issues it concerns are: society, human nature, good vs. evil, ecological balance and cooperation. This is an allegorical novel where Golding employs the scene of a deserted island and a group of English school boys to serve as a framework, through which he explores the theme of his book.

William Golding uses this deceptively simple setup to question just how civilized we really are and how quickly we can descend into a mob of crazies. The question for the reader is whether these are but immature children or an allegory for the adult world and how quickly mob rule can take over and how few dare to go against the herd.

This story is a powerful depiction of human nature and its role in the rise and fall of democracy. Central to this story is the theme of fear: how it can be used as a means to control people and how it chisels away at our humanity.

“Which is better–to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?”

The three main characters Ralph, Jack and Piggy are archetypes of a natural leader, a bully and a nerd. They are not terribly complex people but they are still quite vivid characters who are defined more by their action than their brief moments of introspection. The early chapters have a spirit of adventure or perhaps a child’s idea of utopia, a world without adult supervision. As the characters degenerate into savagery the tone of the book become very dark and disturbing.

William Golding’s prose style is deliberately prosaic; there are no lyrical passages to speak of. This has the effect of amplifying the visceral impact of the narrative. There are however, some creepy surreal scenes involving a pig’s head on a stick. The ending of the novel is clearly telegraphed by the trajectory of the preceding chapters but it is still very effective for all that.

Symbols and motifs:

You will love the action-packed provocative tale of survival in Lord of the Flies by William Golding but also learn three very important characteristics of human nature. First: Human’s desire for social and political order through governments, legislatures and parliaments, depicted by the conch and platform. Second: Human’s natural tendency towards violence, savagery and every nation’s need for military and defense, depicted by the choir-boys-turned-hunters-turned-murderers. And third, our beliefs in the divine interventions and supernatural powers, depicted by the sacrifices and ceremonial dances to appease the “beast”.

Those who didn’t have the opportunity to read it before must not put it on hold any longer.

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I JUST finished this book and my review will post in July. So glad to see you liked it, too! This is required high school reading for most folks in the states, but glad I read it later (really later) in life as I don’t think the story and its meaning would have meant as much without the real-world experience I have now. Truly appreciate and enjoy your in-depth reviews. Well done!

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Lord of the Flies William Golding Penguin Books Published December 16, 2003 (Originally Published 1954)

Amazon | bookshop | goodreads, about lord of the flies.

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, LORD OF THE FLIES is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

LORD OF THE FLIES is one of those iconic books that gets referenced all the time in our culture, but I’d never read it before. My daughter had to read it for school last year, and she had some anxiety about the content. I decided to read it first so she’d be ready for anything that might be difficult for her.

I read the book last fall as things were heating up before the presidential election here in the US. At that time, I actually wrote an initial review. But because I kept pushing back the date for posting the review, I have updated the review and added some more stuff that I’ve thought about on reflection.

Before I started reading LORD OF THE FLIES, I felt really weird reading all these big name authors talking about how pivotal this book has been for their writing. I think it’s Suzanne Collins who says that she reads LORD OF THE FLIES every year. That seemed really weird to me for a book with such a dark reputation. Every year? I mean, no offense meant. When a book resonates with you like that, I get wanting to read it every year. For a long time I had a book that I read every year, too. I guess I just found myself surprised about people feeling that way about a book that’s often referenced to describe uncontrolled violence or mayhem.

Anyway. So I went into the book with both some dread (expecting violence, which can be hard for me to read), and some, I don’t know, fascination, I guess?

The thing that still stands out to me most about the book is how easily some boys began to think of others as not human, as animals to be hunted. There’s a moment, after one boy has been killed where two boys talk around what happened. One boy comes right out and says that it was murder. The other boy recoils and tries to defend what happened as something else. He tries to explain it away as something not evil and wrong. It doesn’t work, and for a moment they’re both confronted with the horrible truth.

Watching the vigilantism and the violent language increasingly used by elected officials and repeated online while reading LORD OF THE FLIES was really creepy, y’all. Like, it seriously marked me. I would read a scene and feel like, this is awfully close to the way people are talking to each other or about each other right now. Or I’d get to a scene and think, well, surely our leaders won’t sink this low. And then. Stuff happened.

I couldn’t stop– and still can’t stop– thinking about the way the story explores the power of fear. The collapse of reason that happens when people are afraid and respond with that fear and anger. The steady shift toward things that once seemed unimaginable. I knew what was coming because I’d heard enough about the book that I basically knew what to expect. And yet, the violence of it and the dehumanization of it still shocked and shook me.

Reading this book, I can see not only from the story why it endures, but also from the writing. Like, I felt genuinely pulled into the tale. Even when I wasn’t reading, I thought about it. I wanted to know what would happen. Even though I already pretty much knew what was coming, I couldn’t look away from what was happening. It gripped me and paralyzed me with horror. (Much the way I felt weeks later watching the coverage of the January 6 insurrection.)

Honestly, I won’t say I enjoyed it– not like, celebrated reading it. But it really moved me. I think I would read it again. I think I NEED to read it again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation All the boys are British private school students.

Profanity/Crude Language Content Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content None.

Spiritual Content The boys fear a mysterious evil they call the Beast. They leave food sacrifices for it, hoping that this will keep the Beast away from them.

Violent Content At least one racist comment equating Indians with savages. Multiple violent descriptions of hunting and killing pigs. Boys beat another boy to death. A boy falls to his death after being hit with a rock.

Drug Content None.

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About Kasey

2 responses to review: lord of the flies by william golding.

My interest is piqued to give the book another chance. I read it a while back, while I was I in middle school, and at that time I had little idea about what was happening (I lost my way about halfway through), and I hadn’t heard much about the story like you had before diving into the text, so I suspect that the full impact (philosophical, political, psychological, social) wasn’t felt.

Yay! Yeah, I have definitely had that experience with books that I read in school before and then again later. I hope that if you read it again, you are able to connect with it a lot more. 🙂 Thanks, Abigail!

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The Literary Edit

Review: Lord of the Flies – William Golding

When I was about fourteen, one of my best friends Sian and I gate crashed a year-ten drama trip to a near by theatre to watch Lord of the Flies. I remember little of the play itself other than the deeply unsettling feeling I was left with when the curtains closed. Thus upon discovering that William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was featured on the BBC’s Big Read, I was somewhat reluctant to read it. However, having been recommended it by my cousin Hal, and upon finding a battered copy in a book shop near my work, I decided to give it a go.

Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is a dystopian novel by nobel-prize winning English author William Golding, about a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results. When it was first published, Golding’s debut novel suffered from poor sales but when re-released in the 1960s it went on to be a best-seller, and soon became required reading in many schools and colleges.

The main protagonists are Ralph, Piggy, Roger, Jack and Simon all of whom are vividly portrayed throughout the novel. Ralph is chief of the group; Piggy, poor-sighted and overweight is his side-kick, Roger is one of the first to develop animalistic tendencies, Jack epitomises the worst aspects of human nature while Simon is a representation of peace and tranquility.

The novel follows the boys as they try to survive on the island by implementing a set of rules and regulations to follow. However, as the rules disintegrate, Jack forms his own tribe of terror, and events in the book progress from simple bullying to stylised animal rape and eventually murder. Golding effectively uses these episodes to explore the darkness of man’s heart, and the novel can show us what we are capable of in a similar situation.

A chilling yet compelling read with stunning imagery and great use of symbolism, Lord of the Flies is both a great piece of literature and a dire warning about humanity.

About Lord of the Flies

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable tale about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

About William Golding

Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies.

Golding spent two years in Oxford focusing on sciences; however, he changed his educational emphasis to English literature, especially Anglo-Saxon. During World War II, he was part of the Royal Navy which he left five years later. His bellic experience strongly influenced his future novels. Later, he became a teacher and focused on writing.

Some of his influences are classical Greek literature, such as Euripides, and The Battle of Maldon , an Anglo-Saxon oeuvre whose author is unknown. The attention given to Lord of the Flies , Golding’s first novel, by college students in the 1950s and 1960s drove literary critics’ attention to it.

He was awarded the Booker Prize for literature in 1980 for his novel Rites of Passage, the first book of the trilogy To the Ends of the Earth. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 and was knighted in 1988.

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2 comments on “Review: Lord of the Flies – William Golding”

the story shows us the Brutal Truth of life. Normally people blame the society, that because of the society they became evil. But the story tells us that There is evil inside us, sooner or later, we all have to face it.

A Summary and Analysis of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Lord of the Flies was first published in 1954, although it very nearly wasn’t published at all. Its author, William Golding, was a struggling grammar-school teacher when he wrote it, having been given the germ of the idea by his wife, Ann.

The novel’s title is a reference to Beelzebub, a name for the Devil, which means literally ‘lord of the flies’ (at least in most translations ). Given the fact that power, devilry, and, yes, flies are all central aspects of Lord of the Flies , the title is especially apt.

Golding (nicknamed ‘Scruff’ by his pupils) struggled to get the novel accepted by numerous publishers before Faber and Faber took it on. However, even there it was initially rejected (the initial reader at Faber dismissed it as ‘absurd and uninteresting fantasy’ and ‘rubbish and dull’) until a young editor, Charles Monteith, saw potential in the manuscript and got it accepted. It still sells tens of thousands of copies every year.

But how should we interpret this tale of post-apocalyptic barbarism? Before we offer an analysis of Golding’s novel, here’s a brief reminder of the plot.

Lord of the Flies : plot summary

The novel begins with a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys being shot down; the boys land on a desert island. Two of them, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch shell on the beach, and they use it to signal to the rest of the schoolboys, who then start to form their own ‘society’, with a leader elected among them.

Ralph is named the leader while Jack is his sort of second-in-command, in charge of finding food on the island.

After they start a fire to try to signal for help, they accidentally burn down a large part of the nearby forest, killing one boy. When a ship does sail past, it doesn’t stop to rescue the boys because Jack’s band of hunters have carelessly allowed the signal-fire to go out.

Jack and his gang have managed to hunt and kill a pig for them to eat. Things start to get out of hand, and some of the younger boys in particular are terrified that some sea-monster will come and kill them.

When a parachutist – part of a team of fighter-pilots flying overhead – lands on the island, several of the boys think his flapping parachute is the wings of the mysterious island ‘beast’, and they run away, terrified, and spreading fear to the other boys, who organise a hunting trip to try to catch the beast.

Jack and Ralph fall out, with Jack trying to oust the more senior boy from the position of leader – a move that the rest of the boys resist. Jack stomps off with his hunting band, and many of the other boys subsequently desert Ralph’s ‘side’ for Jack.

Jack, emboldened by his new supporters, ritually sacrifices a pig, which is decapitated, its head placed on a stick. Simon sees it, and thinks it’s talking to him: some devil-like figure known as ‘Lord of the Flies’. When Simon returns to the others, they set upon him and kill him, not realising who he is. Jack and his hunters run off with Piggy’s glasses. Jack and Ralph fight, and Piggy is killed with a rock.

Jack and the others hunt Ralph, who flees, only to be rescued by a British sailor who was on board a ship that spotted the fire raging on the island and came ashore. The other boys turn up, and when the officer confronts them over their appearance, they all break down in tears.

Lord of the Flies : analysis

Golding conceived Lord of the Flies as a sort of dark counterpart, or response, to the classic Victorian boys’ adventure novel, The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, in which three boys are marooned on a Pacific island.

But whereas in Ballantyne’s 1857 novel the stranded children encounter evil as an exterior force on the island, Golding inverted this: he shows us, unsettlingly, that evil is always lurking within ourselves, and is only ever just beneath the surface in so-called ‘ordinary’ or ‘civilised’ people.

Golding’s working title for his novel, Strangers from Within , makes it clear that the devil – that ‘Lord of the Flies’ – is within us, all of us, rather than outside, elsewhere.

But although Golding’s novel is often viewed as a dystopian tale about ‘human nature’ and how, in times of desperation and disaster, certain people will seize power and others will be the victims of their oppressive control, Lord of the Flies actually has its roots in something more specific than this: the British class system.

The three principal characters of the novel – Ralph, Piggy, and Jack – represent the three main classes in England, much as the famous class sketch from The Frost Report captured in a sketch just over a decade after Golding’s novel appeared.

As John Sutherland argues in his discussion of Lord of the Flies in How to be Well Read: A guide to 500 great novels and a handful of literary curiosities , Ralph is a grammar-school boy, Piggy the product of a working-class ‘tech’ school (a short-lived post-war phenomenon), and Jack the privileged public school boy.

Ralph, therefore, is riddled with self-doubt about his middling position in English society: the Jacks of the world are above him and the Piggies below him. Jack has all of the confidence of someone born into privilege and with an almost innate sense of their right to lord it over everyone else.

The message of Lord of the Flies , then, is that if you remove these schoolchildren from Britain, the British class system will still reassert itself as they construct their own stratified ‘society’. The island on which the boys are stranded becomes like the island of Great Britain which they left.

Piggy, however, is working-class. As Sutherland argues, his use of phrases like ‘the runs’ instead of, say, ‘an upset tummy’ are subtle ways in which Golding, without hammering home Piggy’s origins, reveal his status to the reader. He was always destined to be the scapegoat because the English class system dictated it. Coupled with his physical or evolutionary disadvantage (his extreme myopia and reliance on glasses) and he was doomed from the start.

The British class system, then, informs the novel, making it a peculiarly British dissection of power structures. According to Sutherland, Golding – himself a teacher at the sort of grammar school which produced the decent and honourable Ralph – once said that he would happily blow up every public school in England, and Lord of the Flies shows how it is the Jack Merridews produced by the English public school system which are the most capable of wreaking destructive power over others.

But it’s also true that Lord of the Flies bears the influence of another important experience in Golding’s life: his experience in the Second World War fighting in the Royal Navy, which showed him first-hand how ordinary men could become capable of performing acts of great evil.

Of course, the horrors of Nazi Germany were also an important source for Golding’s depiction of evil, especially the way the other boys merrily join Jack’s command.

Along with its searing commentary on the inherent evils of the British class system, Lord of the Flies is a powerful narrative about how fear is all it takes to persuade many ‘normal’, ‘decent’ people to behave horrifically.

1 thought on “A Summary and Analysis of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies”

We “did” this at school. I don’t know why they thought a book about badly-behaved boys would interest a class of girls!

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By William Boyd

July 16, 2010

In the late 1960s, some 15 years after the publication of “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding confessed to a friend that he resented the novel because it meant that he owed his reputation to what he thought of as a minor book, a book that had made him a classic in his lifetime, which was “a joke,” and that the money he had gained from it was “Monopoly money” because he hadn’t really earned it. Golding was drinking heavily at the time (he had a lifelong struggle with alcoholism) and one may have to take his bitterness advisedly, but these remarks reveal an interesting artistic conundrum. What is it like to owe virtually your entire reputation as a writer to a single book? One thinks of J. D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison, Joseph Heller — to cite only the 20th-century American exemplars — but such one-book writers are legion in all literatures. John Carey seems to allude to the category in this biography’s subtitle (even though Carey eventually disputes the implication). However, if anyone thinks of William Golding today, it is almost certain that his name will be conjoined with his extraordinary first novel.

A blessing and then a curse of some sort — though by the time the book finally appeared in 1954, Golding wouldn’t have cared about any downside. He was a 42-year-old provincial schoolteacher, desperate merely to have a novel published (it was the fourth book he had written, incidentally); renown and wealth were not even remotely considered. In fact, even “Lord of the Flies” was rejected by many publishers before an alert junior editor at Faber & Faber, Charles Monteith, saw its potential and encouraged Golding to make changes. By 1980, sales in the United States alone had reached seven million.

Golding, to other writers, is a model of the late starter (along with Anthony Burgess and Muriel Spark). You don’t need to be young to make your name, so his career asserts, and once Golding had achieved that first success it never really left him. “Lord of the Flies” was swiftly followed by “The Inheritors” (1955) and “Pincher Martin” (1956), both published to great, if not universal, acclaim. A new and highly distinctive voice seemed to have arrived in contemporary British literature. The critical reception was not always so favorable for subsequent novels ( “Free Fall,” in 1959, suffered a near-unanimous pasting), but it is fair to say that Golding’s life as a writer was forever financially secure thanks to the rock-solid, never-ending sales of “Lord of the Flies.”

Golding was born in Cornwall in 1911. He was only eight years younger than Evelyn Waugh and is effectively part of that generation of English novelists (including Graham Greene, Anthony Powell and Aldous Huxley) who had reached their maturity by the time of World War II. But we never think of Golding in their company because his success as a writer was entirely postwar — he seems in some way more modern and contemporary.

Golding joined the navy a year after war broke out (he was already married with a child). At D-Day in 1944 and the Battle of Walcheren some months later, he was in command of a rocket-firing landing craft, a vessel designed to deliver a terrifying “shock and awe”-style blanket barrage of thousands of small deadly rockets. Golding, operating the firing mechanism on the bridge of his ship, clearly saw the indiscriminate, devastating effect of the wall of fire and destruction that was unleashed as his myriad rockets erupted on beachheads and coastal villages.

He survived the war unharmed and with some reluctance went back to the tedium of schoolmastering in Wiltshire. Carey makes the valid point that his war in the navy was profoundly destabilizing for him in various ways (both personally and artistically), and many of the key themes in his work can be traced to these formative and disturbing experiences.

Carey summarizes the abiding obsession in the novels as the collision of “the spiritual and the miraculous” with “science and rationality,” and it is this persistent hypersensitivity to the numinous and immaterial aspects of the world and the human condition that sets Golding apart from the broad river of social realism that so defines the 20th-century English novel. He was a kind of maverick in the way D. H. Lawrence was, or Lawrence Durrell, or John Fowles — to name but three — and I think this strangeness explains how throughout his life, after his initial success, the critical responses to his work were so violently divided. You either loved William Golding, it seemed, or you hated him.

Golding himself was abnormally thin-skinned when it came to criticism of his work. He simply could not read even the mildest reservation and on occasion left the country when his books were published. What is fascinating about “William Golding” is the portrait that emerges of a man of almost absurdly dramatic contrasts. He fought with commendable bravery at D-Day, yet in life was the most timid arachnophobe. He was married for more than 50 years, yet was probably a repressed homosexual. He was an accomplished classical musician and excellent chess player and an embarrassing, infantile drunk. He loathed and detested the stilted conventions of the British class system (particular scorn was directed at the Bloomsbury group), and yet when already a Nobel laureate and a member of the elite group to whom the queen grants the title Companion of Literature, he still frenetically lobbied his important friends to secure him a knighthood — successfully — and was a proud member of two of London’s stuffiest gentlemen’s clubs. Time and again the impression is of a man in a form of omnipresent torment of one kind or another: sometimes it would be mild and possibly amusing; at other moments, debilitating and damagingly neurotic.

John Carey has had unrestricted access to the Golding archive, and it is unlikely that this biography will ever be bettered or superseded. Moreover, Carey, an emeritus professor of English literature at Oxford and one of the most respected literary critics in Britain, writes with great wit and lucidity as well as authority and compassionate insight. Perhaps because he has had the opportunity of reading the mass of Golding’s unpublished intimate journals, he brings unusual understanding to the complex and deeply troubled man who lies behind the intriguing but undeniably idiosyncratic novels.

And the fiction is highly unusual and uneven, right up to the end of Golding’s energetic working life — his last novel, “Fire Down Below,” was published in 1989, only four years before his death at the age of 81 — emblematic of the warring forces in his imagination, of a writer (in Carey’s words) “interested in ideas rather than people, and in seeing mankind in a cosmic perspective rather than an everyday social setting.” Anthony Burgess described his talent as “deep and narrow,” and Golding’s own demons often drove him to analyze the extent and limits of his achievement. After the publication of “The Inheritors,” as the acclaim flowed in, Golding remarked that he saw himself “spiraling up towards being a . . . universally admired, but unread,” novelist. This was horribly prescient. With the exception of “Lord of the Flies,” Golding’s strange, haunting, difficult novels have few readers these days, and his posthumous reputation is neglected and in decline. At the very least, Carey’s superb biography should take us back to the work again and allow us to make up our own minds, anew.

WILLIAM GOLDING

The man who wrote “lord of the flies”: a life.

By John Carey

Illustrated. 573 pp. Free Press. $32.50

William Boyd’s most recent novel, “Ordinary Thunderstorms,” was published earlier this year.

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Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A group of boys find themselves adrift on an island. They wake up with no idea where they are. They must make rules to survive. These rules will be the breaking of them. Lord of the Flies by William Golding explores an incredibly realistic “simulation” if you will, of what would happen if the aforementioned were to happen.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding book review

A group of boys (notably no women) of different ages, all pre-adult, land on an island after a crash. What begins as a jolly holiday with the boys enjoying their time begins to become a bit more serious when they realise they need to survive. A leader needs to be chosen, that leader needs to make rules and everyone else needs to agree that this leader and these rules are the way things should be on the island. What ensues is a wonderful exploration in the psyche of a group of young men. Who’s the alpha male? Who decided he should be the leader? These questions start to get asked and things begin to slip between the group.

It’s a book that isn’t overly easy to read. There is some bullying involved, there are some moments that some may even deem a little disturbing. However, I felt these added to the realism of the interactions between the boys. This, as a result, built up a more realistic set of circumstances.

Characters – 4.5/5

There are a fair few characters to get your head around in this book. Without giving away spoilers, the main two are Ralf and Piggy who you meet early on and then other boys are slowly introduced who become big figures within the group. There’s fantastic chemistry between the different characters and Golding had to write different characters so that they brought different ideas and suggestions to the story. In doing this, he created bonds, he created characters you love and some you are forced to dislike.

There’s not a vast amount more to say about the characters. None of them stands out as my favourite, however, I understand all of their roles within the novel. You’ve got the butt of the joke, the smart one, the erratic one, the emotional one. They’re all there and Golding integrates them all very intelligently into the storyline.

Lord of the Flies summary – 4/5

Lord of the Flies is a fascinating read that if you don’t look too deeply into it is a gripping story in its own right. But when you then start to think of what Golding has done in giving us a very respectable tale of the likely actions and turmoil that the same situation would bring in real life.

I was deciding between three or four stars for this review as it wasn’t a book I found myself instantly buzzed about after reading it as I do with a lot of my five stars. However, I can respect the diverse character personalities and the fact Golding tackles some of the darker aspects that would arise from such a situation.

Read more of my Classic book reviews here.

2 thoughts on “ Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding ”

I read this in high school so it’s been awhile. I remember liking it okay, but maybe I should re- read it again.

[…] Read my full Lord of the Flies review here. […]

Book review – “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding

When I announced that this book was May’s choice for my Facebook reading challenge (theme, a 20 th century classic), there were mixed feelings – it seems a few of our participants had studied it at school for their ‘O’ level English Literature (predecessor to the GCSE for anyone young enough not to know!). Some were delighted…others less so! I did not study this at school, but I read it at University (I did an English degree). My childhood home was not one filled with books, though I spent a great deal of time at my local library, so when I went to University I had a lot of catching up to do on many of the classics. Golding’s book is one of those and is widely considered to be one of the all-time great novels.

Lord of the Flies was Golding’s first novel, published in 1954. I doubt many people could name any of his other works (I couldn’t!), although he won the Booker Prize in 1980 for his novel Rites of Passage , and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. He died in 1993 at the age of 81. Lord of the Flies has been adapted three times for the big screen, and several times for stage and radio.

The basic plot is that a group of boys (thought to number about thirty, but it’s not entirely clear) are marooned on a Pacific island following a wartime evacuation attempt that ends in a plane crash. There are no adult survivors and the boys, ranging in age from perhaps nine to thirteen years, must learn quickly to survive. Three main characters emerge: Ralph and Jack are the two alpha-males of the group, but have very different instincts about the priorities, and Piggy, an overweight, severely near-sighted boy, probably of lower class than Ralph and Jack, who proves to be the most thoughtful, sensible and self-aware but who lacks the leadership skills to wield any power.

Initially, the boys attempt to organise, with Ralph at the helm. His primary concern is that they should get rescued and stay alive and safe until then. He meets resistance in the form of Jack, who is less keen on the rules and disciplines that Ralph wants to impose. His priorities are “fun” and hunting animals so that they can eat meat. As the days and weeks pass morale drops, particularly among the younger boys, many of whom are clearly terrified. They fear the darkness and the heavy forest on the island and what may be lurking within it – they imagine a terrible beast. Order begins to break down and powerful instincts surface. There is a terrible power struggle between Jack and Ralph which intensifies as the novel progresses. Factions form around the two leaders and the behaviours become increasingly reckless. Simon, one of the other older boys, and a sensitive soul, is killed in a case of mistaken identity, the now savage and adrenalin-fuelled group around Jack believing in his night-time approach to the camp, that he is in fact the much-feared “beast” they imagine stalks them.

Simon’s death at the hands of those who were once his schoolmates, unleashes further savagery, like the genie is out of the bottle. There is also, however, a kind of denial; it seems only Piggy recognises and is able to articulate the danger they are in – from themselves! It seems inevitable that Piggy should also die, brutally; Roger crashes a boulder onto him during a fight between Ralph and Jack in which Piggy is trying to intervene. Jack’s group would have killed Ralph too had it not been for the timely arrival of a rescue ship.

Although it was written in the early 1950s, this is very much a post-war book for me in which the author is reflecting on the base levels human beings can reach. If you simply scratch the surface of society you will find some instincts most of us would rather not admit to. A modern reading of the novel might also see the hazards of excessive masculinity and how lust for power can easily corrupt. You can also look at how easy it is for followers to forget their own moral codes and normal standards of behaviour when seduced by charismatic or persuasive leadership. The younger boys are unable to face the reality of their situation, stranded on a remote island, with an unknown chance of rescue, and the picture of excitement that Jack offers, playing at hunting, escapism from their problems, leads them to follow him down a dangerous path.

Whilst re-reading this book, I couldn’t help thinking about the current political turmoil we are in, both in the UK and globally. Some social norms seem to me to be breaking down. And when it came to the Jack/Ralph power struggle the Conservative party leadership contest came to mind! The only thing I couldn’t decide – who in our current crop of politicians is Piggy?!

A must-read for anyone wanting to gain a serious understanding of English literature.

Did you read Lord of the Flies as a teenager – can you remember what you thought of it?

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6 thoughts on “Book review – “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding”

Wonderful review. I have my stack of Golding’s books (13, in total!) waiting for me. Your review reminded me that I must get to them soon.

Thank you. Yes, I’m ashamed not to have read any of Golding’s other work….

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This is one, as you say, everyone groaned over being assigned to read in school. But I’ve never known anyone who did read it that wasn’t completely captivated by it. It would be interesting to read again now, to see what I’d get from it now as an adult.

I agree. You also get a different perspective from being at a different stage in life.

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Book Review: The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

By: Author Laura

Posted on Published: 27th April 2022 - Last updated: 12th April 2024

Categories Book Reviews , Books

Wondering whether Lord of the Flies by William Golding is worth your time? This Lord of the Flies book review explains why you should read this short classic!

Lord of the Flies Summary

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a dystopian classic. When a group of schoolboys are stranded on a desert island, what could go wrong?

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they discover fantastic wildlife and dazzling beaches, learning to survive; at night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast.

Orphaned by society, it isn’t long before their innocent childhood games devolve into a savage, murderous hunt …

Lord of the Flies Book Review

Lord of the Flies is a book that had been on my TBR (to-be-read pile) forever. I first read this in my mid-twenties and wish I had studied this at school, which is where most readers encounter this.

It’s all about a group of schoolboys who become stranded on a desert island. But don’t let the young ensemble lead you into thinking this is a children’s book. Lord of the Flies is a lot darker than I imagined and I was horrified at some of the events and scenes that took place.

At first, the young boys attempt to mimic an orderly adult society on the island. They group together to keep a fire lit so that any passing ships will see the smoke from the island.

But without any adults to supervise them, the boys begin to become violent, cruel and brutal in their bid to survive.

The small society they have attempted to build on this remote island eventually descends into chaos, prompting the reader to question the capacity for supposedly civilised humans to be savage.

And trust me when I say the ending really is just that – savage.

Although Lord of the Flies is a relatively simple tale, Golding’s writing is rich and the symbolism is clever. This story aims to show how savage humans can be when left to their own devices and there’s no order or morals.

Although Golding uses the island setting to demonstrate this point, this book leaves you feeling uncomfortable as you start to realise that man in a “civilised” society may not be any better.

Golding reminds us that we all have the capacity for darkness and cruelty. This story stays with readers long after they have turned the last page because it is so haunting. And it’s haunting because it’s clear that this could so easily happen in the society we live in today.

It also poses the interesting political question of democracy vs authoritarianism. Should we be forced to follow someone who is deemed to be a “rational” or “moral” leader, or be allowed to follow whoever presents a view that most aligns with our desires, whatever they may be.

Lord of the Flies is a classic for a reason. It’s well worth a read and really quite readable as classics go. If you’re looking for an short classic book to get yourself into reading classics then Lord of the Flies is a great book to start with.

Reading this book is also important so that you understand some Lord of the Flies references that get bandied about in conversation on occasion. Who are Ralph and Piggy? And what is a conch?

If you haven’t read this classic book yet then add this to your book wishlist ASAP. It’s chilling, but well-written and a good read.

Lord of the Flies Quotes

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.”

“The thing is – fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”

“We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?”

“The greatest ideas are the simplest.”

“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?”

“We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything.”

Buy Lord of the Flies now: Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells

If you liked this post, check out these: Books Like The Hunger Games Books Like The Handmaid’s Tale Young Adult Dystopian Books for Teens 15 Gothic Books to Read

Editor of What’s Hot?

FAVBOOKSHELF

Tuesday 30th of August 2022

absolutely adored the review! got convinced to pick it up by the end of the review and the quotes were definitely a cherry on top.

matthew atkinson

Tuesday 3rd of May 2022

What a great review...exactly what i was thinking but was unable to put that into writing! I didn't study this book at school either, i was i had, quite a strange and brutal read and setting.

Themes and Analysis

Lord of the flies, by william golding.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a powerful novel. It's filled with interesting themes, thoughtful symbols, and a particular style of writing that has made it a classic of British literature.

About the Book

Article written by Lee-James Bovey

P.G.C.E degree.

Several key themes are prevalent throughout the book. It is sometimes referred to as a “book of ideas” and these ideas are explored as the plot unfolds.

Lord of the Flies Themes

The impact of humankind on nature.

This is evident from the first chapter when the plane crashing leaves what Golding describes as a “scar” across the island. This idea is explored further in the early chapters the boys light a fire that escapes their control and yet further diminishes what might be considered an unspoiled island. Some interpret the island almost as a Garden of Eden with the children giving in to temptation by slaughtering the animals there. The final chapter furthers the destruction of nature by mankind as the whole island appears to have been ruined thanks to the effects of the boy’s presence on the island.

Civilization versus savagery

This can be seen throughout as the boys struggle with being removed from organized society. To begin with, they cope well. They construct a form of government represented by the conch that theoretically draws them together and gives them all a voice. As they break away from society this adherence to the rules they have constructed is evident. Golding’s ideas of what savagery is might be outdated and rooted in colonial stereotypes but they are evident for all to see as the boys use masks to dehumanize themselves and their increasing obsession with hunting leads to an increasingly animalistic nature.

Nature of humanity

Perhaps the biggest underlying theme is the idea of the true nature of mankind. Golding explores the idea that mankind is innately evil and that it is only the contrast between society and civilization that prevents that nature from being prevalent. Of course, this overlooks that civilization is a human construct and if all men’s biggest motivation were their inner evil, then that construct would never have existed. Golding’s views largely spring from his role in the navy where he was witness to the atrocities of war but are also informed by his work as a teacher.

Analysis of Key Moments in Lord of the Flies

There are many key moments in ‘ Lord of the Flies ‘ that highlight the boy’s descent into savagery.

Blowing the conch – this introduces us to the conch which acts as a symbol of society and civilization throughout the novel. It is both the device that brings the children together and in theory the object which allows them all to have a say and therefore run a democratic society.
The fire gets out of control – This shows the effects that the boys are already having on the island. It also demonstrates how lost the boys are without adults there to guide them as they lose one of the boys and nobody even knows his name.
Jack fails to kill the pig/Roger throws stones – both of these events show how the boys are currently constrained by the expectations of society. We see as time passes these restraints are lifted and that firstly, Jack can kill a pig and finally, and perhaps more dramatically, Roger is not only okay with hitting somebody with a stone but taking their life with one.
The hunters put on masks – By covering up their faces, they seem to become free from the constraints of society. It is if it liberates them from humanity and allows them to act on more primal, animalistic urges.
Sam and Eric find “the beast” – When Sam and Eric feel they have discovered the beast it sets a ripple of panic throughout. This fear sways the boys towards Jack’s leadership as he continues to manipulate the situation to his advantage. If not for this then Simon might never be murdered.
Creating of the Lord of the Flies – Successfully killing the pig is itself an iconic moment but then leaving a pigs head on a pole is both a gruesome image (one worthy of the book’s title) and also plays a pivotal role in Simon’s story arc.
Simon’s death – Simon is the one character who never seems to succumb to primal urges and therefore his death if looked at symbolically could be seen as the death of hope for boys.
Piggy’s death – Piggy’s character represents order and reason. With his death, any chance of resolving the issues between Jack and Ralph vanishes. The conch being smashed at the same time is also symbolic and represents the complete destruction of society.
The rescue – This is not the happy ending that one might expect with all the boys crying due to their loss of innocence. There is an irony as well as the boys will not be rescued and taken to a Utopia but rather to a civilization plagued by a war that mirrors the war zone they have just left.

Style, Literary Devices, and Tone in Lord of the Flies

Throughout this novel, Golding’s style is straightforward and easy to read. There are no lengthy passages nor does he choose particularly poetic words to describe the events. His writing is powerful without these stylistic devices. The same can be said for his use of literary devices. When used, they are direct. For example, the use of symbolism (see below) and metaphor is very thoughtful but not hard to interpret.

William Golding also employs an aloof or distant tone throughout the book. This reflects the way that the boys treat one another.

Symbols in Lord of the Flies

The conch shell.

The conch shell is one of the major symbols of this novel. It’s used from the beginning of the novel to call the boys together for meetings on the beach. It’s a symbol of civilization and government. But, as the boys lose touch with their civilized sides, the conch shell is discarded.

The Signal Fire

The signal fire is a very important symbol in the novel. It’s first lit on the mountain and then later on the beach with the intent of attracting the attention of passion ships. The fire is maintained diligently at first but as the book progresses and the boys slip farther from civilization, their concentration on the fire wanes. They eventually lose their desire to be rescued. Therefore, as one is making their way through the book, gauging the boys’ concentration on the fire is a great way to understand how “civilized” they are.

The beast is an imaginary creature who frightens the boys. It stands in for their savage instincts and is eventually revealed to be a personification of their dark impulses. It’s only through the boy’s behaviour that the beast exists at all.

What are three themes in Lord of the Flies ?

Three themes in ‘ Lord of the Flies ‘ are civilization vs. savagery, the impact of humankind on nature, and the nature of humanity.

What is the main message of the Lord of the Flies ?

The main message is that if left without rules, society devolves and loses its grasp on what is the morally right thing to do. this is even the case with kids.

How does Ralph lose his innocence in Lord of the Flies ?

He loses his innocence when he witnesses the deaths of Simon and Piggy. These losses in addition to the broader darkness of the island change him.

About Lee-James Bovey

Lee-James, a.k.a. LJ, has been a Book Analysis team member since it was first created. During the day, he's an English Teacher. During the night, he provides in-depth analysis and summary of books.

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Lucy A. Snyder

Author • editor • writing instructor, book review: lord of the flies by william golding.

October 27, 2005 Lucy A. Snyder book review , Uncategorized 0

In the beginning of the novel, the reader is presented with a group of British boys who have been stranded on a tropical island. The boys are all young, the oldest ones not more than twelve, and the island is seemingly serene and gorgeous. The stage seems set for the boys to have a wonderful romp in paradise, but as disagreement breaks out amongst them, their life on the island becomes increasingly violent and hellish.

On a symbolic level, the novel deals with the effects of war on the human race and the ways in which it can turn Earth, our own used-to-be-Paradise, into a living hell.

Selected Characters (spoilers follow)

Ralph is in many ways the personification of a good-intentioned world leader who must struggle with himself between upholding the law and giving in to his baser instincts.

Ralph realizes the necessity for a structured environment for the boys who look up to him, even if they don’t think it’s necessary, but at the same time he wants to give in to his own selfish desires. Ralph does not have the inborn charisma of a “natural” leader, but he is the most capable leader amongst the boys. He has the conch, which Golding uses as a symbol of leadership and just government. He is not perfect, but he has the sense to ask advice from boys (such as Piggy) who know more than he does.

Unfortunately, he is not able to maintain control when the boys start to fight. Once he is deposed, he symbolizes the spirit of resistance and the struggle for justice in oppressed people.

In the end, he is shown to be the true leader of the boys, but only after the adult world intervenes in the form of the naval officer arriving to end the chaos.

Piggy represents weakend intelligentsia. His obesity and asthma prevent him from playing and working with the other boys. His isolation and alienation due to his physical problems and his sheltered life with his aunt mirror the separation and alienation of the scientific/academic community from mainstream world affairs.

Piggy’s dependence on his glasses — without which he is nearly helpless — represents the intellectual elites’ dependence on technology and knowledge for their power and survival.

In the end, Piggy is murdered by Roger, much as Pol Pot and other dictators destroyed intellectuals in their own countries to keep their people ignorant and obedient.

Roger represents the senselessly violent factions who are suppressed by the laws of a stable society but who rise to bloodthirsty heights in times of war.

When the boys first arrive on the island, Roger is shy and furtive. When war breaks out between the boys, he comes to the forefront as the main enforcer for Jack, the boy tyrant. Roger’s methods of terror and uses of torture mirror the actions of groups such as the Nazis in wartime Germany and the Kmer Rouge in wartime Cambodia. Roger vents his sadism on his fellow classmates, representing genocide within a country.

The only thing that stops Roger is the arrival of the naval officer.

Jack Merridew

Jack represents both tyranny and the destructive, reckless side of human nature. He has a great deal of charisma but very little foresight; his view of the world is centered on satisfying his own desires for power and pleasure.

His insistence on being called by his last name in the beginning of the book shows that he has a military mindset and a distorted view of himself and his classmates. He doesn’t really see anyone, including himself, as being a real person with a heart and soul and feelings.

However, most of the other boys can only see his charisma, and his military bravado makes him seem like the natural leader to follow. But in reality, Jack is a very poor leader, providing only quick, superficial answers to their problems.

When his answers fail, he maintains his hold on the boys with terror and a cult of bloodlust that refocuses the energy of their fears into wild dances and pig hunts.

Jack starts up the war against Ralph and his boys; this mirrors the use of war in dictatorships to distract the public from their real problems and to maintain power. Jack’s setting the devastating fire on the island is like the act of a mad dictator starting a nuclear war.

Jack denies his own fears and humanity, hiding behind a mask of war paint. His facade is finally broken down when the naval officer arrives and imposes the order of the adult world.

The Naval Officer

The naval officer who arrives at the end of the novel to put a stop to the boys’ madness and take them back to civilization could represent a higher power such as God. But perhaps he’s just a wishful deus ex machina employed so that readers aren’t completely depressed by having to read about Ralph and his friends being murdered after Piggy.

Regardless of one’s interpretation of the officer’s symbolism, the ultimate irony of the book is that he “rescues” the boys only to take them back to a world torn by war where none of them have any authority or power over their own lives. And, unlike the officer’s stopping the boys’ violence, there’s not likely to be any higher power to save humanity from the disaster of its own creation.

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Book Review

Lord of the flies.

William Golding
Coming-of-Age

Readability Age Range

Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group

Year Published

This coming-of-age book by William Golding is published by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group and is written for ages 13 and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.

Plot Summary

When a plane wreck strands a group of British boys on a tropical island without adults, the children initially revel in their freedom and try to develop a society by holding assemblies, appointing hunters, and tending a signal fire to alert passing ships. It isn’t long before their “savage natures” take over; they argue, paint their faces and hunt bloodthirstily, eventually even killing some of their own. They fear and stalk “the Beast,” whom they believe to be a dangerous creature on the island. In fact, there is no such animal — their anxiety about the Beast symbolizes their fear of the emerging monster within each of them. In the end, they are rescued and returned to the “civilized” world — a world in the throes of a war.

Christian Beliefs

Literary critics consider Simon a “Christ figure.” He demonstrates compassion for his fellow man and looks for goodness in a rapidly-declining civilization. His conversation with The Lord of the Flies (which is a rotting pig’s head the boys have left as an offering to the Beast) is likened to the temptation Christ experienced during his fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). The loss of innocence the boys experience is sometimes compared to the fall of man (Genesis 3:1-21).

Other Belief Systems

Lord of the Flies contrasts democracy and anarchy.

Authority Roles

The boys initially elect Ralph as their chief; he chooses Jack and Simon to assist him. Ralph’s primary concern is to keep a signal fire going in case a ship passes; he tries to maintain order and structure within the group. As Jack’s lust for hunting and blood increases, he convinces most of the boys to join a new tribe under his leadership. He is dominating and brutal, rousing the boys to kill pigs and, eventually, other humans for sport.

Profanity & Violence

Ralph makes fun of Piggy’s asthma ( a—-mar ). Characters use God’s name in vain, and d–n you once or twice. Violence intensifies as the characters become less civilized: First they kill pigs with spears, enjoying the pigs’ squealing and blood. They often dance and chant, “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood. Bash her in.” They even spear the head of one pig, leaving it as an offering for the Beast. By the end, boys are killing other boys by mobbing and hunting them, simply because they “get caught up” in the frenzy of their savage rituals.

Sexual Content

Discussion topics.

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at ThrivingFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in literature.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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IndieBound Bestseller

LORD OF THE FLIES

by William Golding ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1954

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1954

ISBN: 0399501487

Page Count: 212

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1955

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT LITERARY FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT GENERAL TEEN

Share your opinion of this book

More by William Golding

BOOK REVIEW

by William Golding

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

ZERO O'CLOCK

by C.J. Farley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021

Commendable ambition that may help readers look forward.

Already reeling from loss, a Black high school senior brings her OCD, anxiety, and depression into March 2020.

In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gethsemane Montego is a musical-theater–loving, BTS-fangirling, 16-year-old senior at New Rochelle High School. She and her two best friends—Jewish Korean valedictorian Tovah and Cuban American star quarterback Diego—attend the same high school where Geth’s security guard father died tragically three years ago during a shooting. Geth resents how quickly her mother has moved on—with a White man, at that—but, as best they can, her friends help her manage the increases in her anxiety and compulsions as well as her stifling grief. Awaiting admission results from Columbia is an added stressor, but as the coronavirus case numbers quickly shoot up, Geth faces multiple burdens and traumas. Police violence, racial inequity, hyperpartisanship, immigration, economic anxieties, and a complicated coming-out story all pile on top of the pandemic’s hefty body count. Geth is a likable, smart Gen Z protagonist in this modern epistolary work that combines diary entries, text messages, news reports, emails, and English lit essays to immersive effect. Wringing so much content, so much hurt, into a YA novel is a tall order that yields very mixed results. Still, whether through cutting humor or disparate political perspectives, Farley offers readers undeniable value in this retelling of recent, unforgettable history.

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-61775-975-8

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Black Sheep Press

Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT LITERARY FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | LITERARY FICTION

More by C.J. Farley

by C.J. Farley

by C.J. Farley ; illustrated by Yongjin Im

by Elana K. Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 2020

A timely and unabashedly feminist twist on a classic fairy tale.

Sixteen-year-old Bisou Martel’s life takes a profound turn after encountering an aggressive wolf.

Following an embarrassing incident between Bisou and her boyfriend, James, after the homecoming dance, a humiliated Bisou runs into the Pacific Northwest woods. There, she kills a giant wolf who viciously attacks her, upending the quiet life she’s lived with her Mémé, a poet, since her mother’s violent death. The next day it’s revealed that her classmate Tucker— who drunkenly came on to her at the dance—was found dead in the woods with wounds identical to the ones Bisou inflicted on the wolf. When she rescues Keisha, an outspoken journalist for the school paper, from a similar wolf attack, Bisou gains an ally, and her Mémé reveals her bloody and brave legacy, which is inextricably tied to the moon and her menstrual cycle. Bisou needs her new powers in the coming days, as more wolves lie in wait. Arnold ( Damsel , 2018, etc.) uses an intriguing blend of magic realism, lyrical prose, and imagery that evokes intimate physical and emotional aspects of young womanhood. Bisou’s loving relationship with gentle, kind James contrasts with the frank exploration of male entitlement and the disturbing incel phenomenon. Bisou and Mémé seem to be white, Keisha is cued as black, James has light-brown skin and black eyes, and there is diversity in the supporting cast.

Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-06-274235-3

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT LITERARY FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

More by Elana K. Arnold

by Elana K. Arnold ; illustrated by Dung Ho

by Elana K. Arnold ; illustrated by Magdalena Mora

by Elana K. Arnold

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From text to tech: lord of the flies character transformation in gifs.

In this summative project over The Lord of the Flies , students put on their critical thinking caps to infer where characters from the book end up later in life, after the events in the book. Students have a lot of fun getting creative and exploring the "after" of the characters they got to know so well throughout our time reading!

By analyzing the before, during, and after of a chosen character, students crafted animated representations aligned with the storyline and character development as depicted by William Golding.

I encouraged students to consider previous discussion we have had over symbols in the book and commentary that the author is making about the world, people, etc.. Through their GIFs, students offer interpretations of Golding's commentary on humanity, society, and civilization, all supported by textual evidence and critical thinking.

Project Instructions for students:

Task: Create a GIF illustrating the before, during, and after stages of a character's journey on the island, as portrayed in The Lord of the Flies . Consider where your chosen character ends up later in life, based on what we know of their characters in the book. *Make sure students choose a character who has an after; i.e., not Piggy or Simon...
Argument: Accompany your GIF with a concise paragraph explaining your interpretation and argument regarding Golding's commentary within the novel. Elaborate on the insights gained from the "microcosm" activity to strengthen your argument.

Technical Instructions (Using Keynote):

Creating the Presentation:

Open Keynote app and select a blank theme.
Begin crafting images depicting the before, during, and after phases of the character's journey. *I always spend some time teaching students how to put together shapes, colors, images, etc. in Keynote, so they have somewhere to start. A 20 minute mini-lesson over creating GIFs on Keynote is not a bad idea for this project.

Creating the GIF:

Select the slides to be included in the GIF.
Apply "magic move" to ensure smooth transitions between slides.
Export the presentation as a GIF, which will be saved to the camera roll for submission. Make sure to select all slides to be included in the GIF!

Voila! You now have a creative and analytical GIF.

Creating Characters with AI Art Part 1 - Exploring Prompts

Smashing Apps: Kaligo, iMovie and AR Makr

In Action: Visualize Descriptive Language

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Lord of the Flies Final Revision Lesson 2024

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

11 April 2024

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Useful as a final revision lesson, this lesson revise key quotations for the main characters and themes that might come up in the 2024 Lord of the Flies exam.

The 40 slide PowerPoints goes over a large key quotations and students note down and explain their top 3 quotations for each.

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How J.R.R. Tolkien's Real Life Inspired These Key Pieces of Lord of the Rings

Quick links, j.r.r. tolkien fought in a brutal battle, tolkien's beliefs on war and violence shaped lotr's story, the dead marshes were inspired by his wwi experiences.

Tolkien's experiences in fighting in WWI's Battle of the Somme inspired the action and intensity in The Lord of the Rings .
Although the battles in The Lord of the Rings are riveting, it's very clear that Tolkien's negative beliefs on war were clear in the books.
The Dead Marshes in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was inspired by the atmosphere of Northern Europe during WWI.

The themes of war and the hellish nature of its violence and industry have always been a large and overarching theme in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even though Tolkien himself was an academic of linguistics and ancient literature, from which many of his inspirations derived, much of his real-life experiences about his own military service added a brutal nuance and intense themes to his stories. At 24, Tolkien was a 2nd Lieutenant in World War I with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He and two of his friends enlisted, and he would be the only one to return.

The Lord of the Rings ' message about fellowship , bravery, and the brutal reality of nature's sacrifices amid such human atrocities was deeply inspired by these horrific times. Although The Lord of the Rings involves a war between a very clear good and evil, unlike WWI, Tolkien uses the corruption of powerful politicians and monarchs, tempted by the promise of power and influence, to bring nuance to his blended fantasy inspired by classic European folklore. It was at this juncture, between the romanticism of morality-play adventures and the experiential trauma of war, that Tolkien's works build something truly personal and emotional about the world of Middle-earth, whilst saying something about the real world.

The Lord of the Rings Films Massively Downplayed a Major Villain From the Book

The Battle of the Somme was in 1916.
WWI occurred between 1914-1918.

Tolkien's first action he saw in WWI was at the Battle of the Somme. This battle was fought with the British and French on one side, and the German Empire on the other. Battles were fought with trench warfare, leading to the creation of tunnels, ditches, and foxholes where soldiers could take cover, live, and sleep during their fight at the front. The constant barrage of artillery, followed by the call to charge as soldiers charged "over the top" and fought in brutal no man's lands between their trenches was a bloody, muddy, and brutal business. WWI saw the hyper-industrialization and innovation of new and improved weapons , as well as the end of more obsolete warfare. It's at this apex, that Tolkien had a front-row ticket to the worst of humanity's desire for power, and the mounds of bodies it could leave in its wake.

The battle lasted for five months, J.R.R. Tolkien enlisted with two of his best friends. In those five months, Tolkien would use time in between the fighting to begin writing The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was truly inspired by the courage of humanity, thrown up against seemingly indomitable odds and destruction. The idea of people being so small and being able to accomplish things despite the ominous horrors of the battlefield ahead echoes time and time again in The Lord of the Rings . The film Tolkien beautifully represents this very important and story-shaping time in his life as he writes bits and pieces and is inspired by the battle itself in his writings.

The Lord of the Rings Made Aragorn's Arc Even Better With a Subtle Trick Most Fans Missed

In 1954, Tolkien finally published The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , the first of a trilogy.
In 1937, Tolkien had already published The Hobbit , a lighter adventure tale set in Middle-earth.

It's clear to see, through The Lord of the Rings books and movies where Tolkien stood when it came to his feelings on war. After returning as the sole survivor of the friends he enlisted with, Tolkien was greatly affected by World War I and the Battle of the Somme. The idea of being separated from one's friends during war and losing loved ones amid battle is seen often in The Lord of the Rings . Merry and Pippin are swept away by the orcs in The Fellowship of the Ring , then only to be separated by Circumstance and arm themselves for a full-scale war by The Return of the King . In a way, when it came to Tolkien's main characters, he wrote about the feeling of great loss of friends and the connection of their friendship without letting the cynicism of the real world tempt him to kill any of them off. Tolkien had lived that, and it's likely in a way, he wanted people to feel that with him, but without the permanence that he had to.

On the greater scope of war, Tolkien is very aware of the military-industrial complex that was building up in the early 1900's. Metalworking and coal mining to fuel the engines of war would be an inspiration for Saruman's corruption of Isengard and the clear-cutting of its forests. Mordor would, of course, be the ultimate example of this industrial evil rising and tempting the powers that be to turn on one another. The First World War was fought mainly by royalty and for royalty, resulting in a great schism in beliefs on war and the wastefulness of human life by major political powers. Tolkien would subtly insert this awareness into two main examples; Theoden when he is directly corrupted by Saruman through Grima Wormtongue, and the grief-stricken Denethor of Gondor. Although one of these leaders would eventually come to and fight with his people against the great evils, Denethor could not see past his own hate and greed for the throne, and would rather end his line than stand with his people against the odds.

What Caused Thorin's Dragon-sickness in The Hobbit?

The Dead Marshes was the location of The Battle of Dagorlad in the 2nd age.
It is featured in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when Frodo, Sam, and Smeagol pass through it to get to Mordor.

Tolkien derived a great deal of his darker inspirations for Middle-earth from his time enlisted in the British army during WWI. Much of it he wrote when he was recovering from illness which also builds a parallel to him writing himself as Frodo when he finishes Bilbo's book whilst still feeling the pains of the Morgul blade. The Morgul Blade wound in this case could also be seen as the traumas of the war he must permanently live with as well. Although it's not completely confirmed, but rather insinuated, Tolkien had mentioned that he may have subconsciously written one of the spookier locales in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, based on the atmosphere of Northern Europe during World War I.

The Dead Marshes was an ominous expanse that was once the site of an ancient battle, where the dead could still be seen beneath the water, and where their trapped spirits thrived in malevolent agony. Because trench warfare was such a brutal and wet climate to fight in, constantly mired in mud, motes of burning vehicles and people, and decaying bodies pressed into the ground, it's no surprise that Tolkien could have imagined what the battlefield would look like hundreds of years later if it was left unkept and the spirits remained to haunt it. Even though Tolkien couldn't admit fully to The Dead Marshes being inspired by The Somme, he did say that it was likely a subconscious inspiration inserted into the construction of the locale and its lore.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a series of epic fantasy adventure films and television series based on J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. The films follow the adventures of humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and more in Middle-earth.

Created by J.R.R. Tolkien

First Film The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Latest Film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Upcoming Films The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim

First TV Show The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power

Latest TV Show The Lord of the Rings The Rings of Power

First Episode Air Date September 1, 2022

Cast Charlie Vickers, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Morfydd Clark, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Dominic Monaghan

Character(s) Sauron, Gollum

Video Game(s) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth, LEGO Lord of the Rings , Lord of the Rings Online, The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Genre Action-Adventure, Fantasy

Where to Stream Max, Hulu, Prime Video

How J.R.R. Tolkien's Real Life Inspired These Key Pieces of Lord of the Rings

Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough shine in Hulu’s dark true-crime drama ‘Under the Bridge’

Lily Gladstone in a blue law-enforcement uniform.

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“Based on a true story” — why do we care? Does it matter whether the events of a dramatic work “really happened,” or sort of happened, more or less in the way we’re being told? Is it a come-on to prurient interests, when the subject is dark or sensational? Is it to appear educational? Is it to advertise that things that seem too incredible to be true really are true, to make what’s shocking even more shocking, or to prop up a story that can’t stand on its own?

If I had a definite answer for you, there wouldn’t have been so many question marks in the preceding paragraph. All of the above, maybe.

“Dragnet” changed the names to protect the innocent, but nowadays it’s the fashion to keep the names, while the facts, found wanting on their own, might get a fictional assist. In “Under the Bridge,” a limited series based on Rebecca Godfrey’s well-received 2005 book about the 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in green and watery Victoria, British Columbia, some of the names are the same; others have been changed, as they were on the page, in accordance with Canadian law protecting the identities of young people accused or convicted of a crime; and yet other names have been made up, along with the characters who wear them.

Riley Keough tries to bond with teenage girls in "Under the Bridge."

Godfrey’s book falls under the rubric of true crime, if of a particularly literary sort; she was interviewed about it in the Paris Review, and Mary Gaitskill wrote the introduction to its 2019 rerelease. Still, unless you feel it’s imperative that this story of a teenager fatally set upon other teenagers has a basis in reality, it might be best to regard the TV adaptation as fiction clear through — “Lord of the Flies” wasn’t based on anything, after all — something like the fifth season of “ True Detective ,” perhaps, especially given Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone are in starring roles.

Godfrey isn’t a presence in “Under the Bridge,” but, played by Keough, she’s become a major character in the series — a subject nearly, an active participant, a person with her own measure of trauma to address. Developed by Quinn Shephard, whose 2017 film “ Blame ” is also a story of toxic teenhood, the adaptation is true to the facts of the case itself, as reported by Godfrey and others. Much of what surrounds it, however, has been invented or altered for your entertainment — especially as it concerns the investigation, in which the author, returning home to Victoria for the first time in 10 years, becomes an unofficial detective, if one with mixed motives.

She has come, coincidentally, to write a book, on “the misunderstood girls of Victoria,” of which she was once one, when these characters fall into her lap.

Vritika Gupta plays Reena, an outsider desperate to belong, a child awkwardly attempting to imitate an adult, chafing at the strictures of her conservative Jehovah’s Witness parents (Archie Panjabi as Suman and Ezra Faroque Khan as Manjit). To her happy surprise, she finds herself recruited into a tribe of more sophisticated girls — which is to say, they smoke and drink and take drugs. Their leader, Josephine (Chloe Guidry), wears John Gotti’s picture in a locket and controls a legion of “minions” who shoplift on her behalf. (They call themselves the Crip Mafia Cartel, while the police refer to them as “Bic” girls, as in the lighter, “’cause we’re disposable.”) Her lieutenants are Kelly (Izzy G.), Jo’s best friend, and Dusty (Aiyana Goodfellow), who is relatively nice. After a honeymoon period, a series of unfortunate events will lead to the even more unfortunate event that has brought us all here.

Rebecca’s return to town has its own measure of friction. (She doesn’t get along with her mother, either.) Significantly, it brings her back into contact with local police officer Cam (Gladstone), with whom Rebecca and her late brother once were close. (Just how close is hinted at, but never explored.) When Reena’s father and her uncle Raj (Anoop Desai) come to file a missing persons report, Cam is ready at first — along with the rest of the department, including her adoptive father (Matt Craven), the police chief — to write her off as a runaway. But she’ll change her tune and wind up spearheading the investigation, while she wars with Rebecca over her intentions and intrusions and questionable journalistic ethics.

Vritika Gupta sits on a school bench next to a bus.

“Perry Smith told Capote things he never told anyone else,” says Rebecca, suggesting she can get the kids to talk.

“So you think you’re writing ‘ In Cold Blood ,’ eh?” implying she isn’t.

Reena’s family background, going back two generations, is explored in a dedicated episode, but there is little context given the other young characters; we get bits of information that lead us to understand they’re products of parental fecklessness, pop cultural influence or brain chemistry without belaboring the point. That’s good, in a way — explicit psychologizing of behavior is a dramatic dead end. But it doesn’t add up to much more than the sorry fact that kids, with their developing brains, can make bad decisions, and compound bad decisions with worse decisions, and take actions that aren’t the product of any decisions at all.

The performances alone make “Under the Bridge” worth watching. Keough, who resembles Godfrey a little, is a world away from Daisy Jones , held together by her literary project, inhabiting the ghost of the bad kid she once was, or pretends to have been, to gain the teenagers’ trust. (She becomes an accomplice, almost.) Gladstone does a lot with a character whose main quality is stolidity; I wish they’d gone a little more into her relationship with Rebecca, but this is a show with a lot on its plate.

And then there are the kids, who are astonishingly good. As Reena, Gupta, heartbreaking in her hopefulness, is especially good. But all the young actors — including Javon Walton as Warren, the odd boy out — are original and human in roles that could easily invite cliche.

Apart from the performances, which alone make the series worth watching, and the overall authenticity of the production, what to make of these eight hours of nearly unrelieved sadness? (The closest the series comes to unalloyed joy, untainted by the knowledge of tragedy to come, is the minute or so in which Rebecca and Cam dance to Siouxsie and the Banshees’ cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger,” though even that will be alloyed soon enough.)

The conventional crime-solving aspects of the drama drive “Under the Bridge” in the earlier episodes, as does Rebecca’s prodigal’s return plotline. But we wind up mostly with a mess of loss. The characters are too particular on the one hand, and the mean girls trope too familiar on the other, to usefully generalize into a statement about the plight of teenage girls. Though there are many well-written scenes — the performances would not be so impressive if there weren’t — over eight episodes, the series, with its shifting attention and skips back and forth in time, loses emotional force; it sustains one’s interest, certainly, but less so one’s sympathies.

A little light does break in at the end. Justice is served, as the series switches briefly into a courtroom drama — though Rebecca has her doubts about whether it’s truly being served. There’s a late-series development that indicates a different future for Cam (with a quickly passing nod to Canada’s institutional racist history). Rebecca will go on to write her book — she has a contract for it before the series ends — and, sometime after the series ends, sell it to the screen. (A closing title card notes that Godfrey was involved in the series’ development before her death in 2022 .)

And here we are.

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Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
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The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
On the outside Lord of the Flies may appear to be simply a story about boys trying to live on a deserted island, but reading between the lines will allow the reader to understand and appreciate ...
Lord of the Flies Book Review
Our review: Parents say ( 12 ): Kids say ( 111 ): This novel has been a perennial favorite since its first publication in 1954, and when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, William Golding was lauded for his deep concern for humanity. Today, Lord of the Flies remains a staple of school reading lists, although some of its dated views ...
Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
The Lord of the Flies - It's the name given to the sow's head that Jack's gang transfixes on spear as an offering to the "beast.". The Lord of the Flies comes to symbolize the primeval instincts of power and barbaric nature that take control of Jack's tribe. Littluns- The littlest boys, around ages six and up.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
144 books3,919 followers. Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980, he was awarded the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage, the first novel in what became his sea trilogy, To the Ends of ...
Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Lord of the Flies William Golding Penguin Books Published December 16, 2003 (Originally Published 1954) Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads About Lord of the Flies. At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys.
Their Inner Beasts: 'Lord of the Flies' Six Decades Later
By Lois Lowry. Oct. 27, 2016. "Lord of the Flies" was published in 1954, the year that I turned 17, and I read it not long after. I was in the habit then (as I still am today) of finding, in ...
Lord of the Flies Review: Golding's Inner Savage
3.4. Lord of the Flies Review. 'Lord of the Flies' is an interesting novel, despite the fact that in today's world it may be considered problematic. In some areas, the dialogue appears forced and stilted. The plot may feel stilted at some points but, most of the descriptions are wonderful. Pros.
Review: Lord of the Flies
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is a dystopian novel by nobel-prize winning English author William Golding, about a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results. When it was first published, Golding's debut novel suffered from poor sales but when re-released in the 1960s it went on to ...
LORD OF THE FLIES
New York Times Bestseller. The 17-year-old son of a troubled rock star is determined to find his own way in life and love. On the verge of adulthood, Blade Morrison wants to leave his father's bad-boy reputation for drug-and-alcohol-induced antics and his sister's edgy lifestyle behind. The death of his mother 10 years ago left them all ...
A Summary and Analysis of William Golding's Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies: plot summary. The novel begins with a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys being shot down; the boys land on a desert island. Two of them, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch shell on the beach, and they use it to signal to the rest of the schoolboys, who then start to form their own 'society', with a leader elected among them.
Book Review
WILLIAM GOLDING. The Man Who Wrote "Lord of the Flies": A Life. By John Carey. Illustrated. 573 pp. Free Press. $32.50. William Boyd's most recent novel, "Ordinary Thunderstorms," was ...
Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Characters - 4.5/5. There are a fair few characters to get your head around in this book. Without giving away spoilers, the main two are Ralf and Piggy who you meet early on and then other boys are slowly introduced who become big figures within the group. There's fantastic chemistry between the different characters and Golding had to write ...
Book review
Golding's book is one of those and is widely considered to be one of the all-time great novels. My lovely 1965 edition of Lord of the Flies is older than me and has a cover price of three shillings and sixpence! Lord of the Flies was Golding's first novel, published in 1954.
Lord of the Flies: Full Book Summary
Lord of the Flies Full Book Summary. In the midst of a raging war, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch shell on the beach, and Piggy realizes it could be used as a horn to summon the other boys. Once assembled, the boys set about ...
Lord of the Flies Book Review: A Short But Punchy Classic
Lord of the Flies Book Review. Lord of the Flies is a book that had been on my TBR (to-be-read pile) forever. I first read this in my mid-twenties and wish I had studied this at school, which is where most readers encounter this. It's all about a group of schoolboys who become stranded on a desert island. But don't let the young ensemble ...
Lord of the Flies Themes and Analysis
Analysis of Key Moments in Lord of the Flies. There are many key moments in ' Lord of the Flies ' that highlight the boy's descent into savagery. Blowing the conch - this introduces us to the conch which acts as a symbol of society and civilization throughout the novel. It is both the device that brings the children together and in ...
Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is one of my favorite novels, not necessarily from a "I'm going to read this every year!" standpoint but more from a "Damn, I wish I could write like that!" perspective. This allegorical book was originally published in 1954; it is one of the most carefully structured novels I've read; each chapter has a wonderful internal rise and fall, and the ...
Lord of the Flies: Study Guide
Lord of the Flies by British author William Golding was first published in 1954. Set against the backdrop of a deserted island during an unspecified wartime, the novel tells the gripping story of a group of boys stranded after their plane crashes. Initially, the boys attempt to establish a society with rules and order, choosing a boy named ...
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. ... and it was described in one review as "not only a first-rate adventure but a parable of our times". ... There have been three film adaptations based on the book: Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook; Alkitrang Dugo (1975), a Filipino film, ...
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies, novel by William Golding, published in 1954. The book explores the dark side of human nature and stresses the importance of reason and intelligence as tools for dealing with the chaos of existence. In the novel, children are evacuated from Britain because of a nuclear war. One.
Lord of the Flies
His conversation with The Lord of the Flies (which is a rotting pig's head the boys have left as an offering to the Beast) is likened to the temptation Christ experienced during his fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). ... Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip ...
LORD OF THE FLIES
A fantasy is a singular - and singularly - believable spellbinder, and within the framework of its premises achieves a tremendous impetus and impact. During an atomic war, a group of boys aged from about six to twelve crash-land on an uninhabited tropical island. There Ralph, a responsible boy, is chosen chief and a certain routine established; a fire is made and to be kept going as a signal ...
Lord of the Flies: By William Golding
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a book review Lord of the flies is a story that follows a group of british boys stranded on an island; we think the time period is around world war two. The boys soon organize themselves into somewhat constructive groups, but as the story progresses truths about human nature are slowly revealed.
From Text to Tech: Lord of the Flies Character
In this summative project over The Lord of the Flies, students put on their critical thinking caps to infer where characters from the book end up later in life, after the events in the book.Students have a lot of fun getting creative and exploring the "after" of the characters they got to know so well throughout our time reading!
Lord of the Flies Final Revision Lesson 2024
Useful as a final revision lesson, this lesson revise key quotations for the main characters and themes that might come up in the 2024 Lord of the Flies exam. The 40 slide PowerPoints goes over a large key quotations and students note down and explain their top 3 quotations for each.
How J.R.R. Tolkien's Real Life Inspired These Key Pieces of Lord ...
The themes of war and the hellish nature of its violence and industry have always been a large and overarching theme in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Even though Tolkien himself ...
'Under the Bridge' review: Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough shine
Hulu's 'Under the Bridge,' an adaptation of Rebecca Godrey's true-crime book, stars Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough as a pair investigating the death of a teenage girl.
Rebel Moon
The first part of Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon came out four months ago, but trying to call its plot to mind this week felt like dimly remembering something glimpsed on a fish and chip shop ...

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