Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of English schoolboys whom are plane-wrecked on a deserted island. They were being evacuated from England in World War II and had crashed. There are no living adults on the island. At first, the boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, build shelters, and maintain a fire. Ralph and Piggy are overseeing their efforts, while Jack is in charge of his choir boys/hunters. Jack is Ralph’s fiercest antagonist.
Ralph tries to maintain order and responsibility, but the other boys would rather play. It doesn’t take long for the boys to challenge or ignore his rules. Jack forms his own tribe and lures the other boys away from Ralph. The situation grows dire as the boys lose their innocence and turn towards evil.
Ralph is my favorite character. He is pretty much the only rational and good child. He remains that way throughout the novel. I feel horrible for what happens to Piggy and Simon. Jack is clearly the spawn of evil.
What becomes increasingly obvioius to the reader is that this is human nature. Golding did well in making readers understand human nature. Of course, I believe that we are all inherently good. It scares me how evil these boys become. It scares me even more knowing that this could happen. One thing that bothers me is how much it was even reflecting what the adults were doing during World War II (in the novel). We still do this.
This is a must-read novel. It is usually assigned in school, but it’s also good to actually choose to read this on your own. I dislike many of the events that occur in the novel, however, it is very well written and though provoking. There are gruesome pieces, but it is worth reading.
Genres: Realistic Fiction, Classic
Stars (out of 5): ****
Cat on the Bookshelf 