Book Review: Lord of the Flies
Golding's main characters are: Ralph - the average man. Although he is elected chief of the group in the beginning, Ralph is the epitome of the average man. He is in the middle of a tug-of-war between instinct and reason as he tries to get the boys through their ordeal. Piggy - the fat, near-sighted and weak boy is the only voice of reason. Piggy is the butt of everyone's jokes but he continues to wine, moan and demand that things be set straight. Piggy is the bringer of light, since he is the only one with a way to light fires (his glasses). Jack - the alpha male, the purely emotional man who lives in the here and now, Jack takes almost the entire group of the boys down to the level of savages.
Other characters are: Simon - an outcast who realizes what his peers really are and becomes their scapegoat. Samneric - the twins (Sam and Eric) act as one person and are easy to conform to those with power. Roger - the boy that becomes a fanatic of violence, well beyond the level of anyone else, including Jack.
The plot is a downward spiral that starts with the establishment of order and ends with a "just in the nick of time" rescue. One point of interest is the introduction of fear which comes from the "littluns"[1] and is directed at something they call "the beast." Later on in the story, the beast becomes the lord of the flies which is represented by a boar's severed head on a stick. Another important point is the break up of the group into two groups, one lead by Ralph (Ralph, Piggy and Samneric) and one lead by Jack (everyone else). Jack's group is a "tribe" of painted savages and hunters. Towards the end of the story the savages steal the fire (Piggy's glasses) from the "civilized" boys (the group that is lead by Ralph). Right before the end, Piggy is killed by the savages (the end of reason) and Ralph is being perused through the island until they are rescued. The rescue comes just as Ralph is about to be captured.
Through the entire story Golding does a great job of showing us all the similarities between each and every individual in society. Golding shows us that all mankind is, is a group of sniveling, fearful, kids playing at savages or playing at civilized men. Golding also shows that we will not be rescued until we are inches from rock bottom, after we've set our island on fire (perhaps in the manner of global warming) and have killed off reason.
[1] "Littluns" are the youngest children on the island; all of the main characters are "bigguns." The younger characters are mainly in the background and are rarely introduced by name.
Published by Jose Leiva
I am a 26 year old student recent college graduate. I've earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a Commenti stronly agree with john i hated it
I agree with john
personalyIdidnotlikethisbook,it wasnt good
lord of the flies is a really good novel which teaches us a thing or two about people and the way they can suddenly change,it also shows us what can happen if there are no rules to obey and no adults,Mr Golding did a good job!
As a sophomore in high school, this book has greatly influenced my reasoning about human nature.
this book was full of symbols and themes and you have to think to understand them. read the notes and introduction after you are done and they will explain a lot. (:
definitely a good and interesting story but people i need to read the content of the book with my class where can@i find it
i don't think young children should read this book it will make them believe that violence and barbarism are ok
Great review! I remember when I was a kid, this was a book youngsters were not supposed to read. Times have changed -- my 12-year old recently had to tackle this as part of her literature class.
Sounds like a good story :)