Golding’s iconic 1954 novel, now with a new foreword by Lois Lowry, remains one of the greatest books ever written for young adults and an unforgettable classic for readers of any age. This edition includes a new Suggestions for Further Reading by Jennifer Buehler.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 … of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.
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The first time I read this book, I must have been about 12 or 13 years old. It was a book my brother had to study for his O Levels, and my cousins Andrew and Patrick had to study it too since they went to the same school. The general consensus seemed to be that this book was a bit weird and gruesome, and definitely not for little girls to be reading.
I read it anyway.
I reread this book (as often happens to me, it seems) because of University, and it’s still a really enjoyable read and commentary on society itself.
(Now imagine I said that without sounding pretentious.)
The book was written was a reaction to R M Ballantyne’s novel The Coral Island, which is an adventure novel for little boys full of fun and friendship, yay! Golding read the novel and thought to himself, ‘This is not what little boys are like if they’re left alone.’ and proceeded to invert the entire plot of the novel and make it much darker and much more gritty, realistic.
The novel is a dystopian novel, taking place during an undisclosed World War (possibly WWIII, as it mentions nuclear attacks). A plane carrying school boys from different schools across the ocean is shot down, and crash lands on an island where everyone but the pilot seemingly survives. The main character, Ralph, soon becomes a de facto leader for the group of school boys, as he is one of the oldest and most level-headed in the group. The boys look up to him, except for a group of choir boys from another school, who prefer to follow their own leader, Jack. Jack and Ralph split the responsibility of leading the tribe of boys, trying to find ways to survive while also attracting the attention of passing planes or boats in an effort to be rescued and taken home. The island, however, brings out the worst in the boys, which was ultimately Golding’s point. In The Coral Island, the boys encounter evil on the island while they remain pure; in The Lord of the Flies, the boys are evil when left unsupervised for too long. Really, this is pretty realistic – left alone in a society you have to build from scratch, humans do revert and tend to become more animalistic, especially when surrounded by violent jungles.
The novel’s main theme is, really and truly, humanity’s true nature of being greedy and violent without society’s rules to tell us how to behave. It does it very cleverly by looking at young boys, because as we all know, children can be quite violent when they want to be and without grown ups around to tell them what to do. Jack lets his manipulative and bullying nature take the better of him, and even Ralph succumbs to the temptation of being tribal in the early stages of the book, though he tries his best to be responsible. Towards the end of the book, it almost seems like they’ve forgotten the real reason they wanted to start a fire in the first place.
Honestly, while this novel has its gruesome parts, it is quite a satisfying read, especially for those among us who have little hope for humanity. I would definitely recommend it for those with a bit of a cynical world view, or even those who are a bit more philosophical and want something to chew over while they drink their coffee and wonder about humanity’s nature. Take a look at this novel, I’m sure it won’t disappoint.
Final rating: 4/5. Definitely recommend.
A classic, must read novel.
The Lord of the Flies tells a story of survival and violence as a last resort for a large group of boys from the ages of around six-years-old to twelve-years-old. This novel digs deep into human nature, our thirst for power, our jealousy, and our madness. I would definitely recommend this book.
I had to read it in high school, and I was so disgusted that I didnt finish it.
One of the most thought provoking books I have ever read
It is a story about the survival of a group of people, in this case, children, in a terrible situation. This position leads the group to anarchy that creates a rule in which the more powerful abuse the weak, the slow and the different from them. It is a subject that has quite a few discussions, but the fact that in such situations, without a guiding hand, even a charming group of children becomes violent, nightmare and murderous, always fascinates me every time (As I do now with the “Hunger Games”), especially in light of the thought that the monster described there is ultimately an abnormality that is not tangible but is rooted in the heart of each of us.
This is an intense book. Write without a trace of compassion, so it was relatively hard to read. The book seems to write about children, but it is impossible not to wonder whether adults don’t behave the same or no worse than the heroes of the story.