Lord of the Flies

published	October 1st 1999 by Penguin
first published	1954
binding	Paperback
isbn	0140283331 (isbn13: 9780140283334)
pages	192
description	William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today a...more [close] William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition. --Jennifer Hubert [close]
date added	12-08-06 edit book

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Andrew rated it:

09/10/07

I was tempted to give this five stars, since in so many ways it strikes me as the kind of masterpiece, like Heart of Darkness, that I imagine will retain its horror and readability for centuries. The prose veers (or as Golding would say it, "tends") from plain to painterly. The story is well known: a sort of allegorical morality play set in modern times -- fancy English boys left to their own devices don't so much as revert to darkness as discover primitive outlets for the darkness ref...more I was tempted to give this five stars, since in so many ways it strikes me as the kind of masterpiece, like Heart of Darkness, that I imagine will retain its horror and readability for centuries. The prose veers (or as Golding would say it, "tends") from plain to painterly. The story is well known: a sort of allegorical morality play set in modern times -- fancy English boys left to their own devices don't so much as revert to darkness as discover primitive outlets for the darkness reflected in their greater society. This is what I love about Heart of Darkness: try as one might, Kurtz cannot be pigeonholed into good or evil. He is excellent at what he does, and what he does is evil. Kurtz is a true reflection of what excellence was to Colonial Europe, and in so far as Colonial Europe was good, cultivated, honorable, and esteemed, so is Kurtz. Kurtz isn't good or evil; he is true.

Golding's version is darker. It centers mostly around the corrupting power of urges to overwhelm social order. Freudian criticism abounds, but the parallel I kept coming back to was Rome. I found that Piggy, no matter how truly annoying he is (another brilliant stroke by Golding is to make Piggy strangely unsympathetic), recalled those numerous Republicans of the Early Empire who advocated in a shrill but useless manner for a return to Senate rule but were shunted aside and usually killed by deranged sociopaths who behaved quite like like Jack. But be it Freudian or historic, any framing of this book feels cheap and hollow because the story has such a complexity of primal urges that it feels almost biological.

Golding said he came up with the idea of book after reading his children "Treasure Island or Coral Island or some such Island" in the years of the hydrogen bomb and Stalin and asked his wife, "why don't I write a children's story about how people really are, about how people actually behave?" To me that's a chilling question and it reveals an architecture not based on rigid Freudian or historical or symbolic parallels. Its portrait of sadism could have been lifted out of the newspapers; its struggle for dominion over the weak in an almost sexual frenzy recalls everything I know about torture in the dungeons of Argentine or US military prisons. In this respect, I think the book, like Heart of Darkness, is timeless.

But I chose not to give it five stars because at the center of Golding's book is a kind of rigid Christian iconography, like that you find in the Poisonwood Bible, that offends me, perhaps because it reminds me of the way I wrote my Freshman year of college, or perhaps because that rigidity, that allegiance to a=b symbolic logic insults my intelligence. The martyrdom of Simon, I felt, demeaned the human quality of Simon. I liked him best because he struck me as the most shrewd and practical. Reducing him to an icon transforms him into a variable: Simon = Paul or Peter or whomever, but ergo facto Simon ≠ Simon. When he comes down to the beach mutting "something about a body on a hill" Simon ceases to be a reflection of human complexity, or biological completeness, and instead becomes a rehashed precedent from Sunday school.

I've often felt that Heart of Darkness' genius was that it somehow reflected the effect of Darwin and modern thinking on the antiquated ideas of Colonial Europe, ie Kurtz isn't good or evil because good and evil are artifices that wilt beneath analysis. When Golding adheres to this materialist perspective, the book is masterly. When he swears allegiance to worn out Christian parables, that complexity is reduced to slips of paper....less

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Zerbe rated it:

07/18/08

Read in July, 2008

The first time I read William Golding's Lord of the Flies, gas was about a dollar a gallon and I thought the Backstreet Boys were never going to go away. My, how times have changed, even in a few short years. A schoolyard standard in American (and I can only assume British) school systems, William Golding's 1954 tour-de-force still endures as one of the most important and comprehensible studies on the human psyche put to paper.

What it may lack in characterization and description, it more tha...more The first time I read William Golding's Lord of the Flies, gas was about a dollar a gallon and I thought the Backstreet Boys were never going to go away. My, how times have changed, even in a few short years. A schoolyard standard in American (and I can only assume British) school systems, William Golding's 1954 tour-de-force still endures as one of the most important and comprehensible studies on the human psyche put to paper.

What it may lack in characterization and description, it more than makes up for with meaning, symbolism and scathing social commentary. Really, as great a piece of fiction as the brief novel is, calling it merely a piece of fiction is such a disservice. As a piece of fiction the novel was panned upon its release, looked at as an overly-violent adventure story, a nonsense romp for boys who liked tearing the wings off flies and torturing the neighbors cats. But now, fifty years after its publication, it has been seen for what Golding intended--in his own words, "an attempt to trace the defect of society back to the defect of human nature." Even if you're not a fan of the man's prose, it is a difficult thing to disagree with his delivery on theme.

As for the actual writing of the novel, it is a bit spastic at times. I did not always know who was talking or where they were talking from. Suddenly we are in the foreset, no the beach, wait, we are running from the Beast, or are we just chasing a pig? Between the dozen odd characters that populate the pages, it's hard to put names to personalities when personalities run so thin and names run so close together (Ralph, Roger and Robert all in the same story?). But to put that blame fully on Golding's head would be to ignore the style of the time and the intended audience. As much as Lord of the Flies is so much more than an adventure story, it still was aimed firmly in that direction, and its quick-draw pace, stark prose and painfully common naming is just a by-product of that. However, such minor issues shouldn't dissuade from the novels importance in social commentary--in the greater project at work. Ten years earlier, George Orwell wrote a brutal social study veiled in science fiction and ten years later, Kurt Vonnegut would wrap his series of social studies in some of the most ridiculous costumes that literature has ever seen. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. After reading Lord of the Flies, even the most ignorant of a young reader should feel their moral fiber thicken, even ever so slightly. And those who actually can see the story's purpose should feel all but guilty that we are a species about which such a tale of horror can be spun.

And that's why it's a classic--there is just too much to learn from it for it to be anything less. It's been read and taught for fifty years and it will be read for a thousand more, giving a window into our own selves through its pages. I can only hope that our civilizations will end up better than that of these British schoolboys, or else we've damned ourselves to a fate much worse. They'll be no cruiser to interrupt our game and save us from ourselves. The only chance we'll have to step back and to see just how miserably we acted to one another will be one that is far too late to change anything....less

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Nora rated it:

09/28/07

bookshelves: crap

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: those who don't need a plot or characterization to enjoy a book.

I read this book a long time ago, long enough to where I barely remembered anything past the basic premise. So I picked it up again, only to wish I hadn't. There's a reason why they teach this book in middle school--in order to enjoy this book, one's intellectual cognizance must be that of a child, because otherwise you'll spend the entire time picking out everything that's wrong with the book. And there's a lot to pick out.

From what little of the story that is actually coherent, I can see w...more I read this book a long time ago, long enough to where I barely remembered anything past the basic premise. So I picked it up again, only to wish I hadn't. There's a reason why they teach this book in middle school--in order to enjoy this book, one's intellectual cognizance must be that of a child, because otherwise you'll spend the entire time picking out everything that's wrong with the book. And there's a lot to pick out.

From what little of the story that is actually coherent, I can see why this book has had a lasting effect on social commentary since it's initial publishing. The overlying illustration of how easily man can devolve back to his feral instincts is striking, yet could have been infinitesimally more effective in the hands of a decent writer.

See, I would have cared a bit more about the little island society of prepubescent boys and their descent into barbarism if you know, any of the characters had been developed AT ALL. Instead, we're thrown interchangeable names of interchangeable boys who are only developed enough to conform to the basic archetypes Golding requires to hobble his little story along: The Leader, The Rebel, The Fat-Kid, The Nose-Picker, etc. Were he born in this time, I believe Golding would have done brilliantly as a scriptwriter for reality TV.

And the plot? There's a plot? I'm guessing so, since things seem to happen, but it's kind of hard to tell since he spends pages describing irrelevant events that are never incorporated, characters that possibly exist yet probably don't, and using words that don't mean what he thinks they mean. And as the main characters are a bunch of kids not worth caring about, thus goes the way of the story.

And the prose? Dear God, the prose! Get it away! It burns us!

So yeah, this book sucked. It had potential. There were even a few parts I internally squealed at in hopeful anticipation. But whatever potential it did have was hopelessly squandered by a man who wrote like he'd never written anything before in his life. Don't waste your time....less

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Hank rated it:

04/17/08

bookshelves: dystopian-fiction-quest, highschool_fav

recommends it for: British school kids, people who hate children, Survivor fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I read LotF back in middle school, but that was almost 20 years ago so I figured I'd give it a refresher. I'm glad I did, too. After I got into it, I realized I couldn't remember exactly how it ended.

Okay, let me get this out of the way right up front: have you ever used glasses to try and make a fire? It's hard. Sometimes, depending on your prescription, it's nigh impossible. But that's a minor nit-pick and has little to do with the actual story. I just had to point it out.

First off, I'...more I read LotF back in middle school, but that was almost 20 years ago so I figured I'd give it a refresher. I'm glad I did, too. After I got into it, I realized I couldn't remember exactly how it ended.

Okay, let me get this out of the way right up front: have you ever used glasses to try and make a fire? It's hard. Sometimes, depending on your prescription, it's nigh impossible. But that's a minor nit-pick and has little to do with the actual story. I just had to point it out.

First off, I'm fat and nearly blind without my glasses. So, yes, poor ol' Piggy gets much of my sympathy. Left with half his sight, powerless, knowing what should be done but without any way to get his voice heard - pretty much my childhood nightmare. I think that when I read this book as a kid, I spent so much time tied up in that side of things that the larger struggle went by the side for me.

I'm pretty sure that the fact that a nuclear war was going on in the outside world while the boys are trapped went completely over my head the first time. Stories about Brits always seem a little old timey to a lot of American kids, myself included, and that and the 1950s language had me setting it mentally during World War II. Even so, the comparison between the boys' battles and the larger war didn't entirely escape me. "I expected better from British boys." Except that British men were engaged in struggles that only differed in their scope.

As a kid, of course, I felt like I could do better. I'd know to keep that fire burning. I'd know to build better shelters and make sure the whole tribe felt engaged in our attempts to be rescued. Looking back now, of course, that's bullshit. I'd be Piggy or, in the best case, Ralph - aware but frustrated almost to the point of madness. I've watched a lot of Survivor since then (ha!). I've been part of various troops and crews and teams. I know that the loudest voice and most entertaining path takes the lead, and if that's not me than to hell with what I might think is the right thing to do.

Folks write books and papers and websites and so on detailing the symbolism of Lord of the Flies. What did the pig skull symbolize? How about the downed pilot? The conch? The pool in which they swam? The face paint? But, in the end, all that doesn't matter. When Ralph notices that his spear, the one the sow's head was impaled on as an offering to the Beast, is sharpened on both ends and realizes what that means about about the fate that Jack and Roger have planned for him, that's just damn good storytelling.

final thoughts: If anyone tells you seriously that they could do better, keep an eye on them. That's a Jack right there.

(http://epicdystopia.blogspot.c......less

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Verónica rated it:

05/08/08

Read in March, 2008

Simply, it is such an excellent and influential novel of adventure with a story that is incredibly interesting and entertaining, which is also dramatic and emotional. It takes place in a very unusual setting and explains and shows what we can become if we do not have respect, rules and order which could cause deadly and irreversible chaos.
The author, William Golding, describes the novel in a deep and detailed manner not wanting to leave out any insignificant detail; so it makes the story more...more Simply, it is such an excellent and influential novel of adventure with a story that is incredibly interesting and entertaining, which is also dramatic and emotional. It takes place in a very unusual setting and explains and shows what we can become if we do not have respect, rules and order which could cause deadly and irreversible chaos.
The author, William Golding, describes the novel in a deep and detailed manner not wanting to leave out any insignificant detail; so it makes the story more real and authentic. His writing style is simple but the thematic matter is deep. Golding does a good job showing the emotional states and fully developed personalities of each character throughout the story and he makes the story come alive with significant use of symbolism in the characters and in simple objects. Also he describes each of the points of the island as well as the cruelest moments. For this reason the way he describes things are amazing, genuine and powerful.
During the middle of World War II, a plane crashes on an unknown island, abandoning a group of British schoolboys. The boys are all young, the oldest ones are not more than twelve years, and the island is apparently peaceful and beautiful. At first, there are no adults there; so their freedom and independence is something they celebrate and enjoy. This far from civilization they can do anything they want without being scolded and punished.
But as order collapses and terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.
It is a story that definitely makes you think about society, the integrity of people and reveals the evil and cruel component of humanity. It reveals how we can become at times if we do not control ourselves or our impulses, whether or not we are the person who imposes order and how it can change or transform us into something dangerous, frightening and unknown, which makes us do things we never dared or imagined.
It is a great book, entertaining, exciting and easy to read. I greatly enjoyed this book and I liked the story because it is thrilling and fast-moving; how it shows the kids on an unknown island and the things they do and dared to do in order to survive and be rescued. Each chapter has something exciting and interesting; and the more I read it, the more I got into it. For this reason, I would definitely recommend it.

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Steve rated it:

05/05/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

recommended to Steve by: Ms. Susan Houseman
recommends it for: mostly guys

William Golding
Lord of the Flies
New York: Riverhead Books, 1954
272 pp. $14.00
1-57322-612-2

A group of rational young English boys turn savage, alone on an island in this fantastic novel of human nature. "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding reflects the lives of young boys trapped on an island under no supervision. This novel is a representation of what happens when humans are reverted back to primal instinct. "Lord of the Flies" uses symbols to convey a message o...more William Golding
Lord of the Flies
New York: Riverhead Books, 1954
272 pp. $14.00
1-57322-612-2

A group of rational young English boys turn savage, alone on an island in this fantastic novel of human nature. "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding reflects the lives of young boys trapped on an island under no supervision. This novel is a representation of what happens when humans are reverted back to primal instinct. "Lord of the Flies" uses symbols to convey a message of fear, hate, and lust for power.
Ralph, one of the older children on the island, is elected the tribe leader for the boys. Jack, the antagonist of the story, is yet another of the older children. Jack has an undying will to be leader of the island. Ralph appoints Jack leader of the hunters. After trying and failing to kill a wild boar, Jack vows to capture one. Being an allegory in nature, each boy in the novel represents a different personality. Ralph is the leader and represents the order of the society. Piggy, a fat, but smart, friend of Ralph, represents the intellectual aspect of society. Jack represents all that is cruel and evil. After spending many days on the island, the boys begin to imagine a beast coming to attack them. The beast represents the boys losing their sense of reality and reverting to a primal state. The hunters kill a pig to offer to the beast. One of the boys imagines the pig talking to him, saying "and I'm the Beast [...] I'm part of you" (Golding 93).
The boys who are drunk at the thought of killing the pig go mad in the head. Jack reflects on his first pig he killed. "His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they close in on the struggling pig [...] taken away its life like a long satisfying drink" (76). Jack is so caught up in the hunt, that he loses his sense of character.

Though this novel is very gory, it is an excellent read. "Lord of the Flies" is a classic novel, with many modern day references to it. To really grasp the concept of human nature, one must read this story. Fear, hate and desire of power are just a few of the emotions in the novel. The story of the once rational English boys is unforgettable. ...less

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David rated it:

10/27/07

bookshelves: advisorybooks

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: everyone

The story starts off with an bunch of kids suffering an accident and being stranded in an deserted island. In the beginning, the protagonist, Ralph gathers up an civilized society with laws and boundaries; everyone helped out in their strive for survival. similar to many other books, like Hatchet. In Hatchet, there was only there was only one person stranded in Hatchet and a whole ‘community’ stranded in Lord of the Flies. In Hatchet, the protagonist attempted to survive as Jack , the antago...more

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Max rated it:

05/05/08

Read in May, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

William Golding
The Lord of the Flies New York: Penguin Group, 2006
208pp. $9.99
0-399-50148-7

"The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding is a significantly meaningful book that reveals the truths of human behavior. The book exposes the barbaric, almost evil, nature that is within all humans. It also discloses that culture and society rids this instinctive savagery through guilt and fear, not by bringing out the true goodness inside one another.

In the novel, a group of boys...more

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Miko rated it:

05/22/08

recommends it for: EVERYONE!!!!

So, anyone that has known me since highschool knows there was a period in my life where I would eat, breath, and sleep Lord of the Flies. I think I got 3 copies and the Cliffs notes for my birthday that year.

I was obsessed. Obsessed with the symbolism, with seeing the progression of group panic, fixated on the idea that faced with survival, even the most domesticated people have the possibility of reverting to their basic, barbaric, animalistic instincts.

That book completely changed my...more

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Mk rated it:

03/07/08

Read in January, 1996

recommended to Mk by: required high school reading

I hated this book. First off, as I remember, it talks about humans failure to govern ourselves, or more broadly the failures of human nature. There are a few reasons why I think simply dropping a group of kids on a desert island does not in fact prove anything.

1) These kids were raised in a capitalist, nominally demcratic society. The first thing they do is appoint leaders. As someone who spends my time working in consensus based groups seeking to challenge hierarchical structures, I have...more

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Karson rated it:

03/25/08

Read in January, 2008

Just read this book actually. Didn't read it in school growing up. I must have skipped over it or something. I was drawn in very fast by the exciting premise. Kids on an island! No adults! Kind of like that movie Camp Nowhere except more morbid. I was carried through the book quickly until somewhere in the middle I began to lose steam, but then i was drawn back in towards the end of the book by the profundity of the statement Golding was trying to make. I was trying to figure it out. It...more

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Shahram added it

03/21/08

Read in April, 2006

Sir William Golding (1911-1993), British novelist, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1983. He was born at Saint Columb Minor in Cornwall and educated at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford, where he studied English literature. Golding spent a short time working in the theater as a writer and actor. He then trained to be a teacher, a profession he left during World War II (1939-1945), when he served in the Royal Navy.
After the war Golding returned to writing. His first novel, ...more

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Harry rated it:

05/05/08

Harry Biemer

Honors World Literature

Ms. Houseman

May 5, 2008

Introductory Information:

William Golding
Lord of the Flies
New York; Penguin Group. 2006
208 pp. $9.99
0-399-50148-7

Stuck on an uncharted island, a group of young boys must set aside their differences in order to survive. "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, captures the influential story these boys experience on an island far from civilization. In "Lord of the Flies, each Character co...more

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Silvana rated it:

02/13/08

bookshelves: classics, favorites

Read in January, 2008

This book is horrifying. I'm scared like hell. Totally.
I was expecting an adventure book telling about some children who got stranded in an island, but ended up with goosebumps.

A bit of synopsis: A number of English school boys suffered from a plane accident causing them to get stranded in an uninhibited island. The period was maybe during the World War II. Trying to be civilized, they elected a leader for themselves as well started the division of tasks (hunters, fire-watchers, etc). Thin...more

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Nikki rated it:

05/07/08

bookshelves: 2006

Read in October, 2006

recommended to Nikki by: Freshman English Teacher

When I was a freshman in high school, I started reading this for a book report. But as was typical for my high school years, I slacked and never finished the report in time. In fact, I never finished reading the book because I figured it was pointless with the report being past due - plus I had to return it to the library.

So fast forward at least ten years. The occurrence of Banned Books Week brought my attention back to Lord of the Flies. I've been wanting to reread it (or finish, r...more

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Christopher rated it:

04/04/08

Lord of the files is about a bunch of kids who gets stranded. They were on a plane when it crashed into a deserted island. The main charactr Ralph gathers all the kids from the plane crash a with the sound from a conch shell. He soon becomes their leader and attempts to maintain order and to get off the godforsaken rock.
This is one of my favorite books, and it is similar to the Tv show "Lost". It has adventure, power struggles and mystery. The way that will live now totally changes ...more

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Karen rated it:

08/27/07

bookshelves: classics-to-be-avoided

Read in January, 1981

recommends it for: No one

I HATED this book. This is one of the books that gets lumped into a group with other equally bad books that everyone is supposed to read and love because it has some overarching value. This book was trash.

The subject matter was dark and terrible and in my opinion NOT fit for children. If you could overlook how poorly written it is, then you gagged on the Christian symbolism that was pervasive in almost all literature of the time. I did not buy the idea that without God we'd all dissolv...more

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Nikalos rated it:

05/04/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in May, 2008

William Golding
Lord of the Flies
New York: Penguin Group, 2006
208 pp. $9.99
0-399-50148-7

William Golding's legendary "Lord of the Flies" is less of a story and more of a study on human nature. Characters serve only to represent the various elements of society, which leaves them feeling hollow and of little consequence at the end of the novel. Still, "Lord of the Flies" is rife with symbolism and provokes healthy debate about man and his society.

Golding's w...more