Lord of the Flies

"Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by Sir William Golding. It is an allegory novel that tells the story of a group of young boys who are stranded alone on an island and develop into savagery as they begin to lose their innocence and civilization.

The book received some critical praise, although it originally sold only 3,000 copies, didn't receive a lot of interest, and then went out of print in 1955. But within the next few decades, the novel would sell more copies internationally and became a widely taught novel in schools and college courses. It also serves as an example of human nature vs savagery.

Plot Summary
In the midst of a nuclear war, a British airplane evacuating a group of young schoolboys crashes onto a Pacific island, killing the pilot but leaving many of the boys survivors. One of them, a tall, fair-haired boy named Ralph, makes his way out of a jungle and onto a lagoon, followed by another survivor: a fat, asthmatic boy nicknamed Piggy. The boys discuss the situation in their world before one of them finds a conch shell. Ralph blows into it like a horn, and all of the boys come out onto the beach.

The boys decide to vote for a chief to keep in charge of the group until they are rescued, and they choose Ralph. He then assigns Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys as leader of the hunters. After exploring the island, Ralph declares that they must build a signal fire so it can attract any passing ships and save them. The boys attempt to make their first fire by using Piggy's glasses to ignite the flames, but it goes out of control and burns most of the jungle on the island, while one of the youngest boys suddenly disappears but likely burned to death.

The boys spend most of their time playing and swimming. Ralph struggles to keep the signal fire going and building shelters, and Jack and the hunters try to hunt their first pig they find, but had failed. One day, Ralph and Piggy spot a ship in the horizon, but also saw that the signal fire is not burning. They rush to the top of the mountainous hill where it is located, but the ship soon disappears from view. It was the hunters' responsibility to watch the fire, and they are coming out with a pig they just hunted. Ralph confronts Jack about not watching the fire and the hunter leader hits Piggy in the face in frustration.

Ralph calls for a meeting in an attempt to restore order and set things right. The youngest boys (called "littleluns") experience nightmares and think a beast is roaming around the island, which scares everyone, including the oldest boys (called "biguns"). Later that night, when all the boys were asleep, a military plane battle occurs in the sky. A dead parachutist falls from above and lands in the trees on the island. Sam and Eric, the twins who are now watching the signal, notice the shadow of the beast and they run back to the camp to report what they have seen.

The boys head out on a hunting expedition. Ralph and Jack go up the mountain and spot the parachutist and think it is the beast. The next morning, another meeting is held, where Ralph and Jack describe what they have witnessed. Jack wants Ralph to step down as chief since he is a coward, but nobody votes him out of power. Jack leaves the group, and most of the boys later join him as he declares himself leader. They hunt and kill a wild pig, and leave its severed head as an offering to the beast.

Afterwards, a quiet, timid boy named Simon spots the head and hallucinates. The head begins to speak and he sees it as The Lord of the Flies. It tells him that it exists within all men and not something they can physically hunt and kill, then Simon faints. When he wakes up, he sees the parachutist's body and decides to tell it to the others. Jack, his hunters and all the boys are holding a tribal feast and spot Simon coming towards them. Thinking he is the beast and in a frenzied mood, they all attack and kill him.

The next day, Ralph and his group talk about what they had just done. Later on, Jack and his hunters attack them and steal Piggy's glasses. Ralph and his only allies left, Piggy and the twins Samneric, head over to a rocky formation called Castle Rock to get the glasses back, where Jack and his hunters had set up fort. Ralph tries to maintain order, but he and Jack quarrel. During the fight, a hunter named Roger rolls a giant boulder at Piggy, killing him and destroying the conch shell. Sam and Eric are captured and tortured.

Ralph hides from the hunters, but Jack and his tribe set the whole island on fire to hunt him. Ralph runs from the savaged tribe until he arrives at the beach, where the fire has attracted the ship of a British naval officer. The boys all come out and stop when they see the officer. The man questions the boys what they were doing and if it was a game. Ralph tries to explain everything but sobs for the loss of his innocence, and the other boys sob, too.

Characters
Ralph- The main protagonist and the chief. He is a handsome, fair-haired boy who is determined to keep order and civilization right, including building huts on the beach and keeping the signal fire going. Unfortunately, he cannot keep the boys from descending into savagery and chaos.

Piggy- An obese, asthmatic boy who serves as Ralph's closest second-in-command. Despite his obesity and weakness, he is the most intelligent of the group yet he is bullied and treated as an outcast by everyone else.

Jack- The main antagonist. He is the leader of the choir boys/hunters, but wants to be chief himself. He becomes vile and barbaric as the story progresses, and by the time he forms his own tribe, he is cruel and bloodthirsty; his childhood innocence corrupted by savagery.

Simon- An odd, sensitive boy in the schoolboys' group. Unlike them, Simon is a kind, good-hearted boy who is helpful to Ralph and offers generosity to the others. He also prefers to spend some of his quiet time alone in a beautiful, serene spot on the island than take part in the fun activities.

Roger- One of Jack's important allies and his personal lieutenant. Like his leader, Roger is cruel and sadistic and enjoys hurting the others boys. He ends up killing Piggy and breaking the conch shell.

Sam and Eric- Identical twin boys who are the most loyal and helpful to Ralph. They are often called "Samneric" for short since they both share the same entity. They always do everything together and remain close to Ralph until they are captured and tortured by Jack's tribe.

Writing History/Reception
William Golding enlisted in the British Royal Navy during WWII. During his years in the army, he witnessed the harsh reality of humanity and nature, and it had an influence on him. He believed that humans are not always kind and even young children can be exposed to savagery and cruelty. He ended up coming up with the idea that innocent beginnings would end in violence and tragedy. Golding began writing Lord of the Flies in the mid 1950s just as WWII ended and the Cold War started. It was rejected by over twenty publishers until Faber and Faber agreed to publish it in 1954.

The novel wasn't very successful and only sold less than about 3,000 copies before going out of print in 1955. Soon afterwards, however, the novel became more successful with British and American readers, and the minor success of Lord of the Flies would launch Golding's career into writing. It would also be one of the most important and influential literary works of the 20th century, as well as being a popular read in high school and college literary classrooms.

It is also worth noting that Lord of the Flies is a parody to some familiar fiction stories. For example, Golding had written the novel as a parody to R.M. Ballantyne's 1847 novel, The Coral Island, which depicts the tale of three boys stranded on a deserted island and how they managed to survive with their good wits and intelligence. It is apparent that Golding himself decided to put a twist of this children's story and turn it into a darker, allegory version. Other comparisons to the novel include Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, which are also survival stories, and that Lord of the Flies shared those themes that ended up going wrong for the main characters.

Civilization vs Savagery
There are two major themes in Lord of the Flies that are similar towards good versus evil. Civilization represents man's good nature who follow the rules, build a society, living authorized and offering peace and support towards others. Savagery represents man's evil side who do not follow the rules and instead being more powerful and hostile towards others. When the boys are stranded on the island, they must make a decision on whenever they should be civilized or become savage. After Ralph blows the conch and the boys arrive on the beach, the group would still need leadership even without adult supervision. Ralph's civilization usually doesn't turn out right as he was the only one trying to make shelters while the boys have fun in an adult free paradise. Jack demonstrates savagery when he paints his face and makes whooping calls. Since everyone lives all in one place, and civilization and savagery are close to one another, it makes it difficult for everyone to get along, especially the conflict between Ralph and Jack. Several of the book's symbols, such as the conch shell, play an important key role in civilization vs savagery. The conch was the only object that can bring civilization, but by the time it was destroyed, savagery has officially taken over.

Man vs Nature
Golding uses this theme as one of the main conflicts. The boys find themselves stranded on a strange, inhabited island and must find food, water and shelter to survive, as well as figuring out the different weather conditions and the dense environment like the jungle creepers. After they find different animals, such as pigs, they have to learn to hunt them for food. However, the island would later become treacherous towards the boys, such as Simon being beaten to death by the hunters who mistake him for prey, and Jack using fire to purposely burn the whole island since he has hatred towards nature. Only Simon is known to take his new surroundings positively, such as when he enjoys spending time in an area on the island that had butterflies and offered a quiet, peaceful atmosphere none of the boys could find. Golding himself even argued that humans are prone to savagery by nature. When the boys feared there is a beast lurking around, he makes his theory by proving the beast only lives in their hearts and not an actual monster.

Loss of Innocence
The premise of Lord of the Flies shows that all the characters who find themselves alone without supervision and care from the adults will eventually cause them to lose their childhood innocence. They first arrive on the island as naïve, pure youngsters who try to fit in their new environment and wanting to be rescued, but as the novel progresses, they slowly evolve into bloodthirsty savages. They often displayed their innocence when they are swimming and playing in the lagoon until the hunters first killed a pig. Instead of being scared and shock of the sight of blood, they were fascinated by it and before long, took pleasure in death and killing. This mostly happens when the boys are exposed to the evil and savagery that already exists within them. Simon, who is a character always associated with spiritual goodness and innocence, enjoys being in a peaceful, serene area in the jungle until he spots the pig's bloody head on a stake, and would ruin the paradise the group has fun in. By the end of the novel, when the British naval officer appears and reality sets in, the boys are no longer savages; they are turned back into scared children who have officially lost their boyhood innocence to the Lord of the Flies.

The Conch Shell
The conch shell first found on the beach by Ralph and Piggy in the beginning is an important symbol in the novel, as it symbolizes civilization and order. During meetings, whoever holds the conch has the right to speak and is also used to assemble the gatherings and help them stay civilized. It even has the power of democracy and authority. As time goes by and the boys turn into savages, the conch slowly starts to lose its importance and when it was destroyed, so does their civilized instincts.

Piggy's Glasses
The round spectacles Piggy wears on his face are more than just an accessory. They symbolize science and intellectuality, after the boys discover they can make fire from using the glasses. The glasses also symbolize intelligence, as using them to ignite flames for the signal fire is an imaginative survival instinct. However, the glasses are a major importance to Piggy as he is helpless without them and when one of the lens breaks, it shows how fragile their civilization would soon become.

The Lord of the Flies
"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!...You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close! I'm the reason it's no go? Why things are the way you are?"

The Lord of the Flies, or the beast, inhabits the severed pig's head left for it as an offering. It symbolizes evil and savagery that lives within all the hearts of men, even saying to Simon when he sees it, "I'm part of you.", and it will have "fun with him". The boys are all afraid of the beast, and it is mainly of their belief in it as they are turned into savagery. The name, Lord of the Flies, is referred to the Biblical devil "Beezelbub" who is traditionally a name for Satan. As Jack and his hunters become violent savages, the Lord of the Flies has successfully corrupted their innocence and turned them more evil like it.

Foreshadowing

 * Piggy being frail, obese and vulnerable without his glasses. Foreshadows his untimely death by Jack's hunters.


 * Fire being used for the first time by the boys. Foreshadows the fire burning part of a jungle and eventually the entire island.


 * Ralph, Jack and Simon push a boulder off a cliff on their hike of the island and Roger throws a rock at Piggy. Foreshadows Roger killing Piggy in the same way by pushing a boulder at him.
 * The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that he will "have fun" with him on the island. Foreshadows Simon's brutal death at the hands of the savaged hunters.

Adaptations

 * A film adaptation of Lord of the Flies was released in 1963 and directed by Peter Brook; it is often considered to be more faithful to the source material.
 * A film adaptation of Lord of the Flies was released in 1990 and directed by Harry Hook.