William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is a story about a group of boys stranded on an island, cut off from the world they once knew. With no grown-ups around, they must find their own way, but what starts as a hope for adventure soon turns dark. The tale is a stark look at what happens when the rules of society fall away, and the boys are left to face their own natures. Golding’s novel lays bare the struggle between order and chaos, the thin line between civilization and savagery. It’s a haunting look at what can happen when fear, quest for power, and survival instincts take over our social conditioning.
In the introduction of “Lord of the Flies“, Ralph on an island, because the plane he and a group of boys were traveling on was shot down. He meets with Piggy, a fat, bespectacled boy. No adults are on the island, which is never really explained. Nor is it explained why the plane is shot down, but we know contextually that it was written against the backdrop of World War II.
The boys discover a conch shell, Piggy, points out that it can be used to summon the marooned boys. Ralph blows on the conch, and it draws together all the other victims of the crash. They discuss their situation and elect Ralph as the leader, partially because he looks the part and has the conch. Jack is unhappy about this, but Ralph temporarily appeases him by putting him in charge of his choir. Ralph, Jack, and Simon then go on an expedition to discover if they are on an island, which they are.
Upon returning from their mission, Ralph calls a meeting and informs everybody of the situation, from the youngest—”littluns”—to the older ones, “biguns.” After some debate, it is agreed that they will light and maintain a signal fire with the hope of getting rescued. The boys do this, but the fire gets out of control. Piggy suggests that they have to be more careful in the future. This highlights how Piggy is often the voice of reason throughout the novel.
The division between the little ‘uns and the big ‘uns has political significance. In the beginning, the older ones are expected to look after the smaller, more vulnerable ones, but at the end of the book, some of the older kids are cruel to the young ones. This reflects how those in power may start benevolent but, in time, might become corrupt and prey on those they should protect.
Jack takes the choir into the woods, and they attempt to catch a pig. Jack fails in doing this but vows next time, he will kill the pig. Later, Ralph calls a meeting where he complains about the use of Jack’s time and insists that maintaining the fire be a priority. This leads to increased tension between Jack and Ralph, a tension that sets off the rising action. Simon wanders off and spends some time alone in the forest. Roger is casually cruel to the little ones.
Piggy suggests building a sundial so they can track time, but he is rebuked by Ralph, who wants to play. Later still, the hunters manage to kill a pig, but as a result, the fire goes out. Ralph is angry as there was a ship, and they could have been rescued. Piggy further reprimands Jack, and as a result, Jack attacks Piggy breaking his glasses. This break between Jack and Ralph over the missed ship signifies the turning point of the story.
Ralph holds a meeting to discuss the fact that many of the boys appear to be afraid. Jack dismisses this by highlighting that he and the hunters have been all over the island and have not seen a beast. He is using this as a power play to highlight his importance. Ralph admits to being scared sometimes, and the discussion continues. The little ones start crying out in fear, and one of them, Percival, confesses to Ralph that the beast comes up from the water. Jack takes his hunters to eliminate the beast, and Ralph contemplates letting Jack lead. He senses a power shift; however, Simon and Piggy convince him not to.
In the middle of the night, there is an air battle, and a parachutist falls on the island. Sam and Eric are out gathering, and they come across his body hanging from the trees, which they mistake for the Beast. They run back to the camp in fear, and an emergency meeting is held. During this meeting, Jack recommends a hunt for the beast. Piggy tries to rebuke this but is not allowed to talk even though he possesses the conch. Jack states that this rule doesn’t matter anymore, which is somewhat ironic given that earlier, he had claimed that the rules are what made them British.
I wonder how much of the savagery exhibited by the kids is a result of their fear of unknown terrain and encountering unexplained events, not of an inherent tendency towards cruelty.
Piggy stays with the little ‘uns while everyone else hunts the beast. As they “hunt,” Simon is frustrated with himself for not being vocal during the meeting. Ralph says he will face the beast alone as he is chief, but Jack follows him anyway. After not finding anything, Ralph decides that they need to keep the signal fire burning. This is unpopular, but the group agrees to it grudgingly. Ralph joins in on a hunt and momentarily gets embroiled in the fervour surrounding such activities when he hits the pig with a spear. He then takes part in a hunting role play where fervent chanting gives way to physical violence as they all get a little heavy-handed with Robert, who plays the role of the pig.
The boys advance to the mountain, where they believe the beast is. Ralph is very afraid, but Jack goads him into continuing the mission. In the last section of the mission, Jack goes alone and claims to see something atop the mountain. The boys all run in fear. When the boys discuss what they have seen, Jack says that he and the hunters can handle the beast, but Ralph dismisses this. Jack, who is angry and frustrated, decides to call a meeting himself, where he calls Ralph’s leadership into question. He calls for a vote, but he does not get voted in. He runs off, taking most of the hunters with him.
The remaining boys light a fire on the beach. Meanwhile, Jack addresses his hunters, who decide to just hunt and not worry about the beast. However, to appease it with a tribute, they kill a pig and leave its head on a pole. Later, Simon sees this and converses with it in an almost trance-like state. Jack decides to have a feast with the newly killed pig. But, since they don’t have a fire, they take the opportunity to raid the camp and steal burning logs to make their fire. They invite Ralph and the others to their feast, and they accept.
Simon awakens from his fit and comes to the realization that the beast is actually within the boys themselves. Meanwhile, there is more debate between Ralph and Piggy about attending the feast, but they do. At first, this is okay. Jack orders that they be given meat. However, Jack asks if they wish to join his tribe, which starts a heated debate between Jack and Ralph about the group’s leadership.
While the book’s cast are children, their attitudes reflect what one would expect from adults. I think children might be capable of casual violence and cruelty among themselves. However, the deep-rooted prejudice that led to the schism of the communities of boys and the killing of Simon and Piggy is something only found among sociopaths.
The boys once again act out the killing of the pig through role play in a storm, but this time they are more violent. Simon stumbles across them, but the boys cannot hear him and mistake him for the beast due to the chanting and the storm. The boys viciously murder him before his body is swept out to sea in what could be interpreted as a return to nature.
Sam, Eric, Piggy, and Ralph all try to come to terms with their guilt for their part in Simon’s murder. Meanwhile, at Castle Rock, Jack and his followers have tied up a boy and are beating him seemingly without reason. They decide they need to fortify their cave before hunting again and hatch a plan so they have a constant supply of fire.
Jack’s tribe attacks the boys, and a fight ensues. Piggy theorizes that they were trying to steal the conch, but they steal his glasses instead. Discovering that they have lost Piggy’s glasses, Sam, Eric, Ralph, and Piggy decide to confront Jack’s tribe and attempt to reason with them. Three of the boys take spears, but Piggy refuses to, instead taking the conch, as he believes it will highlight to the tribe what they are lacking.
They arrive at Castle Rock and are met by armed guards. Roger throws rocks at them from atop the mountain. Jack arrives, and Ralph tries to convince him to give back the glasses. A fight ensues before Piggy reminds Ralph of the reason they were there in the first place. Jack orders the twins to be tied up.
We might think that Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is the definitive verdict on what happens when boys are left alone to organize themselves outside adult supervision. However, in 1965, a group of six Tongan boys were castaways on an island after their boat capsized in a storm. For the fifteen months they lived there before they were rescued, they maintained a model organized community and did not fall into savagery.
Once again, Ralph and Jack clash before Piggy demands to speak. While he is talking, Roger launches a boulder at him, and it kills him, destroying the conch in the process (a symbol of the end of civilization). This is the book’s climax. His body is pushed into the sea. The twins are captured and tortured, and Ralph is forced to escape as the tribe attempt to kill him. Ralph escapes and hides near Castle Rock. He takes the pig’s head (that has been dubbed the Lord of the Flies) and removes the spear from it.
He comes across Sam and Eric and tries to convince them to join him, a point that marks the novel’s falling action. Ralph is now alone, hunted by Jack’s tribe. They want him dead, and they’ll stop at nothing. The hunters chase Ralph through the forest, setting fire to the island in their rage. Ralph runs for his life, the flames closing in around him. When all seems lost, Ralph stumbles out onto the beach, where he’s met by a naval officer, drawn to the island by the smoke from the fire.
The officer looks at the boys, now filthy and wild, and asks what has happened. Ralph, breathless and beaten, can barely speak. The boys, seeing the officer, begin to cry, realizing that their nightmare is over. In the story’s , they are saved, but the island has changed them forever. What started as a chance for adventure has turned into something darker, a look into the heart of human nature, stripped of the rules and structures of society.
