Lord of the Flies Book and Movie Response
Lord of the Flies by William G. Golding
A Book Response
By Rose Nesbitt
This 202 page book was the first published novel by Mr. Golding and, at the time of its publication in 1954, selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print but it went on to become a bestseller, and a required reading material in many schools and colleges, and for good reason.
This book is generally regarded as a classic of English literature, as it depicts the regression into savagery of a group of schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island without an adult to guide and or direct them, in the aftermath of a plane crash.
In the beginning of the book the reader meets the blond, athletic Ralph and a fat boy with glasses named Piggy, these two boys find a conch shell which Ralph blows into and summons the rest of the boys who have been wandering the island since the crash last night.
Soon another potential leader comes up, that boy being Jack who leads the choir “.. and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” However after taking a vote Ralph becomes the chief and Jack becomes the leader of the hunters; the choir group, and the books starts off with a great deal of enthusiasm that this will be fun and easy.
Then there is talk about a beast by one of the younger children which scares a great many of the students but after that fear is vanquished then the boys set to making a signal fire with Piggy’s glasses that goes out of control and scorches half of the island then problems arise as Jack and Ralph start to dispute about what is the major plan of the tribe.
Another great problem is brought into sharp relief when the fire goes out as a ship sails past and, because Jack was off leading a hunting party, did not see them and sailed by. Piggy’s glasses are broken and chaos starts to rise up like some great sink hole, swallowing the choir boys quickly.
A half-dead pilot lands on the island, and the twins, Sam and Eric assume it is the beast which causes mass panic among the boys, trying to calm their peers, Ralph, Jack and Rodger ascend the mountain, see the dead pilot and bolt down the mountains as fast as their legs can carry them.
In the after math Jack calls Ralph a coward, and leaves his tribe to create a new one, with the choir boys.
Jack’s tribe grows rapidly and they are able to hunt down a pig so they feast and it is here that Jack orders a ritualistic dance and Simon, a young student who represents religion and general kindness, runs down the mountain, about to tell the dancing boys that their beast is nothing more than a dead pilot when he is accused of as being the beast in disguise and beaten by the frantic boys. He eventually falls down the cliff into the sea and dies.
Ralph’s tribe dwindles to nothing more than himself, Piggy and a few “youngins” and despite their number, Jack’s tribe needs to steal Piggy’s glasses which would allow them to light a fire. Piggy, who still believes in civilization and the good in people goes to the large and uncivilized tribe and tries to get his glasses back.
However tragedy strikes when a strategically placed rock is pushed by Roger, a henchmen and friend of Jack, killing Piggy. Jack’s tribe does not succeed in killing Ralph at that point and so the next morning a great fire is lit and the tribe chases Ralph but the flames and smoke attracts a passing naval vessel and they are rescued, but at an awful price.
“And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair and unwiped nose Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
-Lord of the Flies
William Golding, 1954
I think this is an important part of any young persons reading list because it shows what a thin layer Civilization really is that if one was to strip away the civilization and balance than man is still savage beneath.
William Golding uses the characters to represent the elements of society and how, if put into a different, strange scenery they would fail; Ralph is democracy. He relies on humanity being good and because of it he fails to keep his tribe is taken over by Jack. Jack is fascism. He rules with terror and has no consideration for others, perhaps this is why he comes close to success.
Piggy represents science and technology. He is unpopular, but needed by Ralph and even jack (when his glassed are stolen for the fire of Jack’s tribe).
Simon symbolizes religion and spirituality. He is kind and nice - but ultimately fails when he tries to help the uncivilized clan.
Sam and Eric are the twins and they are generally good, but easily scared and overpowered - representing the general publics behavior to be able to be easily swayed and controlled.
This book is filled with other implications and it is an incredible read, especially if the reader believes humanity has come a way from the Stone Age, and while some may think it is a simple flight of fantasy Lord of the Flies is a very probable future if civilization was ever to fail.
A Book Response
By Rose Nesbitt
This 202 page book was the first published novel by Mr. Golding and, at the time of its publication in 1954, selling fewer than 3,000 copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print but it went on to become a bestseller, and a required reading material in many schools and colleges, and for good reason.
This book is generally regarded as a classic of English literature, as it depicts the regression into savagery of a group of schoolboys stranded on an uninhabited island without an adult to guide and or direct them, in the aftermath of a plane crash.
In the beginning of the book the reader meets the blond, athletic Ralph and a fat boy with glasses named Piggy, these two boys find a conch shell which Ralph blows into and summons the rest of the boys who have been wandering the island since the crash last night.
Soon another potential leader comes up, that boy being Jack who leads the choir “.. and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” However after taking a vote Ralph becomes the chief and Jack becomes the leader of the hunters; the choir group, and the books starts off with a great deal of enthusiasm that this will be fun and easy.
Then there is talk about a beast by one of the younger children which scares a great many of the students but after that fear is vanquished then the boys set to making a signal fire with Piggy’s glasses that goes out of control and scorches half of the island then problems arise as Jack and Ralph start to dispute about what is the major plan of the tribe.
Another great problem is brought into sharp relief when the fire goes out as a ship sails past and, because Jack was off leading a hunting party, did not see them and sailed by. Piggy’s glasses are broken and chaos starts to rise up like some great sink hole, swallowing the choir boys quickly.
A half-dead pilot lands on the island, and the twins, Sam and Eric assume it is the beast which causes mass panic among the boys, trying to calm their peers, Ralph, Jack and Rodger ascend the mountain, see the dead pilot and bolt down the mountains as fast as their legs can carry them.
In the after math Jack calls Ralph a coward, and leaves his tribe to create a new one, with the choir boys.
Jack’s tribe grows rapidly and they are able to hunt down a pig so they feast and it is here that Jack orders a ritualistic dance and Simon, a young student who represents religion and general kindness, runs down the mountain, about to tell the dancing boys that their beast is nothing more than a dead pilot when he is accused of as being the beast in disguise and beaten by the frantic boys. He eventually falls down the cliff into the sea and dies.
Ralph’s tribe dwindles to nothing more than himself, Piggy and a few “youngins” and despite their number, Jack’s tribe needs to steal Piggy’s glasses which would allow them to light a fire. Piggy, who still believes in civilization and the good in people goes to the large and uncivilized tribe and tries to get his glasses back.
However tragedy strikes when a strategically placed rock is pushed by Roger, a henchmen and friend of Jack, killing Piggy. Jack’s tribe does not succeed in killing Ralph at that point and so the next morning a great fire is lit and the tribe chases Ralph but the flames and smoke attracts a passing naval vessel and they are rescued, but at an awful price.
“And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair and unwiped nose Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
-Lord of the Flies
William Golding, 1954
I think this is an important part of any young persons reading list because it shows what a thin layer Civilization really is that if one was to strip away the civilization and balance than man is still savage beneath.
William Golding uses the characters to represent the elements of society and how, if put into a different, strange scenery they would fail; Ralph is democracy. He relies on humanity being good and because of it he fails to keep his tribe is taken over by Jack. Jack is fascism. He rules with terror and has no consideration for others, perhaps this is why he comes close to success.
Piggy represents science and technology. He is unpopular, but needed by Ralph and even jack (when his glassed are stolen for the fire of Jack’s tribe).
Simon symbolizes religion and spirituality. He is kind and nice - but ultimately fails when he tries to help the uncivilized clan.
Sam and Eric are the twins and they are generally good, but easily scared and overpowered - representing the general publics behavior to be able to be easily swayed and controlled.
This book is filled with other implications and it is an incredible read, especially if the reader believes humanity has come a way from the Stone Age, and while some may think it is a simple flight of fantasy Lord of the Flies is a very probable future if civilization was ever to fail.
posted by Myrage | 10:58 PM
1 Comments:
It's a probable future only because males are in control. I'm not trying to violently feminist but males, in general, are more aggressive than females and because of that they would probably (and I'm not saying definitely) want to split into different sub groups when one (say the lead hunter) doesn't agree with what the chief says.
It would also depend on size. The bigger a community is the more problems it would have.
Now I thought for a second age might come into play but I doubt that, all thing considered adults and children are both stupid in their own ways so whether it was a group of adults or a group of children that wouldn’t add to much to the deteriorating or evolution of the community.
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