Lord of the Flies
a book by William Golding
Lord of the flies is a modern classic, created by nobel prize winning author William Golding. The main theme of the novel is the idea that the line between order and disorder is a very thin one.
In the novel (as I have said before), a group of children are involved in a plane crash and are stranded on a tropical island. For some reason, instead of finding food or water, the first order of business of the children is to set up a standing government. The children elect a boy named Ralph for the role of leader. Ralph's opponent during the election is Jack, a boy prone to hate and jealousy.
Little is known about Ralph, but Jack is very open about his past. Jack is the prefect of a boy's choir group known as the "choir boys" for the duration of the story. Jack secretly resents the decision of the group for choosing Ralph over him for the position of leader.
The boys then decide that it is time to find food. While the main group does this, Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon decide to go explore the main mountain on the island so that they can prepare a signal fire in the event that a ship and/or an airplane pass by, so that the boys may be rescued. It is at this point that Ralph decrees that the signal fire be maintained at all times, and that there will always be someone watching it to make sure it doesn't go out. That plan doesn't work; trust me, I have read the book.
Upon arriving back at the camp, the boys run into more trouble in the form of general disorder. The boys get into worse and worse messes, from fire to death to ritual slaughter to Jack's hostile takeover. But no matter what happens, and no matter how improbable the possibility of escape becomes, the question remains: Are they going to get out of this alive?
In a previous post, I gave a brief explanation of the characters central to the story. But, I didn't give a very detailed description, and I didn't mention any minor characters at all, so here we go:
Ralph: Ralph is the protagonist of Lord of the Flies. The story is told mainly from Ralph's point of view. Ralph is a physically fit child in the early stages of pubescence, and is generally modest about any talents he possesses that are not central to survival on the island. Ralph is the finder of the conch, a tool which the boys use to maintain order (it's complicated, I'll explain later). Ralph can be seen as a metaphor for Order in the story.
Jack: Jack acts as the antagonist towards the end of the story. Jack starts the story as the leader of a group of boys known as the choir boys, a group composed (as you probably guessed) of choir boys from the same school/organization. Jack does not respect the rules imposed by Ralph, and occasionally goes out of his way to break them. Jack does not think creating a signal fire should be the boy's priority. Jack can be seen as a metaphor Disorder in the story (until he becomes a dictator type figure).
Piggy: Piggy is Ralph's closest ally for most of the story. Piggy is an overweight child who somehow manages to stay overweight even when on the island. Piggy was with Ralph at the beginning of the story, and remains loyal to Ralph until it is no longer possible for him to do so. Piggy possesses a pair of glasses referred to as "specs" throughout the story. Thanks to the convex nature of the glasses, the boys are able to start a fire. Spoiler alert: Piggy dies.
Roger: Roger is Jack's closest ally. Roger doesn't play a very large role until near the end of the story. At that point, he descends from casual support of Jack to full out fanatic support of Jack, to the point that he is willing to murder Jack's opponents. Roger
Simon: Simon starts out in the group of the choir boys. He immediately bonds with Ralph when Ralph comes into power. Simon is cunning and will always be loyal to you... as long as you're in charge. This is shown when Ralph is expelled from the group and Jack gains power. Instead of remaining loyal to Ralph, Simon chooses instead to side with the (traitor) Jack.
Samneric: Although 2 different people, Sam and Eric (or Samneric as they are colloquially referred to by the group). Samneric do not do much during the stories. They only feature twice during the story:
1. Samneric are the first to see the man that the children refer to as "The Beast" (explained later) while tending to the signal fire.
2. Samneric warn Ralph that Roger and Jack plan to use their new "army" to kill Ralph.
The "littluns": the littluns are all the children that survived the plane crash that are too small to actually perform any laborious or political activities.
"The Beast": "The Beast" starts out as a myth among the littluns. Eventually, the larger kids (you know, kids who actually matter) start to take it seriously. In reality, The Beast is another survivor of a plane crash (whether it is the same plane crash that the children were in is not specified). The Beast is the only Adult on the island until the last chapter. Jack uses fear an reverence for The Beast The Beast doesn't exactly do too well during the story, you know, in case you actually cared about such a minor character. The Beast can be seen as a representation of a superstition's power to sow disorder.
The Conch: The Conch is a conch shell (as you probably guessed). It is found by Ralph at the beginning of the story. The Conch is used to allocate turns to talk. When a person has the conch, it is that person's turn to talk. There is a scene in the book where Jack throws the conch to the ground and renounces its power. It's at that point that the group tips from the peaceful order of Ralph's rule to the violent disorder of Jack's dystopian dictatorship of deadly domination (Yes! Ha Ha Ha! I have wanted to do that since the creation of this blog!).
The dead pig/lord of the flies: the lord of the flies is the impaled head of the dead pig that Jack and his choir boys (renamed to the hunters at this point). Simon starts to descend into insanity when he witnesses the hunter's display of insane brutality. Simon starts to have imaginary conversations with it, and refers to it as the "Lord of the Flies"
The choir boys/the hunters: the choir boys start out as the loyal followers of Jack, and remain loyal (with the exception of Simon, who offers his loyalty as if it were candy). Eventually (with the consent of Ralph), the choir boys are renamed to the hunters and take up their namesake activity (hunting). The choir boys lead Jack's "army".
All though it may not seem like it, Lord of the Flies is a dystopian novel. Why? Good question! To answer that, we must first ask ourselves: "what is dystopia?" Dystopia is the antonym of utopia; dystopia (not to be confused with apocalyptic fiction) is the ultimate bad time; dystopia is a society characterized by depression, suppression, and oppression. But why is Lord of the Flies dystopian? I am so glad you asked. Lord of the Flies does not start out completely dystopian. The children start out with a functioning society, but it slowly descends into chaos. The book is a summary of utopian civilizations and there descent into dystopia. The society becomes dystopian when Jack takes over. Whereas Ralph's nation was a nation of tolerance and free speech (the conch system insured that everyone was heard) that focused on being rescued; Jack's nation was a nation of darkness, of oppression. Although societies like that can be orderly just as well as utopian nations (if not more so), they almost never are. Jack's nation metaphorically destroys free speech when Jack smashes the conch, his attempt to kill all who oppose the word of Jack, and hold up a nation using the genetic superstition inherited by the human race from our forefathers. Jack's nation is a model dystopia, it has virtually every social justice issue.
In conclusion, Lord of the Flies is the epitome of dystopic novels, the ultimate warning of the thin line between social order and social collapse. Lord of the Flies is the ultimate representation of all that I have been warning people about for years! The inevitable collapse of our society into a figurative hell. Lord of the Flies is a prophesy of our failure, the herald of our doom, and there is nothing we can do. That is why I have written this mighty biblical tome of a second entry.
Upon arriving back at the camp, the boys run into more trouble in the form of general disorder. The boys get into worse and worse messes, from fire to death to ritual slaughter to Jack's hostile takeover. But no matter what happens, and no matter how improbable the possibility of escape becomes, the question remains: Are they going to get out of this alive?
In a previous post, I gave a brief explanation of the characters central to the story. But, I didn't give a very detailed description, and I didn't mention any minor characters at all, so here we go:
Ralph: Ralph is the protagonist of Lord of the Flies. The story is told mainly from Ralph's point of view. Ralph is a physically fit child in the early stages of pubescence, and is generally modest about any talents he possesses that are not central to survival on the island. Ralph is the finder of the conch, a tool which the boys use to maintain order (it's complicated, I'll explain later). Ralph can be seen as a metaphor for Order in the story.
Jack: Jack acts as the antagonist towards the end of the story. Jack starts the story as the leader of a group of boys known as the choir boys, a group composed (as you probably guessed) of choir boys from the same school/organization. Jack does not respect the rules imposed by Ralph, and occasionally goes out of his way to break them. Jack does not think creating a signal fire should be the boy's priority. Jack can be seen as a metaphor Disorder in the story (until he becomes a dictator type figure).
Piggy: Piggy is Ralph's closest ally for most of the story. Piggy is an overweight child who somehow manages to stay overweight even when on the island. Piggy was with Ralph at the beginning of the story, and remains loyal to Ralph until it is no longer possible for him to do so. Piggy possesses a pair of glasses referred to as "specs" throughout the story. Thanks to the convex nature of the glasses, the boys are able to start a fire. Spoiler alert: Piggy dies.
Roger: Roger is Jack's closest ally. Roger doesn't play a very large role until near the end of the story. At that point, he descends from casual support of Jack to full out fanatic support of Jack, to the point that he is willing to murder Jack's opponents. Roger
Simon: Simon starts out in the group of the choir boys. He immediately bonds with Ralph when Ralph comes into power. Simon is cunning and will always be loyal to you... as long as you're in charge. This is shown when Ralph is expelled from the group and Jack gains power. Instead of remaining loyal to Ralph, Simon chooses instead to side with the (traitor) Jack.
Samneric: Although 2 different people, Sam and Eric (or Samneric as they are colloquially referred to by the group). Samneric do not do much during the stories. They only feature twice during the story:
1. Samneric are the first to see the man that the children refer to as "The Beast" (explained later) while tending to the signal fire.
2. Samneric warn Ralph that Roger and Jack plan to use their new "army" to kill Ralph.
The "littluns": the littluns are all the children that survived the plane crash that are too small to actually perform any laborious or political activities.
"The Beast": "The Beast" starts out as a myth among the littluns. Eventually, the larger kids (you know, kids who actually matter) start to take it seriously. In reality, The Beast is another survivor of a plane crash (whether it is the same plane crash that the children were in is not specified). The Beast is the only Adult on the island until the last chapter. Jack uses fear an reverence for The Beast The Beast doesn't exactly do too well during the story, you know, in case you actually cared about such a minor character. The Beast can be seen as a representation of a superstition's power to sow disorder.
The Conch: The Conch is a conch shell (as you probably guessed). It is found by Ralph at the beginning of the story. The Conch is used to allocate turns to talk. When a person has the conch, it is that person's turn to talk. There is a scene in the book where Jack throws the conch to the ground and renounces its power. It's at that point that the group tips from the peaceful order of Ralph's rule to the violent disorder of Jack's dystopian dictatorship of deadly domination (Yes! Ha Ha Ha! I have wanted to do that since the creation of this blog!).
The dead pig/lord of the flies: the lord of the flies is the impaled head of the dead pig that Jack and his choir boys (renamed to the hunters at this point). Simon starts to descend into insanity when he witnesses the hunter's display of insane brutality. Simon starts to have imaginary conversations with it, and refers to it as the "Lord of the Flies"
The choir boys/the hunters: the choir boys start out as the loyal followers of Jack, and remain loyal (with the exception of Simon, who offers his loyalty as if it were candy). Eventually (with the consent of Ralph), the choir boys are renamed to the hunters and take up their namesake activity (hunting). The choir boys lead Jack's "army".
All though it may not seem like it, Lord of the Flies is a dystopian novel. Why? Good question! To answer that, we must first ask ourselves: "what is dystopia?" Dystopia is the antonym of utopia; dystopia (not to be confused with apocalyptic fiction) is the ultimate bad time; dystopia is a society characterized by depression, suppression, and oppression. But why is Lord of the Flies dystopian? I am so glad you asked. Lord of the Flies does not start out completely dystopian. The children start out with a functioning society, but it slowly descends into chaos. The book is a summary of utopian civilizations and there descent into dystopia. The society becomes dystopian when Jack takes over. Whereas Ralph's nation was a nation of tolerance and free speech (the conch system insured that everyone was heard) that focused on being rescued; Jack's nation was a nation of darkness, of oppression. Although societies like that can be orderly just as well as utopian nations (if not more so), they almost never are. Jack's nation metaphorically destroys free speech when Jack smashes the conch, his attempt to kill all who oppose the word of Jack, and hold up a nation using the genetic superstition inherited by the human race from our forefathers. Jack's nation is a model dystopia, it has virtually every social justice issue.
In conclusion, Lord of the Flies is the epitome of dystopic novels, the ultimate warning of the thin line between social order and social collapse. Lord of the Flies is the ultimate representation of all that I have been warning people about for years! The inevitable collapse of our society into a figurative hell. Lord of the Flies is a prophesy of our failure, the herald of our doom, and there is nothing we can do. That is why I have written this mighty biblical tome of a second entry.
This is good writing Bennet, but not really a review of the novel. Your discussion of dystopia is very brief, and there is little relation to the world of the reader.
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