“Things are breaking up. I don’t understand why. We began well; we were happy”. A group of schoolboys who were dropped on an island to fend for themselves without adult supervision. A beast who crept within the forest or in depth of their soul. In…
Lord of The Flies Essay Examples and Topics
by William Golding
1984
William Golding
Novel
Allegory
Ralph, Jack, Simon
William Goldwin read The Coral Island: a Tale of the Pacific Ocean by Ballantyne, and got the idea to write a book about children on an island, but make them behave in the way children would realistically behave.
Allegory, social organization, civilization, laws, power, moral, individuality
The book has received three film adaptations so far. It has also been adapted for stage and radio dramatization.
A few boys are the only survivors of a plane crash on an isolated island. They all have different characters, which lead to their responsibilities on the island. Ralph becomes the authority and sets three main rules: to survive, to have fun, and to maintain the smoke that could signal a passing ship. The order is quickly disturbed; the boys start acting like real boys and neglect their responsibilities while having fun all the time. A group of boys rebels and plots against the leader. They hunt for Ralph, and the entire island is consumed in flames during the process. A British officer comes on the island to investigate the fire and finds the boys.
Lord of the Flies is an excellent commentary on government and society. The ideas may be good, but people’s behavior leads to disappointment. The novel’s symbolism leads to the notion that modern society is deeply flawed.
Social organization and civilization tend to tame human impulses, but they often find a way to erupt.
- “The thing is - fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream.”
- “I believe man suffers from an appalling ignorance of his own nature. I produce my own view in the belief that it may be something like the truth.”
- “We did what adults would do. What went wrong?”
The novel has been listed among the 100 best young-adult books of all time by Time. It’s one of the most popular reads in schools.
By reading this book and writing about its themes, students get inspired to think about the duality of morality and immorality.
When left without societal structures and rules, the true nature of humanity emerges. The symbolism in this book explores humanity in its raw form, and it makes us think about the unnatural social system.
When left without societal structures and rules, the true nature of humanity emerges. The symbolism in this book explores humanity in its raw form, and it makes us think about the unnatural social system.