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Lord of The Flies Essay Examples and Topics

by William Golding

Essay Examples
Essay Topics
Brief overview
Summaries
Reviews
date
Date

1984

author
Author

William Golding

type
Type

Novel

genre
Genre

Allegory

characters
Major Characters

Ralph, Jack, Simon

based-on
Based On

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.

symbols-motives
Symbols/Motives

Allegory, social organization, civilization, laws, power, moral, individuality

influence
Influence

The book has received three film adaptations so far. It has also been adapted for stage and radio dramatization.

plot
Plot

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.

purpose
Why Is This Topic Important?

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.

idea
Main Ideas

Social organization and civilization tend to tame human impulses, but they often find a way to erupt.

quotes
Key Quotes
  • “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?”
interesting-facts
Interesting Facts

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.

purpose
Why Should This Topic Be Used?

By reading this book and writing about its themes, students get inspired to think about the duality of morality and immorality.

argument-for
Arguments For

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.

argument-against
Arguments Against

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.

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