Lord of the Flies
Maybe there is a beast ... maybe it's only us.
Key words
- Allegory: a story or other work in which the characters and events represent particular moral, religious, or political qualities or ideas
The fable of the tortoise and the hare is a classic allegory about the dangers of overconfidence.
- Deserted: if a place is deserted, there are no people in it
The coastal resorts are deserted in the winter.
- Mutual: used to describe something that is done or felt by all people in a group
Firms often do business together for purposes of mutual benefit.
- Come across: to find something by chance
He came across some of his old love letters in his wife's desk.
- Naval: belonging to a country's navy, or relating to military ships
A major naval battle was fought near here.
Read the article to find the answers
- Why were the boys on the island alone?
- Who said they would find and kill the monster?
- Who does the pig say the monster is?
- Why did a ship visit the island?
Lord of the Flies
William Golding's most famous novel is an allegory of human nature. It tells the story of a group of boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island after being evacuated during a war and surviving a plane crash. What appears to be an adventure soon takes a terrifying turn as the children descend into violence and chaos.
Summary
A boy called Ralph encourages the boys to work together for their mutual survival. Ralph, Jack and a boy called Simon are the popular leaders and begin a tense partnership. With no adults around, most of the boys refuse to work and instead spend their time playing and sleeping. At night, rumours of a terrifying monster in the trees cause panic. Ralph insists there are no monsters, but Jack says there are. He claims that his hunters will find the monster and kill it.
One evening, the body of a dead fighter pilot floats down to the island on a parachute and gets caught in the trees. A boy sees it and is terrified, convinced he has seen the monster.
Jack attempts a coup, fails, and says he will start his own tribe. Jack and his followers begin to paint their faces and behave in increasingly savage ways, while Ralph and Simon try to keep order.
Jack and his tribe place a pig's head on a sharpened stick as an offering to the monster. It is quickly swarmed by flies, and during a hallucination, the pig's head tells Simon that he is foolish to think that the monster is a thing of flesh and blood; it is the darkness inside themselves that is the real monster.
As Simon leaves, he comes across the dead pilot and realizes that he has found proof that the monster does not exist. He runs back to the other boys, who have begun dancing in a crazed ritual. When Simon begins to fall through the trees, the boys believe that he is the monster and, in panic, attack and kill him.
In an attempt to gain complete control, Jack orders his hunters to go after Ralph and sets fire to the trees where Ralph is hiding. A passing British naval ship sees the flames and comes to investigate. Ralph runs to the naval officer, who is stunned that the boys could be so savage. Then, in deep thought, he turns to look at his own warship.
Lord of the Flies 1963 Trailer | Peter Brook
Discussion questions
- Do you have any questions about any of the vocabulary or grammar in this article?
- Have you read the book or seen the movie?
- Have you ever been hunting?
- What would you do if you were in a similar situation?
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