[Book Review] Lord of the Flies by William Golding

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

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The reason I was motivated to read Lord of the Flies is a bit of a funny one to me, the reason being TikTok. Some of my favorite creators were cosplaying and talking a bunch about this book, and it got me wanting to read it, and I am happy I did. I am not big on reading classics, mostly because I think that I have never been interested. I assume between high school and being an English major, I was just burned out about them and often I dislike them. However, I enjoyed a lot of this book. I want to announce now that there will be spoilers, it's hard not to when this book came out 65 years ago.

Often when I am reading a book, especially if there is a large cast of characters, I have my favorite characters. I love character driven stories, and this is definitely one. However, I am unsure if I have a favorite, but I did find all of the characters incredibly interesting. I know each of the boys that have big roles in the story represent something psychological, often a human instinct. 

Ralph, the representative of democracy and humanity. He's proper and has a set ways things need to be done in order for the boys to achieve their goal, which is to be rescued off the island. I enjoyed Simon's character, I think he's the character most readers will relate with. It was easy to root for him and to sympathize with him.

Then we have Piggy, who I both really sympathized with because he was often the butt of a fat joke and often not taken seriously. Even with that, I found myself get annoyed with Piggy at times but I honestly think it was more the voice the narrator of the audiobook gave him. Piggy represents the voice of reason and intelligence. He is a mature and a great problem solver because he often thinks of the bigger picture, which makes it easier to solve. He is also almost Ralph's conscious at times. Ralph's anger and desire to be respected sometimes clouds his overall goal, which is to be rescued, and it's Piggy who often has to be the one to keep Ralph in check, to remind him of their goals. I think without Piggy, Ralph would have forgotten how important it is to be rescued and would have been caught up in the "game" Jack is playing. Also, I feel bad that the entire book he is called Piggy, a nickname he specifically told Ralph that he didn't want to be called and instead of respecting his wishes, Ralph introduced him as Piggy to the boys. We didn't even get his real name. However, Golding based this story on another story, The Coral Island. In The Coral Island the characters in the story are also the names of some of the main players in Lord of the Flies, and with that it is assumed that Piggy's name would have been Peter. But that is never said in Lord of the Flies.

"Maybe there is a beast...maybe it's only us."

The third character, is Simon, who we don't get too much of in the book because he's a quieter character who is more behind the scenes. He's shown as incredibly gentle and kind. He offers his food to the little ones and to Piggy, who is denied food by Jack because Jack hates Piggy. He also helps Ralph with building the shelters, something a lot of the boys were supposed to help with but quickly got bored and decided to go play on the beach instead. From what I could tell he is often interpreted as a Jesus or religious figure not only because of his selflessness, but because he learns the reality of the beast and is killed shortly afterwards. 

 Our main antagonist, is Jack, who is shown as aggressive and loud. He wants to be respected, feared, and admired by the other boys. He's often either fighting with Ralph because he wants to do whatever he wants where Ralph wants the boys to follow rules in order to be rescued, or he's jealous of Ralph because of the respect he gains by the boys. I think the desperate jealousy paired with the humiliation Jack feels when the boys often pick Ralph over him is what drove him to be the kind of mad "Chief" and murderer he becomes.

 The boy who is a terrifying from beginning to end was Roger. We don't get a lot of him, but when we do see him on screen he's often showing traits of being a psychopath. Early on in the story Roger sees one of the little ones playing near the water, and he throws rocks at the boy, missing him on purpose, but the intent is there. Roger is pushing to see how far he can go. I think that is when he realizes he can follow his instincts, no matter what, and he could get away with it because of there being no adults in charge. I think that is why he not only had no second thoughts to pushing the rock off the cliff, killing Piggy. And once he got away with that, he went a step further, planning on not only killing Ralph but beheading him and putting his head on a stick like they did the pigs they killed. He doesn't have a conscience, and that is so much more dangerous than Jack. Jack and Ralph are two sides of a coin, but Roger is something entirely different.

The boys originally were on a plane being evacuated from England because of a war, and then later one of the boys mentions hearing while on the plane that a bomb went off in England. So we know a nuclear war is happening. There is some of surface level symbolism I understand when it comes to the characters, but I know I am missing a lot of the symbolism as a whole when it comes to war and government. I think it would have been cool to read this with others, or in a classroom setting. I hated reading for school while I was in school, but now I am out of it and I am missing it a bit. 

"The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream."

There are moments where racist language is used in this book by Golding. Which isn't great, obviously, and unfortunately it's expected if a book has been written and published before a certain time where that was perceived as acceptable in society. I listened to the audiobook while reading, and there is one point where Piggy says the n-word and the audiobook outright says it, but in the physical book I had (which was published in 2011) the word was changed to "Indians" which, okay sure it isn't a racial slur but it is no better. Golding often makes the comparison between the white, "good" boys like Ralph and then sees the boys who paint their faces and kill as "savages", and there are many racial comparisons between them that is both racist and uncomfortable to read about. I get that Golding was born in 1911 and died in 1993 but I don't love the excuse "he was born in another time". So although I enjoyed this book as almost an interesting and dark study of what happens when children are left on their own without consequences, I don't like the racist implications and comparisons. 

Overall, I think if you're interested in this book and haven't read it yet, I'd recommend it. I think it is a good but terrifying story. We have always known kids can be scary, scary children is one of the most terrifying tropes used in horror for a reason, but this feels different because there is no "beast" or supernatural element to this story. It's just kids killing each other and doing whatever it takes to be in charge. It's a chilling and haunting story, and I think it's worth the read. 

Thanks for reading!