classics

William Golding addresses what happens to society if the norms are broken down and anarchy takes its place. Golding uses English school boys stranded on a remote desert isle for his study of society. At first, the boys agree to work together with Ralph trying to maintain order by assigning various chores such as food gathering and keeping a signal fire for search and rescue attempts. Not long afterward, Jack challenges Ralph and lures the boys away to live like savages hunting wild pigs and running around in paint. As jack gains power among the boys, Ralph finds himself suddenly being hunted by his former friends.

Lord of the Flies is an intense look at larger society if the norms are ever overturned. At first it is fun acting any way one wants when there are no adults to oversee. However, the mundane chores stop being done and order breaks down. The young children that were being looked after, just disappear without reason and nobody seems to mind or notice. The savage group reacts alomost with casual abandon when one of the group is accidentally killed by the rest. When order is tried to be reinstated, chaos reacts swiftly and harshly. Lord of the Flies is both a great read and a very important book.

Although it is a social commentary, similar to "Heart of Darkness," containing a pessimisstic view of human nature, "Lord of the Flies" is also an adventure novel. A scatter of British schoolboys are stranded on an island paradise, and they form a little ordered assembly, which, according to the rules of Murphy's Law, goes to pi. It is a stark, beautiful book, which near perfect writing. What do I mean by this? It's not just well-written, but it is perfectly focused, perfectly edited. Think of the Western "High Noon." Every line of dialogue was key in revealing the plot. There was no one standing around and just explaining things, like in "The Great Gatsby." Things are expounded through actions, through thought, so that every word has meaning, and every meaning, entertainment value. I'm surprised at those who found it boring. I can't offer any persuasion -- you have to be willing to read it, and it won't appeal to everyone. But the reason this book is so terribly disturbing is that it is so >realistic<. Not to give away any major plot happenings, but recent (within the last year or so) news events only make some of the more grisly things in the book seem closer to home, and therefore more unsettling, which is maybe why a lot of readers found it too shocking to appreciate. Just try not to think about the symbols when you first read it, and think of it as an adventure book. It can be enjoyed either way.

If not for anything else, William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES (1954) is remarkable for having come out at a time when Western society was being bombarded with visions of totalitarian nightmares. The Nazis were gone, but still in modern memory. Russia's totalitarian state was a constant threat. McCarthyism hovered over everyone's privacy, as did J. Edgar Hoover. And recent fiction, like Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD and, especially, George Orwell's 1984 presented world views where the human spirit is all but squelched by governments and technologies.

LORD OF THE FLIES, in its own way, says, "Hold on a second! Humans do need to be regulated. And they do need to protect themselves from each other." His tale is a warning: Humanity, without government, will degenerate into savagery and anarchy. And that is precisely what happens in this book. You know the plot, by now. But what has to be mentioned is that William Golding is a visionary who has the story-telling mastery to convey and do justice to that vision. LORD OF THE FLIES is a remarkable and powerful book, one that should be on everyone's bookshelf.