Have you ever wondered what would happen if all books in the world were to disappear, if all the information of almost all important discoveries completely erased. If all the adults would disappear and live behind the teens and the little ones, by themselves, what would happen. I have thought about that a couple of times and wondered if mankind would rediscover civilization again.
Well, that is almost what happens in “The Lord Of The Flies”, a classic novel by William Golding. The setting of the story is during the time of the world war. Because of the bombings in London, some children were taken into an airplane to be transported to some form of safe place. Now the book doesn’t tell us all this, you have to infer, using the extra information provided. The plane has a problem on the way and the children have to be evacuated mid-air onto an Island, and are scattered all over it.
The book starts as Ralph and another boy called “Piggy” meet up near the lagoon under the cover of tree and thick growth of creepers and forest bed. “Piggy” is a fat boy who wears glasses and throughout the story comes out as the smartest of the kids but not strong willed enough to be the leader. He had specifically told Ralph that he wouldn’t want the other kids calling him “Piggy,” the name his schoolmates used to call him at school. But when the other kids came, Ralph called him “Piggy” nonetheless and the name stuck. Piggy found a beautiful conch near the beach and recalls how his other friend back home used to have one like this. He would blow into it to produce a sound. He reveals his intelligence as he tells Ralph he could use it as a horn to call the other boys.
After calling all the boys together, Piggy begins counting them and trying to get their names. (acting maturely for a boy his age) A group of boy-scouts that we come to know as the “choir” emerges from the forest marching in formation. Their leader Jack, asks Ralph where the man who blew the horn was. It is during this meet that the children make a vote by a show of hands as to who should be the leader, all members of the choir obediently vote for Jack, whilst the rest go with Ralph. Ralph is voted as the leader, he had the conch and called everybody there. He was also strong and attractive looking.(Piggy believed he deserved a chance too since the whole thing was his idea, but like a I said, he isn’t that strong willed) Jack also felt he should be the leader as he was already leader of the choir. Ralph placated Jack by telling him the choir still belonged to him.
The book is all about these children trying to set up some form of government. When they had their meetings, there was the problem of everybody speaking at once. They thereforedecided that whoever held the conch at the time could speak as everyone else listened. You could only speak when you had the conch in your hand. The other main theme or idea the boys conceived (or Ralph to be more specific) was that it was necessary to have a fire at the top of the hill that was on the mountain, so that the smoke could be a signal to a passing ship. They use Piggy’s glasses to start the fire. A rota was set up of the people to take turns to make sure there was always a fire. The choir was in charge of hunting for the little community, as they had discovered there were wild pigs on the Island. They were never able to kill a pig at first until Jack suggested that they had to camouflage. By these events, the book shows how analytical and proficient the human mind is. A quality that up to know still differentiates animals from mankind.
The group wants to return to normality, so they start building shelters so as to have a place to sleep, like a home. The small kids were having nightmares, and talked of monsters that existed in the Island. This part of the book gives us a glimpse of how the human mind tries to make sense of the things around it. When the mind doesn’t know what something is, it turns that thing into fear. One time a pilot fell from the sky as he’s parachute was torn and landed near the fire. The twins who were in charge of the fire fled the scene and perpetuated the idea that there was indeed a “beast” on the Island.
One time Jack has taken those who were in charge of the fire for hunting, leaving the fire unatended. A ship passed by the Island, but then there was no smoke signal. Ralph and Piggy were exceedingly angry at Jack. All he seemed to want was to hunt pigs without the slightest indication of wanting to be rescued. The character of Jack could be taken to demonstrate how in modern times, people of power could use the resources of the state to advance their own ambitions, to the detriment of the whole nation.
Bitter rivalry grew between Jack and Ralph until Jack leaves the group, taking the choir with him. They find new shelter in a cave, resulting in their new home being called “Castle rock.” They hunt pig and host feasts to entice members of the other group. This is quite similar to how rebel groups form in our modern times. We get a group of people who are displeased with the administration and decide that they’ll form a country within a country. Just as these rebel groups would sabotage the efforts of the government, we see Jack (chief, as they now called him) and the choir as they rampage Ralph’s little community so as to steal Piggy’s glasses they need to make the fire with. Isn’t this similar to what other countries do in espionage, when they send their agents to spy in on the intelligence of their enemy country?
Things get out of control as they start taking their savage game seriously. In the game, they pretend that of them is a pig that they have to stab with their spears as they chant:
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”
At one of these feasts, Simon, one of the kids comes to try and tell them that there was no beast after all, but a dead pilot. Caught up in the madness the game created, the boys actually speared liite Simon to death and fled the scene in shock. The body of the boy is taken away by the tide. Ralph and Piggy are now officially outcasts. When they visit Castle Rock to try negotiate to get Jack to return Piggy’s glasses, Piggy is crushed to death by a rock that the guards set rolling on him. Ralph runs for he’s life as it is quite clear Jack’s malicious intentions. The choir at some point sets the forest on fire with the attempt of smoking Ralph out of hiding. As Ralph head to the beach in his flight, he meets a sailor, his “tim cruiser in the distance.” The sailor had seen the smoke rising as the Island was burning.
It is not strange that in the end a smoke signal, something they’ve been failing to maintain, enabled their rescue. It is fascinating to see how by each act, the children are shown to become less and less sensitive. Becoming more and more disconnected with their caring human selves.Killing or maiming became easier and natural, something that was not the case as when they first arrived on the Island.
My Opinion
The book was well written and engaging. But like all other novels that are based on events that occurred eras ago, I found it difficult to identify with much of the reasoning and thinking of the characters. Also, the book didn’t stress much the gravity of death of Simon and Piggy. I enjoy modern books more….
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