Book Review 1: Lord of the Flies

William Golding’s adventurous tale about a group of boys marooned on an island is more than an action story. It is a commentary on the darkness that exists in all mankind. The evil in every soul that seeps through when humans are unsupervised, uncivilized and driven to madness.

In the midst of a nuclear war a group of school boys become abandoned on an island when their plane goes down. Without adult supervision they must work together to survive. At first the boys are civilized and choose to elect a leader. A boy of twelve years old, Ralph, is elected. The first day goes rather smoothly and they talk about rescue and what they have to do until then. Ralph is adamant about establishing a smoke signal so a pair of twin boys are assigned the duty to start and watch a signal fire. Another group, the choirboys, elect themselves to become the hunters and provide meat for the group. They are led by a strong willed twelve year old, Jack. Besides these boys there are several younger boys about the age of six known as the littluns. Simon, an enlightened and spiritual boy and Piggy, a scientific thinker, quickly become the counsel for Ralph.

Jack and the hunters become increasingly consumed with killing sows. They even begin painting their faces and tracking the animals. All the boys begin to be fearful of a supposed beast in the jungle. Their fears are further fueled by the arrival of a dead man with a parachute that lands on the top of the mountain. The boys begin to see Jack as a protector and look to him for leadership, some look up to him, some fear him.

Simon, one day while in his hiding place sees the head of a sow mounted on a stake and becomes delusional. He believes the head is talking to him. He decides to make his way up the mountain to investigate the beast. He finds the truth that it is merely a dead man with a parachute, no beast and proceeds to the beach to tell the others who have become complete savages partaking in daily tribal dances and even torture disobedient members. When he arrives at the beach he tries to tell the boys the truth but is mobbed and killed. His body is washed away by the tide. Soon after Jack’s mob grows and includes nearly every boy on the island except for Ralph, Piggy, Sam and Eric and a couple of the littluns.

Jack’s tribe raids Ralph’s camp one night and steals Piggy’s glasses. The next day Ralph approaches them and ask for the glasses back. They kidnap Sam and Eric, kill Piggy and injure Ralph. The following day a manhunt ensues and the tribe chases Ralph with an intent to kill him. Ralph is saved at the feet of a British military officer on the beach who saw the smoke signal from his ship. Ralph breaks down in tears over all that has happened.