"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

 

[In case Lord of the Flies is on your reading list. Please, skip reading. This post contains major spoilers.]

Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel written by British writer William Golding. He served in the royal navy during world war II before being a school teacher.

His debut novel, Lord of the Flies, tells the story of a group of boys who 'somehow' survived a plane crash and found themselves on a deserted tropical island. The boys have to do everything it takes to survive, which includes maintaining a beacon at the top of a mountain and securing their daily fruits and meat. However, the dynamics of their relationships ultimately drive them to lose themselves to savagery. 

The story is basic and straightforward which may give the impression to some readers that it's even without a plot. I'm not arguing against that, but I'm merely asserting that LotF is a book that belongs to what can be referred to as 'Idea Books'. I'm not sure if this is a thing, but anyway, these books explore ideas of hypothetical situations. In this book, Golding's main concern is the idea of whether humans are inherently good or evil. It's very controversial; you may find arguments for both sides. But I get where Golding is coming from, witnessing the horrors of WW2 for one, and the horrors of kids in high school for another (just kidding around😜. No pun intended). 

Maybe we are evil. Maybe we are good. It's all about the definitions of these two concepts. What makes a person good or evil? Circumstance? Basic instincts to ensure survival? Emotions like fear or hate? Or Pure mindless insanity? Let's face it, there's no agreed-upon universal definition of what's good or what's bad, because basically, what's good for me can be considered evil or bad for someone else.

Maybe, the answer isn't that obvious, just like the typical archetypes of the characters in the novel. Maybe, we are both good and evil. In the context of the book, the boys wanted to survive no matter what (a selfish need but justifiable nonetheless), but this can't be achieved without sticking together and acting as a community. This is another theme that the book explores: individualism vs collectivism. 

At any rate, I enjoyed reading LotF. It's an easy read, a short one, and a thought-provoking experience. What entertained me the most were the dialogues between the kids. They were believable and quite hilarious, especially when it concerned 'Piggy' (my favorite character after Ralph). 

There are many scenes that I felt intriguing such as Simon's hallucinations about the peg head (or were they?), but the last scene that served as a punch line was the final one when the Deux-ex Machina officer arrived on the island in the nick of time and saved the boys from slaughtering each other. It was Ralph's expressions, his tears falling, his body shaking all over. To me, Ralph is the tragic hero, all of the boys are, but he's the epitome because we saw things through his eyes. Yes, he was saved... but at what cost? Innocence... he, as well as, all of the boys have lost their innocence.

"Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy."

 

On the other hand, what put me off was the prose. I don't know why it didn't sink in me. The descriptions felt as if they were coming from a diver in a tank and reaching me through thick walls. They just felt prosaic and... 'soul-less'. Something must be wrong with me I guess! But that's how I felt.

I give it 3.5 stars.