9. Lord of the Flies
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Sir William Gerald Golding (19
September 1911 – 19 June 1993)
Sir William Gerald Golding was born in
1911 in Saint Columb Minor in Cornwall, England, to Alec Golding, a socialist
teacher who supported scientific rationalism, and Mildred Golding (née
Curnroe), a supporter of female suffrage. As a child, William Golding was
educated at the Marlborough Grammar School, where his father worked, and later
at Brasenose College, Oxford. Although educated to be a scientist at the
request of his father, the young Golding developed an interest in literature,
becoming devoted first to Anglo-Saxon texts and then to poetry, which he wrote
avidly. At Oxford he studied natural science for two years and then transfered
to a program for English literature and philosophy. Following a short period of
time in which he worked in various positions at a settlement house and in small
theater companies as both an actor and a writer, Golding became a schoolmaster
at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. During the Second World War he
joined the Royal Navy and was involved in the sinking of the German battleship
Bismarck, after which he returned to Bishop Wordsworth's School, where he
taught until the early 1960s.
In 1954, Golding published his first novel,
Lord of the Flies, which details the adventures of British schoolboys stranded
on an island in the Pacific who descend into barbaric behavior. Although at
first rejected by twenty-one different publishing houses, Golding's first novel
became a surprise success. E.M. Forster declared Lord of the Flies the
outstanding novel of its year, while Time and Tide called it "not only a
first-rate adventure story but a parable of our times." Golding continued
to develop similar themes concerning the inherent violence in human nature in
his next novel, IThe Inheritors], published the following year. This novel
deals with the last days of Neanderthal man. The Inheritors posits that the
Cro-Magnon "fire-builders" triumphed over Neanderthal man as much by
violence and deceit as by any natural superiority. His subsequent works include
Pincher Martin (1956), the story of a guilt-ridden naval officer who faces an
agonizing death, Free Fall (1959), and The Spire (1964), each of which deals
with the depravity of human nature. The Spire is an allegory concerning the
protagonist's obsessive determination to build a cathedral spire regardless of
the consequences.
In addition to his novels and his early
collection of poems, Golding published a play entitled The Brass Butterfly in
1958 and two collections of essays, The Hot Gates (1965) and A Moving Target
(1982).
Golding's final works include Darkness Visible
(1979), the story of a boy horribly injured during the London blitz of World
War II, and Rites of Passage (1980). This novel won the Booker McConnell Prize,
the most prestigious award for English literature, and inspired two sequels,
Close Quarters (1987) and Fire Down Below (1989). These three novels portray
life aboard a ship during the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1983, Golding received the Nobel Prize for
literature for his novels which, according to the Nobel committee, "with
the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality
of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today." In 1988 he
was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Sir William died in 1993 in
Perranarworthal, Cornwall. At the time of his death he was working on an
unfinished manuscript entitled "The Double Tongue," which focused on
the fall of Hellenic culture and the rise of Roman civilization. This work was
published posthumously in 1995.
William Gerald Golding 1911-1993: Nobel
in 1983, Booker for “Rites of Passage” in 1980
1.
Lord of the Flies 1954- first novel- rejected by many
publishers, finally accepted by Faber & Faber. It is written in
response to savegery (=uncivilized or barbaric) in J M
Ballyantyne’s The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean
(1857) (Ralph and
Jack are common characters in these two works). The title refers to the pig's
head (demon Beelzebub, i.e., Lord of the Flies) which symbolizes the
presence of evil on the island and reference to a line from King Lear: "As
flies to wanton boys, are we to gods”.
The story of school
boys whose aeroplane was crashed in a wartime in a boat shaped deserted island
of the Pacific Ocean. The boys can be divided into 2 groups: Litluans at
the age of six; Biguans - between 10 and 12. The main hero of the book
Ralph (a fair-haired boy- hero) elected as leader. Piggy (fat asthmatic boy) was wise counsellor
finds Conch shell, which is used to call the boys. He establishes three
goals for the boys: 1) to have fun, 2) to survive, and 3) to maintain a smoke
signal that could alert passing ships. They used Piggy's glasses to create a
signal fire. Jack (a red-haired boy- Antagonist) who also wants to lead,
rebels. Conflict between Ralph and Jack represents civilization & savagery.
Ralph attempts tp setup a democratic society but fails and savagery takes over
under the dictator Jack. Sam and Eric mistake the corpse (body of a fighter
pilot) for the beast. Jack’s tribe, consisting of a group of ex-choir boys,
hunt pigs and turns into barbarians with painted faces. Two boys Simon
(compared to Christ) and Piggy (pudgy asthmatic boy) were killed by Jack’s
Camp. All the boys were saved by a Naval Officer at the end. (see Dues Ex
Machina).
Simon - Jesus, Innocence,
Ralph -Rationality,
Piggy-pragmatism,
Jack - Dictatorship.
2.
The Inheritors (1955)- 2nd novel-
an autobiographic prehistory. Explains how the innocence, good,
happiness was destroyed by Homosepiens.
3.
Pincher Martin (1956)- Third Novel- personal life of
a sailor Pincher Martin, between falling into sea and his death.
4.
Free fall (1959) - 4th Novel –
story of Samuel ('Sammy') Mountjoy, a talented painter but a directionless and
unhappy man, is a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II.
5.
The Spire (1964)- "A
dark and powerful portrait of one man's will", it deals with the
construction of a 404-foot-high spire loosely based on Salisbury Cathedral.
Jocelin, Dean of cathedral, constructs a towering Spire funded by his aunt,
Lady Alison against the advice of many.
6.
The Pyramid (1967):
experiences of glowing up in the 1920's in a small town in England of the
narrator, Oliver. It tells 3 separate stories from childhood.
7.
Darkness Visible (1979)- Narrates the
struggle of good and evil. Title from a famous line in Milton’s Paradise Lost:
“No light, but rather darkness visible”.
8.
The Paper Men (1984) about
Wilfred Barclay, a writer who has a drinking problem, a dead marriage. Rick
Tucker, is a young professor
9.
To the Ends of the Earth – trilogy of nautical, relational novels
a.
Rites of Passage (1980) (Booker Prize)-account of a
six-month voyage to Australia
b.
Close Quarters (1987)
c.
Fire Down Below (1989)
10. The Brass Butterfly (1958)- only play by Golding
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Background:
Sir William Golding composed Lord
of the Flies (1954) shortly after the end
of WWII. The novel alludes to the Cold War conflict between liberal democracy
and totalitarian communism. Golding, who was a philosophy teacher before
becoming a Royal Navy lieutenant, experienced war firsthand. After the war
ended and Golding returned to England, the world was dominated by Cold War and
the threat of nuclear annihilation, which led Golding to examine the nature of
humanity and that went on to inspire Lord of the Flies.
Golding thought that
the book was unrealistic and asked his wife whether it would be a good idea if
he "wrote a book about children on an island, children who behave in
the way children really would behave?"
A group of English
boys stranded on a deserted island struggle to develop their own society. Ralph
represents the liberal tradition, while Jack represents the kind of
military dictatorship. The culmination of the plot in war and murder suggests
that Golding's overarching hypothesis about humanity is pessimistic, that is,
there are anarchic and brutal instincts in human nature.
Golding’s Lord
of the Flies (1954) is a response partly to the R.M. Ballantyne’s novel
The Coral Island (1857), who found the narrative as naive and
unlikely. One major difference between "Coral Island" and "Lord
of the Flies" is how they show human nature.
|
The Coral Island (1857) by R.M. Ballantyne |
Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding |
|
Set in
deserted tropical island, |
Set in
deserted tropical island, |
|
Three British
boys: Ralph, Jack, and Peterkin |
British schoolboys,
notably Ralph, Jack, and Piggy |
|
Boys work
together to survive and thrive and Maintains civilized behavior throughout |
Boys
initially cooperate to survive and Descends into savagery and chaos |
|
Conflict
comes from external threats (pirates) |
Conflict
arises from within the group |
|
Focus on
goodness of humans |
Focus on
darker side of humans |
Lord of the Flies
draws upon Judeo-Christian mythology to elaborate on the novel's sociological
and political hypothesis. The title has two meanings, both charged with
religious significance. The first is a reference to a line from King Lear, "As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods." The second is a reference to the Hebrew name Ba'alzevuv,
or in its Greek form Beelzebub, which translates to "God of the Flies" and is synonymous with Satan. Golding employs a
religious reference to illustrate a Freudian concept: the Id, the amoral
instinct that governs the individual's sense of sheer survival, is by nature
evil in its amoral pursuit of its own goals. The Lord of the Flies, that is,
the pig's head on a stick, directly challenges the most spiritually motivated
character on the island, Simon, who
functions as a prophet-martyr for the other boys.
The draft of the
book was entitled Strangers from Within, which was considered
"too abstract and too explicit". The novel was rejected by many
publishers (nearly 20 publishers) before being accepted by Faber & Faber.
Eventually the title was changed and Golding chose Lord of the Flies.
Plot/Narrative structure
|
Title |
Plot Summary |
|
1. The Sound of the Shell |
Boys crash-land on an island. Ralph and Piggy
find a conch and use it to gather the others. Ralph is elected leader; Jack
is given control of choir. |
|
2.Fire on the Mountain |
The boys decide to build a signal fire. A small
boy talks about a “beastie.” The fire gets out of control and a littlun
disappears. |
|
3.Huts on the Beach |
Ralph and Simon build shelters; Jack is obsessed
with hunting. Tension rises between Jack and Ralph. |
|
4.Painted Faces and Long Hair |
Jack paints his face to hunt better. They kill a
pig, but let the signal fire go out. A ship passes by. |
|
5.Beast from Water |
Ralph tries to restore order in a meeting. The
boys fear the beast more. Piggy urges reason; fear continues to rise. |
|
6.Beast from Air |
A dead parachutist lands on the mountain. Sam and
Eric mistake it for the beast. |
|
7.Shadows and Tall Trees |
The boys hunt. Ralph experiences the thrill of
the hunt. They see the parachutist and flee in fear. |
|
8.Gift for the Darkness |
Jack forms a new tribe. They kill a pig and offer
its head to the “beast.” Simon confronts the Lord of the Flies. |
|
9.A View to a Death |
Simon discovers the truth about the parachutist.
He tries to tell the boys but is mistaken for the beast and killed. |
|
10.The Shell and the Glasses |
Ralph’s group dwindles. Jack’s tribe steals
Piggy’s glasses for fire. |
|
11.Castle Rock |
Ralph confronts Jack. Roger kills Piggy and
shatters the conch. |
|
12.Cry of the Hunters |
Ralph is hunted by the boys. A naval officer
rescues them. |
Opening line:
“The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last
few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon.”
Closing line:
“The officer, surrounded by these noises, was moved and a little
embarrassed. He turned away to give them time to pull themselves together; and
waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance.”
Summary
During an unnamed
time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over
the Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the
crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island, where they are
alone without adult supervision. The first two boys introduced are the main
protagonists of the story: Ralph
is among the oldest of the boys, handsome and confident, while Piggy, as he is derisively called, is a pudgy asthmatic boy
with glasses who nevertheless possesses a keen intelligence. Ralph finds a
conch shell, and when he blows it the other boys gather together. Among these
boys is Jack Merridew, an aggressive boy who
marches at the head of his choir. Ralph, whom the other boys choose as chief,
leads Jack and another boy, Simon, on an
expedition to explore the island. On their expedition they determine that they
are, in fact, on a deserted island and decide that they need to find food. The
three boys find a pig, which Jack prepares to kill but finally balks before he
can actually stab it.
When the boys return
from their expedition, Ralph calls a meeting and attempts to set rules of order
for the island. Jack agrees with Ralph, for the existence of rules means the
existence of punishment for those who break them, but Piggy reprimands Jack for
his lack of concern over long-term issues of survival. Ralph proposes that they
build a fire on the mountain which could signal their presence to any passing
ships. The boys start building the fire, but the younger boys lose interest
when the task proves too difficult for them. Piggy proves essential to the
process: the boys use his glasses to start the fire. After they start the fire,
Piggy loses his temper and criticizes the other boys for not building shelters
first. He worries that they still do not know how many boys there are, and he
believes that one of them is already missing.
While Jack tries to
hunt pigs, Ralph orchestrates the building of shelters for the boys. The
smallest boys have not helped at all, while the boys in Jack's choir, whose
duty is to hunt for food, have spent the day swimming. Jack tells Ralph that he
feels as if he is being hunted himself when he hunts for pigs. When Simon, the
only boy who has consistently helped Ralph, leaves presumably to take a bath,
Ralph and Jack go to find him at the bathing pool. But Simon instead is walking
around the jungle alone. He finds a serene open space with aromatic bushes and
flowers.
The boys soon settle
into a daily pattern on the island. The youngest of the boys, known generally
as the "littluns," spend most of the day searching for fruit to eat.
When the boys play, they still obey some sense of decency toward one another,
despite the lack of parental authority. Jack continues to hunt, while Piggy,
who is accepted as an outsider among the boys, considers building a sundial. A
ship passes by the island but does not stop, perhaps because the fire has
burned out. Piggy blames Jack for letting the fire die, for he and his hunters
have been preoccupied with killing a pig at the expense of their duty, and Jack
punches Piggy, breaking one lens of his glasses. Jack and the hunters chant,
"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in" in celebration of the
kill, and they perform a dance in which Maurice pretends to be a pig and the
others pretend to attack him.
Ralph becomes
concerned by the behavior of Jack and the hunters and begins to appreciate
Piggy's maturity. He calls an assembly in which he criticizes the boys for not
assisting with the fire or the building of the shelters. He insists that the
fire is the most important thing on the island, for it is their one chance for
rescue, and declares that the only place where they should have a fire is on
the mountaintop. Ralph admits that he is frightened but says that there is no
legitimate reason to be afraid. Jack then yells at the littluns for their fear
and for not helping with hunting or building shelters. He proclaims that there
is no beast on the island, as some of the boys believe, but then a littlun,
Phil, tells that he had a nightmare and when he awoke saw something moving
among the trees. Simon says that Phil probably saw Simon, for he was walking in
the jungle that night. But the littluns begin to worry about the beast, which
they conceive as a ghost or a squid. Piggy and Ralph fight once more, and when
Ralph attempts to assert the rules of order, Jack asks rhetorically whether
anyone cares about the rules. Ralph in turn insists that the rules are all that
they have. Jack then decides to lead an expedition to hunt the beast, leaving
only Ralph, Piggy and Simon behind. Piggy warns Ralph that if Jack becomes
chief, the boys will never be rescued.
That night, during
an aerial battle, a pilot parachutes down the island. The pilot dies, possibly
on impact. The next morning, as the twins Sam and Eric are adding kindling to
the fire, they spot the pilot and mistake him for the beast. They scramble down
the mountain and wake up Ralph. Jack calls for a hunt, but Piggy insists that
they should stay together, for the beast may not come near them. Jack claims
that the conch is now irrelevant. He takes a swing at Ralph when Ralph accuses
Jack of not wanting to be rescued. Ralph decides to join the hunters on their
expedition to find the beast, despite his wish to rekindle the fire on the
mountain. When they reach the other side of the island, Jack expresses his wish
to build a fort near the sea.
The hunters, while
searching for the beast, find a boar that attacks Jack, but Jack stabs it and
it runs away. The hunters go into a frenzy, lapsing into their "kill the
pig" chant once again. Ralph realizes that Piggy remains with the littluns
back on the other side of the island, and Simon offers to go back and tell
Piggy that the other boys will not be back that night. Ralph realizes that Jack
hates him and confronts him about that fact. Jack mocks Ralph for not wanting
to hunt, claiming that it stems from cowardice, but when the boys see what they
believe to be the beast they run away.
Ralph returns to the
shelters to find Piggy and tells him that they saw the beast, but Piggy remains
skeptical. Ralph dismisses the hunters as boys with sticks, but Jack accuses
him of calling his hunters cowards. Jack attempts to assert control over the
other boys, calling for Ralph's removal as chief, but when Ralph retains the
support of the other boys Jack runs away, crying. Piggy suggests that, if the
beast prevents them from getting to the mountaintop, they should build a fire
on the beach, and reassures them that they will survive if they behave with
common sense. Simon leaves to sit in the open space that he found earlier. Jack
claims that he will be the chief of the hunters and that they will go to the
castle rock where they plan to build a fort and have a feast. The hunters kill
a pig, and Jack smears the blood over Maurice's face. They then cut off the
head and leave it on a stake as an offering for the beast. Jack brings several
hunters back to the shelters, where he invites the other boys to join his tribe
and offers them meat and the opportunity to hunt and have fun. All of the boys,
except for Ralph and Piggy, join Jack.
Meanwhile, Simon
finds the pig's head that the hunters had left. He dubs it The Lord of the Flies because of the
insects that swarm around it. He believes that it speaks to him, telling him
how foolish he is and that the other boys think he is insane. The pig's head
claims that it is the beast, and it mocks the idea that the beast could be
hunted and killed. Simon falls down and loses consciousness. After he regains
consciousness and wanders around, he sees the dead pilot that the boys
perceived to be the beast and realizes what it actually is. He rushes down the
mountain to alert the other boys about what he has found.
Ralph and Piggy, who
are playing at the lagoon alone, decide to find the other boys to make sure
that nothing unfortunate happens while they are pretending to be hunters. When
they find Jack, Ralph and Jack argue over who will be chief. When Piggy claims
that he gets to speak because he has the conch, Jack tells him that the conch
does not count on his side of the island. The boys panic when Ralph warns them
that a storm is coming. As the storm begins, Simon rushes from the forest,
telling about the dead body on the mountain. Under the impression that he is
the beast, the boys descend on Simon and kill him.
Back on the other
side of the island, Ralph and Piggy discuss Simon's death. They both took part
in the murder, but they attempt to justify their behavior as motivated by fear
and instinct. The only four boys who are not part of Jack's tribe are Ralph and
Piggy and the twins, Sam and Eric, who help tend to the fire. At Castle Rock,
Jack rules over the boys with the trappings of an idol. He has kept one boy
tied up, and he instills fear in the other boys by warning them about the beast
and the intruders. When Bill asks Jack how they will start a fire, Jack claims
that they will steal the fire from the other boys. Meanwhile, Ralph, Piggy and
the twins work on keeping the fire going but find that it is too difficult to
do by themselves. They return to the shelters to sleep. During the night, the
hunters attack the four boys, who fight them off but suffer considerable
injuries. Piggy learns the purpose of the attack: they came to steal his
glasses.
After the attack,
the four boys decide to go to the castle rock to appeal to Jack as civilized
people. They groom themselves to appear presentable and dress themselves in
normal schoolboy clothes. When they reach Castle Rock, Ralph summons the other
boys with the conch. Jack arrives from hunting and tells Ralph and Piggy to
leave them alone. When Jack refuses to listen to Ralph's appeals to justice,
Ralph calls the boys painted fools. Jack takes Sam and Eric as prisoners and
orders them to be tied up. Piggy asks Jack and his hunters whether it is better
to be a pack of painted Indians or sensible like Ralph, but Roger tips a rock over on Piggy,
causing him to fall down the mountain to the beach. The impact kills him and,
to the delight of Jack, shatters the conch shell. Jack declares himself chief
and hurls his spear at Ralph, who runs away.
Ralph hides near
Castle Rock, where he can see the other boys, whom he no longer recognizes as
civilized English boys but as savages. He crawls to the entrance of Jack's
camp, where Sam and Eric are now stationed as guards, and they give him some
meat and urge him to leave. While Ralph hides, he realizes that the other boys
are rolling rocks down the mountain. Ralph evades the other boys who are
hunting for him, then realizes that they are setting the forest on fire in
order to smoke him out-and thus will destroy whatever fruit is left on the
island.
Running for his
life, Ralph finally collapses on the beach, where a naval officer has arrived
with his ship. He thinks that the boys have only been playing games, and he
scolds them for not behaving in a more organized and responsible manner as is
the British custom. As the boys prepare to leave the island for home, Ralph
weeps for the death of Piggy and for the end of the boys' innocence.
Character List
Ralph- The protagonist of
the story, Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the island. He quickly becomes
the group's leader. Golding describes Ralph as tall for his age and handsome,
and he presides over the other boys with a natural sense of authority. Although
he lacks Piggy's overt intelligence, Ralph is calm and rational, with sound
judgment and a strong moral sensibility. But he is susceptible to the same
instinctive influences that affect the other boys, as demonstrated by his
contribution to Simon's death. Nevertheless, Ralph remains the most civilized
character throughout the novel. With his strong commitment to justice and
equality, Ralph represents the political tradition of liberal democracy.
Piggy- Although pudgy, awkward, and averse to physical
labor because he suffers from asthma, Piggy--who dislikes his nickname--is the
intellectual on the island. Though he is an outsider among the other boys,
Piggy is eventually accepted by them, albeit grudgingly, when they discover
that his glasses can be used to ignite fires. Piggy's intellectual talent
endears him to Ralph in particular, who comes to admire and respect him for his
clear focus on securing their rescue from the island. Piggy is dedicated to the
ideal of civilization and consistently reprimands the other boys for behaving
as savages. His continual clashes with the group culminate when Roger murders
Piggy by dropping a rock on him, an act that signals the triumph of brute
instinct over civilized order. Intellectual, sensitive, and conscientious,
Piggy represents culture within the democratic system embodied by Ralph.
Piggy's nickname symbolically connects him to the pigs on the island, who
quickly become the targets of Jack's and his hunters' bloodlust--an association
that foreshadows his murder.
Jack Merridew- The leader of a boys' choir, Jack exemplifies
militarism as it borders on authoritarianism. He is cruel and sadistic,
preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs. His sadism intensifies throughout
the novel, and he eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack feigns an
interest in the rules of order established on the island, but only if they
allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents anarchy. His rejection of
Ralph's imposed order--and the bloody results of this act--indicate the danger
inherent in an anarchic system based only on self-interest.
Simon- The most introspective character in the novel, Simon
has a deep affinity with nature and often walks alone in the jungle. While
Piggy represents the cultural and Ralph the political and moral facets of
civilization, Simon represents the spiritual side of human nature. Like Piggy,
Simon is an outcast: the other boys think of him as odd and perhaps insane. It
is Simon who finds the beast. When he attempts to tell the group that it is
only a dead pilot, the boys, under the impression that he is the beast, murder
him in a panic. Golding frequently suggests that Simon is a Christ-figure whose
death is a kind of martyrdom. His name, which means "he whom God has
heard," indicates the depth of his spirituality and centrality to the
novel's Judeo-Christian allegory.
Sam and Eric- The twins are the only boys who remain with Ralph
and Piggy to tend to the fire after the others abandon Ralph for Jack's tribe.
The others consider the two boys as a single individual, and Golding preserves
this perception by combining their individual names into one
("Samneric"). Here one might find suggestions about individualism and
human uniqueness.
Roger- One of the hunters and the guard at the castle rock
fortress, Roger is Jack's equal in cruelty. Even before the hunters devolve
into savagery, Roger is boorish and crude, kicking down sand castles and
throwing sand at others. After the other boys lose all idea of civilization, it
is Roger who murders Piggy.
Maurice- During the hunters' "Kill the pig" chant,
Maurice, who is one of Jack's hunters, pretends to be a pig while the others
pretend to slaughter him. When the hunters kill a pig, Jack smears blood on
Maurice's face. Maurice represents the mindless masses.
Percival- One of the smallest boys on the island, Percival
often attempts to comfort himself by repeating his name and address as a memory
of home life. He becomes increasingly hysterical over the course of the novel
and requires comforting by the older boys. Percival represents the domestic or
familial aspects of civilization; his inability to remember his name and
address upon the boys' rescue indicates the erosion of domestic impulse with
the overturning of democratic order. Note also that in the literary tradition,
Percival was one of the Knights of the Round Table who went in search of the
Holy Grail.
The Beast- A dead pilot whom Simon discovers in the forest. The
other boys mistake him as a nefarious supernatural omen, "The Beast."
They attempt to appease his spirit with The Lord of the Flies.
The Lord of the Flies- The pig's head that Jack impales on a stick as an
offering to "The Beast." The boys call the offering "The Lord of
the Flies," which in Judeo-Christian mythology refers to Beelzebub, an
incarnation of Satan. In the novel, The Lord of the Flies functions
totemically; it represents the savagery and amorality of Jack's tribe.
Naval Officer- The naval officer appears in the final scene of the
novel, when Ralph encounters him on the beach. He tells Ralph that his ship
decided to inspect the island upon seeing a lot of smoke (the outcome of the
forest fire that Jack and his tribe had set in the hopes of driving Ralph out
of hiding). His naivete about the boys' violent conflict--he believes they are
playing a game--underscores the tragedy of the situation on the island. His
status as a soldier reminds the reader that the boys' behavior is just a more
primitive form of the aggressive and frequently fatal conflicts that
characterize adult civilization.
Chapterwise summary
Chapter One: The Sound of the Shell
On a tropical island, a twelve-year-old boy with fair hair is
climbing out of plane wreckage (referred to as "the scar") on a beach
and towards a lagoon. He faces another child around his age, a fat boy with
glasses. The two, who have not previously met, begin a conversation. The
fair-haired boy introduces himself as Ralph, while the heavy boy accidentally
reveals his nickname at school: "Piggy." Against the other child's
protestations, Ralph insists on calling him Piggy. Through their conversation,
it is revealed that the boys have survived a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean, and no
adults are present among the survivors. They confirm that both the pilot and
"the man with the megaphone" - perhaps some sort of rescue
worker-both died in the crash. The boys appear to have been escaping from an
atomic war in their country, a place referred to only as the Home Counties (England).
When Ralph insists that his father, a Commander in the Navy, will rescue the
stranded boys, Piggy reminds him that "they"-perhaps the military,
perhaps the adult population-were all killed "by the atom bomb."
Ralph, excited by the idea of living without adult supervision,
immediately takes advantage of the freedom on the island. He disrobes and
invites Piggy to join him in a swim. Ralph playing in the beach naked, is
believed to be "uncivilized" or "savage." Piggy nervously declines, explaining that his
asthma prevents him from swimming or running, but eventually and with much self
consciousness removes his windbreaker. While Ralph is enjoying the new sights
and pleasures of the tropical water, Piggy reveals that his parents are both
dead and that he lives with his aunt, who operates a candy store. While Ralph
is playing on the shore, Piggy spots a conch shell in the lagoon. He
explains to an ignorant Ralph that a conch is valuable, and the two retrieve it
from the water. Piggy, who cannot breathe well due to his asthma, instructs
Ralph about how to blow into the shell so as to produce a loud whistle. After a
few failed attempts, Ralph sounds the shell successfully. The two boys are
surprised to see that the sound has attracted other survivors from the crash,
among them Sam and Eric, two young identical twins, and abrupt, red-headed Jack
Merridew, who is accompanied by a party of boys wearing strange black cloaks
and caps, marching in two organized lines. Jack reveals that the
group is a boys' choir and that he is the leader. Golding describes Jack and
his compatriots as militaristic and aggressive.
Once a large group is present, Piggy suggests that everyone state
their names. Jack insists on being called Merridew, for Jack is a kid's
name. The group decides to settle the question of leadership by vote. While
Jack has natural leadership qualities and Piggy rational intelligence, Ralph
has a calm personality that invites the others' trust, so he is elected chief.
Once appointed, however, Ralph concedes that Jack may still lead his choir, who
will become hunters. He further insists that the group stay assembled near the
lagoon while three of the boys explore the territory to determine whether or
not it is an island. For this task, Ralph chooses himself, a mild-tempered boy
named Simon, and, at his own insistence, Jack. When Piggy requests to join the
explorers, Jack dismisses the idea, humiliating Piggy, who is still ashamed
that Ralph revealed his hated nickname.
Ralph, Simon and Jack search the island, climbing up the mountain
to survey it. On the way up, they push down the mountain a large rock that
blocks their way. When they finally reach the top, they determine that they are
indeed on an island. The island is described as "boat-shaped,"
bordered by rocks and containing both lagoon and forest areas. Ralph, looking
at the landscape, says assertively, "this belongs to us." The three
decide that they need food to eat, and continue to explore the island, this
time in search of food.
The boys descend the mountain into brush area, where they consider
and then decide against eating some foliage they call "candle-buds."
Shortly thereafter, they discover a piglet caught in a curtain of creepers.
Jack draws his knife but pauses before he has a chance to stab the pig, which
frees itself and runs away. Jack insists that he was merely looking for the
right spot on the pig on which to stab it, but his white face suggests that he
is unaccustomed to such violence. But he vows that next time, he will show no
mercy toward his prey.
Chapter Two: Fire on the Mountain
Back with the group the same evening, Ralph blows the conch shell
to call another meeting. The effects of abandonment are visible in the boys'
attire: the sunburned children have put on clothing once more, while the choir
is more disheveled, having abandoned their cloaks. When the group of boys give
Ralph full attention, Ralph suffers a brief lapse in confidence and is unsure
whether to stand or sit while conducting a meeting. He looks to Piggy for
affirmation of his authority. Ralph announces to the boys the results of the
morning's explorations. He explains that they are on an uninhabited island. At
this point, Jack interjects and insists that they need an army to hunt the
pigs. Ralph, Jack, and Simon excitedly describe to the others their
encounter with the piglet, Jack insisting defensively that it "got
away" before he had the chance to stab and kill it, and vowing again to
kill it "next time." To demonstrate his sincerity, Jack dramatically
plunges his knife into a tree trunk, and the children, made uneasy by Jack's
boldness, fall into silence.
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