Lord of the Flies

William Goldberg’s novel Lord of Flies tells the story of a group of British boys who are involved in a plane crash and find themselves deserted on a stranded island during World War II. The boys rejoice in their new-found freedom since no adults survived the crash; however, they soon realize that chaos is never a good thing. Without order or civility, the true colors of the boys begin to show, and they realize that social order is crucial to their survival. Needing a sense of structure, the boys elect one of the boys, Ralph, as the chief of the group. Ralph then assigns roles and duties to each of the other boys to survive until they can be rescued. This seems like a good solution to their problem until rumors begin that a monster is residing on the island with the boys. The boys decide to give a sacrifice to the monster in the form of a bloody boar’s head, which in time decays becoming “Lord of the Flies.” This unknown monster “fear” ultimately lives inside each of the boys causing it to consume every moment of the boys’ days and nights turning the boys against one another. Their make-shift society quickly begins to unravel creating a conflict between the need for order and the savage nature of human beings. The novel delves deep into the four main characters showing how chaos can truly change a person and make one do things that he never imagined he could do. The first character is Ralph, who is elected chief of the group. Ralph is determined to maintain order within the group. When the boys first arrive on the island, Ralph blows a conch shell like a make-shift horn signaling all the lost boys from the island to descend upon the group. The second character is Piggy, who is smart and insightful. Piggy becomes the most mature of the group; however, he is soon mocked by the other boys due to his physique. Another character Jack is the hunter of the group and delights in hunting for wild pigs on the island. Jack slowly develops a following of other boys who want to hunt, and this leads to a power struggle between Ralph’s followers and Jack’s group. The last of the boys is Simon, the quiet type who likes to venture into the jungle to find solitude away from the others. However, Simon’s solitude becomes his downfall when he starts to become crazy leading to the other boys killing Simon thinking he is the monster of their dreams. The climax of the novel begins after Piggy is killed, and Ralph, Jack, and one of the island’s lost boys named Roger set fire to the entire island. Knowing he is the next to be killed by the group of savages, Ralph runs away and straight into the arms of a British naval officer signaling the end of the haunting journey for the remaining boys. When the boys realize that they have been rescued, they burst into tears realizing what the evil that they have become. Human nature, the struggle between good and evil, and the ultimate darkness of man are central themes throughout the story detailing how even good people can be savage if it means survival. The haunting story is a scary reminder that human depravity makes people do things unimaginable. The struggle between savagery and civilization is something our own society has dealt with since the beginning of time. The novel is a classic story that bleeds over into our world today and details how fear can be used as a weapon when needed to achieve a desired outcome. Goldberg’s novel Lord of the Flies is dark and disturbing at times, but it opens the reader’s eyes to how human nature ultimately controls us all.

Amazing book, if you need it, I recommend this copy. The printing was good and it came un-damaged

SPOILERS! Lord of the Flies is a fairly interesting and fast-paced book. It sets a great example of how easy it is for a sophisticated society to become a collection of savage animals and leaves the reader with a lot to think about. First, the characters Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon are introduced and become some of the most important symbols in the book. The characters are all unique and have different effects on each other throughout the plot. Ralph can be counted as the protagonist in this book and is a fair-haired chef representing civility. Jack is a power-hungry antagonist who symbolizes anarchy. Piggy is fat, has asthma, and acts as a scapegoat, but is smarter than anyone else; he symbolizes intelligence. Simon is a boy who volunteers to the point that it gets him killed, he is a symbol of human goodness. These characters become great contributors to the plot and theme. Speaking of the plot and theme, William Golding did an excellent job of reminding people how easily human nature can put society in danger of collapsing. It begins with the male middle school group stranded on an island with no adult supervision, it’s a thing to celebrate at first, but the group under Ralph’s attempts to raise a functioning society becomes more defiant of logic. Made-up creatures from nightmares and increasing arguments led to a downfall in the productivity and unity of the group. They then stop listening to Ralph entirely because they are deprived of fun feelings under Ralph’s logical perspective of island survival. Jack believes that they should have fun hunting pigs and chanting in circles until the day they die, with no hope of rescue in sight. The kids, being the middle school group they are, answer to Jack, except for the smart Piggy and twins Sam and Eric, who are captured or killed even by the other tribe. Simon was one of the few who did his best work under Ralph, even to where his work beat him down. Simon is killed around this time by the group, as they thought he was the fake beast they feared, even when he worked for the good of the group until he died. Ralph is left to survive with the savage group hunting him for the rest of the book until the island is set on fire, catching the attention of a ship that rescues them. When they meet the officer who descended to see what was going on, he asks if they are playing at war, and they agree, even with the mentioned two deaths from this savagery. It becomes clear that the members of a functioning society are ignorant of how easily life becomes a fight for survival when all else is lost. A good theme for the book goes something like the following sentence. Society’s flaws come from the flaws of human nature. This book shows that the human’s nature is to have fun, be lazy, and do what it wants. Society only functions when people mature. Maturing means doing stuff that you don’t want, helping others, and being aware of your mistakes. The middle schoolers in Golding’s book are not mature enough, except for Simon, Ralph, Piggy, and the twins Sam and Eric. They do their part in society but are crushed by the overbearing weight of the savages who let human nature control their every move. These savages blamed others for their mistakes, which led to increasing arguments and aggression towards others. These savages let laziness get the best of their civility, and the group suffered because of it. Other examples clearly show this message as well. In the grand scheme of things, this book is extremely cool and I would recommend it to anyone who wants more than a bad summary of it from me, and anyone who hasn’t read it at all. Just don’t tell them all the spoilers.

Lo compré de segunda mano. Vino en perfecto estado excepto algunas anotaciones a lápiz que fueron fácilmente eliminables con una goma. El libro en sí es una gran lectura. Historia tensa llena de analogías con la vida real y simbolismos que llevan a posarse preguntas desde el ambito político hasta el antropológico. No es un libro infantil o juvenil. Recomiendo su lectura a alguien que quiera leer un libro más serio.

Nice book and excellent edition. I really enjoyed it. Thanks

As expected and advertised

The book was an exercise for the mind, the vocab is way too advanced and made me search for the meaning of every word, got me tired but also taught me many new words. Excellent book but the advanced vocab got me way too tired.

Muito bom o livro. Recomendo!