Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Fliesby William Golding

GENRE  (style of writing)

Allegory; adventure story; castaway fiction; loss-of-innocence fiction

Narrator

The story is told by an anonymous third-person narrator who conveys the events of the novel without commenting on the action or intruding into the story.

Point of View

The narrator speaks in the third person, primarily focusing on Ralph’s point of view but following Jack and Simon in certain episodes. The narrator is omniscient and gives us access to the characters’ inner thoughts.

Tone

Dark; violent; pessimistic; tragic; unsparing

Setting

Future; deserted tropical island

Major Conflict

Free from the rules that adult society formerly imposed on them, the boys marooned on the island struggle with the conflicting human instincts that exist within each of them—the instinct to work toward civilization and order and the instinct to descend into savagery, violence, and chaos.

Major Conflict

Free from the rules that adult society formerly imposed on them, the boys marooned on the island struggle with the conflicting human instincts that exist within each of them—the instinct to work toward civilization and order and the instinct to descend into savagery, violence, and chaos.

Themes

Civilization vs. savagerythe loss of innocence innate human evilpower, control, abuse and respect

Symbols

The conch shellPiggy’s glassesthe signal firethe beastThe fireFace paint

Introduction

A group of school boys end up on a deserted island without adults after their plane crashes. They try to govern themselves and maintain civility.

Chapter 1 Characters

Bill, Robert, Harold, Henry: Generic members of Jack’s choir

Jack Merridew: Leader of the choir. Tall, thin, red-haired, charismatic. He rivals Ralph’s leadership qualities.

Johnny: First boy to respond to conch.Maurice: Member of Jack’s choir.

Second in height to Jack.Piggy: Fat, thickly bespectacled, has

asthma, wears glasses, and is intelligent.

Chapter 1 CharactersRalph: Twelve years old. Tall, athletic,

fair-haired. A natural leader. He first meets Piggy, but likes Jack.

Roger: A strange, secretive boy. Member of Jack’s choir.

Sam and Eric (Samneric): Identical twins. Bullet-headed and robust. They do everything together.

Simon: A pale boy, prone to epileptic seizures. Also a member of Jack’s choir.

Chapter 1 “The Sound of the Shell” (pages 1-31) Summary

Ralph and Piggy met on an island after their plane caring a group of boys crashes. They were fleeing a war. Their plane was attacked and crashes on an island. While they were in the air, they heard that an atomic bomb exploded in England. Nuclear war is happening.

Chapter 1 SummaryThey find a conch shell and Ralph blows into

it like a trumpet. It calls all the boys from the jungle and no adults survive. The boys are between the ages of 6 – 12. Ralph is the oldest and biggest (age 12). A choir comes out of the jungle lead by Jack. The boys vote on a chief and elect Ralph. He’s beautiful and seems to be a natural leader. He is also holding the conch. Jack is not happy and is humiliated. Ralph likes him and wants to be his friend so he places him in charge of the choir and they will be hunters.

Chapter 1 Summary

Simon, Jack, and Ralph explore the island and confirm that they are on an island. They discover that there are pigs on the island. Jack attempts to kill the pig, but hesitates and the pig escapes. Jack vows to have no mercy next time.

Chapter 2 “Fire on the Mountain”(pages 32-47) New CharacterBoy with the mulberry-colored

birthmark – not identified by name because, at the time, Piggy had failed to get the names of all of the boys. His birthmark is a strikingly noticeable feature, however. That is why the boys notice he is missing after the fire.

Chapter 2 Summary

Ralph calls a meeting and tells everyone that they are on an island and no one knows where they are, but it’s a good island with food, water, and pigs they can hunt. Hells the boys that they will have meetings and whoever holds the conch has the right to speak. The conch becomes an important symbol in the book representing civilization and order.

Chapter 2 SummaryA timid, shy boy take the conch and ask

Ralph what he is going to do about the beastie, snake-like creature. Ralph says there is no beastie and Jack says they will hunt for it and kill it. This moment is the root of most of the evil of the book, because the beast does not go away. The boys can either deal with the beastie rationally like Ralph and say there is no beast or like Jack and say we are a tribe and are strong enough to kill the beastie.

Chapter 2 SummaryRalph tells the boys that they need to build

a small fire on the mountain to signal ships so they can be rescued. The group becomes rushes off and builds a large fire using Piggy’s glasses that quickly gets out of hand and burns down a large section of the island. Piggy rebukes the boys for being out of control and acting childish. He points out that the small boy with the mulberry stain birthmark is missing. No one every sees him again.

Chapter 3 “Huts on the Beach”Pages 48-57

Which is more important, building shelter or hunting?

What happens when others do not pull their weight or help?

Ralph and Jack disagree and become enemies in this chapter. Why?

Simon’s disposition is exposed.(Loner, odd to some, and likes to be alone to think)

Video clip from Castaway with Tom Hanks:https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP2P8mhif-g&index=5&list=PLqg9ukix6MVbARIojwcTB5FQ-voe_i5fl

Chapter 3 “Huts on the Beach”Pages 48-57

Summary of Chapter 3:https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=goaXwjn8b2U&index=2&list=PLqg9ukix6MVbARIojwcTB5FQ-voe_i5fl

Chapter 3 “Huts on the Beach”Pages 48-57 Summary

Jack, alone on a pig hunt, has clearly learned some tracking techniques. Frustrated that his day's hunt has ended yet again without a kill, he returns from the jungle to the area where Ralph and Simon work on building shelters.

Ralph expresses his frustration: Although all the boys have agreed to help build shelters, only Simon actually puts in the time and effort alongside Ralph. All the other boys are off playing, bathing, or hunting with Jack, even though Jack and his hunters have failed so far to produce meat. Ralph emphasizes the need for sturdy shelters, while Jack insists that he and the other boys need meat and tries to explain his compulsion to hunt. This difference — and the undercurrent of rancor — makes both boys uncomfortable given the relationship that had sprung up between them on the first day's exploring adventure.

Also in this chapter, a new side of Simon is revealed. He has a secret place in the jungle, a sort of hut formed by vines, boulders, and trees. After helping Ralph with the shelters all day, he sneaks off to this shelter, pausing first to help the littluns gather some choice fruit and making sure that he hasn't been followed.

Chapter 4 “Painted Faces and Long Hair”Pages Summary

Jack begins hunting with a makeshift spear, but is unsuccessful. When he returns to the others, he sees Ralph and Simon working on building huts that keep falling over. The rest of the boys seem uninterested in helping out. This disinterest bothers Ralph and worries him at the same time. He tries to talk to Jack about his fears, and Jack is only interested in hunting and doesn’t care what Ralph has to say.

Ralph accuses Jack and the choir boys of avoiding work with the excuse of “hunting” even though they’ve not been successful. Hostility grows between Ralph and Jack, and this conflict grows throughout the novel.

Simon wanders along in the jungle and discovers a thick jungle glade (a peaceful open space full of flowers, birds and butterflies).

Chapter 3 “Huts on the Beach”Pages 48-57 Summary

Jack begins hunting with a makeshift spear, but is unsuccessful. When he returns to the others, he sees Ralph and Simon working on building huts that keep falling over. The rest of the boys seem uninterested in helping out. This disinterest bothers Ralph and worries him at the same time. He tries to talk to Jack about his fears, and Jack is only interested in hunting and doesn’t care what Ralph has to say.

Ralph accuses Jack and the choir boys of avoiding work with the excuse of “hunting” even though they’ve not been successful. Hostility grows between Ralph and Jack, and this conflict grows throughout the novel.

Simon wanders along in the jungle and discovers a thick jungle glade (a peaceful open space full of flowers, birds and butterflies).

Simon symbolizes a kind of internal, spiritual human goodness. He is a moral character who tries to seek out the good. He retreats to his own “island getaway” that is a

beautiful, serene glade on the island to clear his thoughts.

Biblical Parallels

Simon’s glade symbolizes Garden of Eden. Eventually it is corrupted with evil (just as the Biblical Eden) with the sow’s head (The Lord of the Flies) on a spear.

Simon has a vision of The Lord of the Flies (Beelzebub—a powerful demon in hell sometimes thought to be Satan) speaking to him (This parallels the confrontation between Jesus and the devil during Jesus’ forth days in the wilderness).

Chapter 3 “Huts on the Beach”Pages 48-57 Summary

“Chapter Four” Notes

Life falls into a rhythm. Days are happy, but as the sun goes down the island becomes scary and the kids are all anxious—especially the little-uns. They have bad dreams and talk about the “beastie” and fear that they are being hunted at night.

Roger emerges as a bully who torments the little-uns. He represents brutality and bloodlust at its most extreme.

Jack begins to wear camouflage and becomes obsessed with killing a pig. Ralph and Piggy see a ship on the horizon and notice that the signal fire has gone out. They are furious with Jack’s lack of care for the fire. All he and his hunters care about is hunting, and so far it’s not been successful. The hunters are supposed to keep the fire lit.

When Jack returns with the hunters, they are all crazed and covered with blood from finally killing a pig. They barely hear Ralph as he yells at them about letting the fire go out. After Piggy whines about them being irresponsible, Jack hits him and this causes a fight between Ralph and Jack. It is here that Jack’s friendly feelings toward Ralph turn to resentment.

At this point of the novel, the society on the island resembles a political state:

Little-uns represent the common people/peasants (little to no rights)

Older Boys represent the ruling classes and political leaders.

Jack represents a dictator who uses fear and manipulation to grow his tribe.

Ralph represents a democratic leader who tries to keep order and use voting to make decisions.

Two conceptions of power emerge on the island: Civilization and Savagery

These two powers represent the main conflict on the island.

Civilization represents the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires. The characters who make up this group are Ralph, Piggy, Simon, Sam and Eric.

Savagery represents the instinct to act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. The characters who make up this group are Jack, Choir Boys, Roger, (Sam and Eric are forced to join), and the little-uns who join for protection.

Golding implies that the instinct of savagery is more primal and fundamental to the human psyche than the instinct of civilization.