Lord of the Flies

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“Lord of the Flies” is a captivating novel by William Golding. It tells the story of a group of young British evacuees who, following a plane crash during a fictional war, are stranded on a deserted, tropical island. There are no surviving adults to take care of them so  the boys have to think for themselves, be responsible for themselves, and try to find a way to attract attention so they can be rescued. They work well together until their miniature society and sense of moral law and order goes downhill and a division in the group appears. The main themes explored in the novel are the loss of innocence and the conflict between civilisation and savagery.  

The main character, Ralph, and Piggy, a fat boy with asthma and glasses, are the first characters to be introduced in the novel. While looking around and trying to discover what has happened they come across a conch shell. This is the first founding of order on the island. Piggy explains that the conch is a very valuable shell and can be used as a horn. Ralph uses to call an assembly with all the boys on the island.

During the meeting the boys discuss what has happened and what to do next. A new character, Jack Merridew is introduced along with his choir. He is an arrogant, blunt and self-centred choir leader who puts himself forward for the position of chief of the group. However, Ralph is democratically voted chief instead and to keep him happy, Jack is given command of his choir to be used as hunters.

The conch becomes a prominent representation of order, as the boys cannot present their thoughts at a meeting unless they are holding it. It is a symbol of the democratic society the boys represent and the order they associate with it. Ralph decides that in order to be rescued then they must create a signal fire at the top of the island’s mountain in the hope that a passing ship will see the smoke and rescue them. They quickly build a large fire on the side of the mountain and use Piggy’s glasses to set light to it. They build the fire so big that it swiftly gets out of control and burns half the mountain down. One of the little boys, referred to as ‘the boy with the birthmark’ as nobody knows his real name, vanishes after the fire, presumably he has been killed in the fire. This is a big indication of the order deteriorating, and how lacking the boys are in maturity, their lack of awareness and how much of a danger they are to themselves.

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The Littleuns (the smaller boys) begin to have nightmares about a beast, and this unsettles all of the boys. The problem is discussed at various assemblies. Ralph also insists that improvements must me made to make their time on the island more civilised. He suggests building shelters for them to sleep in and to protect them from the monsoons, but due to the boys deficiency of self-motivation nothing they decide on at the assemblies gets any serious work done on it. He works with the intelligent observations and rational ideas that Piggy comes up with. Piggy becomes something close ...

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