At the end of the novel the Naval Officer says, "I know. Jolly good show, like The Coral Island." Why did Golding choose to end the novel with such a mistaken view?

Golding's use of irony in the novel's last chapter complicates the boundaries between civilisation and savagery, implying that the two are more closely connected than the story has illustrated. After all, the boys' appalling savagery brings about the rescue that their most co-ordinated and purposive efforts were unable to achieve. Still, many readers of Lord of the Flies have criticised its ending, feeling that Ralph's death would have provided a more appropriate conclusion to this dark novel.

It is certainly true that the biting irony permeating Golding's characterisation of the naval officer—who is unable to understand how upstanding British lads could have acted with such poor form—is tonally inconsistent with the dramatic register of the rest of the book. In other words, his appearance is somewhat anti-climactic. But it is important to recognise that the novel's ending is not particularly happy, and that the moment in which the officer encounters the boys is not one of pure, untainted joy. The "civilised" officer adds further irony to the scene, as he is part of an adult world in which violence and war coexist with civilisation and social order. He reacts to the savage children with disgust, yet this disgust is tinged with hypocrisy. Similarly, the children are so shocked by the officer's presence, and are now psychologically so far removed from his world, that they do not instantly celebrate his arrival. Rather, they stand there baffled and bewildered. Even Ralph, whose life has literally been saved by the presence of the ship, weeps tears of grief rather than joy. "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Piggy." For Ralph, as for the other boys, nothing can ever be as it was before coming to the island of the Lord of the Flies.

        This conclusion is not just a trick to make a happy ending; it serves a deeper purpose.  We are asked to compare Golding's novel with Coral Island, which was another book with a similar background to this novel. It is also about boys on an island, but instead of turning savage like in Lord of the Flies these boys convert savages that are already on the island into Christians. This gross misinterpretation by the officer shows that society refused to see the evil inside us all. This ending shows that the officer represents society and it's lack of willingness to address evil. " 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."

By Sarah Du Cassé