The Lord of the Flies has won a Nobel Prize, obviously very few books get this award and it is only gained if the standard of writing is better than any other book of its time. This means that it will teach students to write in the right format and give them a basis for their future writing. Many people say that the Lord of the Flies is too violent and depressing to have students study, but they are obviously living a sheltered life. William Golding didn’t omit realisms, for example he didn’t cut out Piggy and Simons death, the reason he didn’t is because this happens in society, not literally but similar circumstances occur. By having realisms like this, it makes the book much better and more realistic than say ‘Harry Potter’. The Lord of the Flies is no more violent or depressing than watching the news, it takes it a step further and makes people realize what is needed in a stable society, it attempts to stop the horror that is happening on the news. William Golding wants to show that society must depend on ethical nature and not on a political system because the political system only exists for society.
Ralph and Piggy showed responsibility, they happened to be the only ones who had a bigger outlook on life and the only ones not to go insane. Ralph and Piggy didn’t just ‘live for the moment’, looking into the big picture is a valuable lesson for students of the future and today. Golding shows that personal identity is needed from the way everyone lost their identity, they were separated into groups, which was either the ‘littluns’ or the ‘biguns’ and Sam and Eric became seen as one identity. Teaching students that a flawed society will lead to people’s behavior going back to savagery will not only give the leaders of tomorrow the right values, it will give them a reason to use their power in the right way.
An issue in the Lord of the Flies is power. There are different types of power in which some are used in the right way and some are abused. Democratic power is shown by the way that Ralph lets everyone have a chance to speak when they have the conch shell. Jack was the dictator because he used brute force, for example the beating’s he gave when his tribe did the wrong thing. The hunters also used brute force, especially when hunting Ralph. The boy's fear of the unknown on the island leads to their fear of the beast. William Golding said, “The recognition that no real beast exists, and that the only beast on the island is fear itself is one of the deepest meanings of the story” surely this must mean something for everyone. Piggy is blind to his immediate surroundings when he loses his glasses, however he understands more about their situation than anyone else does. Unfortunately, because of the gang’s shallow mindedness he is treated poorly and is eventually killed. These issues are more intriguing and interesting than any other book that could possibly replace the Lord of the Flies.
The island is a microcosm of society; it is a small-scale world in which William Golding represented the things that were going on in society at the time. However Golding wrote the novel in the time of war, which is why the book is loosely based around World War two. Goldings attempt to explain the psychology of Nazi Germany is the biggest representation in the novel because it IS the novel. For example Hitler (Ralph) used his supreme power to control ordinary people (the rest of the gang) so that they stopped acting responsibly as individuals and depended more and more on him.
The Lord of the Flies isn’t just another book; it shows valuable morals and issues that you can’t find in any other novel. History is intertwined with the Lord of the Flies, which just adds to the list of reasons why not to delete this novel from the curriculum. This book is more than just an action/adventure novel, it combines history, values and morals to create the best book in the Chanel College Curriculum. Why fix something that isn’t broken?