Lord of the Flies is a renowed classic by William Golding, published in 1954. It’s his first novel, and has received multiple awards, for example the Nobel Prize. The book may be described as allegorical novel, since it tells a story about group of British boys who have stranded on a desolated, trophical island. With no grown-ups on the island, they tried to establish rules and goals, which didn’t work out for the boys and they became literal savages.
Ralph was one of the main characters, being the protagonist. He was voted to be the Chief and make the important decisions. Ralph expected to be rescued shortly, and not to be on the island forever. They decided to make a fire and keep it up the whole time for the passing ships to see them. However there was a large difference between the boys and it became impossible for Ralph to keep the boys together and do the things agreed in an assembly.
Piggy was another important character. The rest of the boys didn’t place much value on him: he was obese, had an asthma, accent, specs and avoided physical labour. Yet he had very valuable opinions and was a dear companion of Ralph. Also his specs were the only way a fire can be lit.
Jack Merridew can be called the antagonist: he and the rest of the choir were the Hunters, fetching meat for the others. He felt as if the island was a game, and didn’t want to be rescued as badly as Ralph. There was a clear conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist: Ralph favoured common sense and keeping the fire going, whereas Jack preferred the brilliant world of hunting together and exploring.
From this on, several crisises occurred which ultimately led to the total collapse of the British boys’ moral, common sense and brotherhood. Most important one was the scattering to two camps: Jack’s party and Ralph’s party. It is evident that Jack’s party was all about hunting, savagery and having fun. On the other hand, Ralph stuck to his guns and refused to act like a savage, tried to convince everybody that the fire was the most important thing. Following after this, on the heat of the moment, the boys together commited one of the bloodiest acts, which I wish to not spoil. Towards the climax, killing continues, more gruesome acts are done and it seems that all the British knowledge and morals the boys had, vanished on the island. Fast-approaching climax is bloody, warsome, exciting and devastating.
Even though William Golding managed to create very interesting and compelling plot, still his language and the milieu are very beautifully written and described. He doesn’t outright take the reader into excitement and folly, there were also some very harmonious moments and at first the island seemed like a nice place, where I longed to be at. At times, the boys experienced the great feeling of truly belonging in a group, and they had certain goals, aiming to accomplish them. Lastly, the island and the story are convincing and very realistic, despite being fiction.
Story is told more like looking trough the characters’ eyes and expressing their thoughts, portraying the events by how they see. That’s why there are many hidden meanings and if not reading carefully, reader may misunderstand a point. Sometimes the narrator is omniscient, revealing major details which the boys have no idea of. William’s writing style is very pleasing, and he succeeded in creating a rich world and great characters.
In conclusion, I am grateful for reading such an awesome book. Lord of the Flies deserves its place as a classic. The theme of the book is the disintegration of the boys’ little society and darkness of man’s heart. I felt compassionate for the characters, and couldn’t understand why the story reached such a tragic climax. Afterwards, it seemed like the boys were having a game, but without adults and took it much too seriously.I will keep the book close to my heart, since the questions Lord of the Flies raises, are very relevant to this day.