Book Review: Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding

Originally Published In: 1954

Read in: October 2009

Poor Piggy. Lord of the Flies is an interesting study in human nature. This was one of the many books I missed out on in high school. I recall my friend Susan mentioning reading the book and I always thought it had something to do with corn (maybe Children of the Corn?). My interest was sparked this year when I realized that a lot of my patrons read and like the book. It was also mentioned on this show which I thought I wouldn't like, but ended up a follower anyway.

The story takes place on a remote island. A plane crashes leaving only British school children as survivors. No adults. The survivors must find a way to summon outside help and also create a society of their own. Ralph, a blonde-haired boy is the first elected leader. His right hand man is a chubby boy named Piggy (although he doesn't want to be called that) who is constantly picked on even in this new situation. He wants the boys to have fun, build shelter, and build a fire to summon help. Jack, whose choir boy group becomes the hunters of the pack, becomes Ralph's main adversary. Jack and his pack of hunters become increasingly insane when a corpse on the island is mistaken as a beast, resulting and crazy rituals and even more serious occurrences.

I liked this book, although I expected to like it more than I did. The book is very allegorical, so I think I would have understood all of its nuances had I read it in a class rather than on my own. Overall, I'm glad I read it and now I can understand all of those pop culture references to the book!