Riot’s Classic Literature Review: Lord of The Flies
Lord of The Flies, much like Moby Dick, was one of those titles that I was slightly ashamed about not having read this far into my lifetime. References to this book are extensive to say the least. I even fondly recall a Simpsons parody episode that did a hilarious job retelling the events of this story. Written by William Golding and first published in 1954, the message and themes behind Lord of The Flies have pervaded their way into movies, television, and other literature ever since. After the tedious, 450-page monstrosity that my previous reading was, this was an extremely refreshing 200-page novel that read at a fast clip; no antiquated speak, no tangents, just a well-written linear story.
Synopsis: Knowing just how prevalent the story is, I’ll keep things as brief as possible. Set during World War II, a plane filled with English schoolboys is shot down and crash lands on a deserted island. The reader is immediately introduced to two of the prominent characters, Ralph and Piggy who, with some persuasion, try to make the best of the terrible situation by organizing the survivors of the crash. The band of kids (a few of which do so begrudgingly) elect Ralph as their chief and create a fundamental rule centered around a conch shell that maintains two functions: 1) to call a meeting and 2) to give authority to its holder to speak and be listened to. The organizing of the children’s “functioning” society falls victim to segregating as all societies do; kids are separated by age groups (“biguns” and “littleuns”), jobs are designated or chosen, and Piggy is singled out frequently for tormenting/name calling, the irony of which is lost on the others as they are completely reliant on his glasses for their ability to create fire. For a brief time, the boys are still able to accomplish things that lend to their survival like: building shelters, keeping a signal fire going for rescue, and foraging/hunting for food.
Things take a drastic turn for the worst when the hunting party, led by a boy named Jack Merridew, ignores their maintenance of the signal fire in favor of killing their first pig, subsequently inhibiting potential rescue by a passing ship. Seeds of tension begin to sprout in earnest between Jack and Ralph as they begin to argue more frequently about leadership tactics and what is more important to their survival. One night, unbeknownst to the boys, an airplane battle occurs above them and a parachuting, deceased pilot lands on the island near the signal fire location. Irrational fear settles into the group, as multiple boys bear witness to the dead pilot but misinterpret what it actually is, choosing instead to believe that some mythical beast is plaguing their island. The encounter with the “beast” tips the scale for Jack’s frustration with leadership, who tries to force a vote in favor of his taking over as chief. When none of the others take him up on the offer, Jack storms off to create his own tribe and slowly begins to convince others to join by offering the thrills of hunting, food, and fun. As order continues its descent into chaos, Jack’s growing tribe begins to do increasingly more “savage” things: they stop wearing articles of clothing, they paint their faces and bodies, and they even mount a pig’s head on a pike in the middle of the island’s forest as an offering to the “beast.”
One day, while exploring an area he used as a hiding place, one of Ralph’s loyal company (Simon) finds the rotting severed head. Hallucinating, he has a brief dialogue with the head, bestowing it with the title “Lord of The Flies” and discussing the real nature of the “beast” of the island; the children themelves. After Simon discovers the truth behind the dead pilot, he tries to warn the rest of the group. Meanwhile, Ralph and Piggy had journeyed to Jack’s side of the island to try and make peace between the two groups. In the ensuing chaos of the tribalistic meeting, Simon emerges from the shadows and is promptly beaten to death by the entire group who mistake Simon for their mythical “beast.” Haunted by their actions, Ralph and Piggy return to their camp and try to maintain their goal; keeping the signal fire going. Jack, convinced that the ability to create fire is the real power behind society, raids Ralph’s camp and steals Piggy’s glasses. Left with such few numbers, Ralph leads Piggy, Sam, and Eric back to Jack’s camp to try and get the glasses back. Piggy brings the conch shell with him, hoping that the boys will be reminded to abide by the rules again and that peace can be restored.
The remaining events are a series of increasingly horrifying incidents. Piggy is murdered by one of Jack’s crew, the act of which symbolically destroys the conch shell in the process. Sam and Eric are captured and tortured until they join up with Jack’s group. And a fleeing Ralph is slowly hunted around the island by Jack and his increasingly savage followers. Ralph narrowly escapes being crushed to death, he stabs one of his pursuers when they get too close to catching him, and he stays ahead of Jack’s group as they burn down the forest in their search. During his last ditch effort to get away, Ralph trips and falls at the feet of a uniformed, British officer who was alerted to the island by the enormous flames that were consuming it. As the hunting party emerges from the forest, the last moments of the book are a dialogue between Ralph and the officer who chides him and the entire group for descending so far into such feral behavior. All of the boys erupt into fits of crying, not in relief of being rescued, but in shame over what they have done.
Themes: It’s a true testament to Golding’s writing that he was able to explore so many powerful themes in such a limited amount of time. Although when the commentary is about what it takes to create a functioning society, it’s easy to find a number of different arguments and tangents that can fit into the overall narrative.
Civilization vs. Savagery: The most pervasive theme by far, Golding explores the battle between civilization and savagery in terrifying detail. It’s easy to understand that children and pre-adolescent boys would undoubtedly struggle at maintaining a functioning society, but Golding’s story points toward a problem that modern society takes for granted: it is insanely complex and incomprehensibly difficult to keep it running. The goals that Ralph and Piggy help set in place are almost immediately ignored by the rest of the group in favor of “fun” activities. Jack’s descent (like most of the boys) into savagery seems fairly slow but almost inevitable considering the circumstances. While it would be easy to say that most of the break downs in functionality come from the immaturity of the main characters, I am loath to admit that being the main reason behind this commentary. The boys as they are described, have much broader introspective assessments of their emotions than seems realistic for that age. As I read it, I often imagined that adults, placed in the same situation, would inevitably devolve in the same ways (i.e. stories like Lost show this). Although I didn’t watch past the first season, I immediately thought of the show while reading. In this book, the boy’s inability to stay focused on the tasks that would ensure survival is more indicative of human nature than it is of immaturity. Civilization (Society) continues to impossibly function because of thousands of conscious actions to not give into the savagery of nature, setting aside the individual so that the collective can benefit together.
Inherent Evil: This is a complex idea/theme to deal with and I’m certain there are countless people who would disagree with its very premise. The book explores inherent evil in a way that identifies how the struggle against it affects the way individuals function in society. For Golding, “savagery” is inherent evil and it is constantly working to take over. As one example, the boys face a societal problem: people need to eat to survive. Now, Golding makes it clear that the island’s forest had enough plants and fruit available for the group to sustain themselves. The boys simply wanted/desired meat, something the island also had plenty of in the form of wild pigs. Obtaining the meat required hunting, which turned into killing, which turned into bloodlust, and inevitably turned into murder. (Now that I think about it, was Golding also making a case for vegetarianism? Haha) The titular Lord of The Flies, the mounted pig head that spoke with Simon, advises/warns him that the humans were in fact the real beasts of the island. Simon, in being able to clarify that the dead pilot is not the mythical “beast,” identifies how irrational fears snowball into increasingly horrific actions. When left to their own devices, humans can be quick to descend into basic evils and in Jack’s case, the lust for power.
Dangers of Groupthink and Segregation: The struggle to maintain one solid civilization leads to the forming of groups based on purpose and tasks. Of course, this is a natural process that occurs when forming a society, ex: police, doctors, firefighters, farmers, etc. But Golding ensures the readers understand how easy groupthink and mob mentality settle into these systems, highlighting just how dangerous it really is. Jack’s pigeonholed identity as “hunter” is something he spreads to his loyal followers, ensuring that they inevitably forget all other aspects of their survival, or more importantly, their rescue. Segregating their group even simply by age terminology helped lead to increasing resentment from the older kids, who were reluctant to take responsibility for the younger ones. Having nearly the entire group indoctrinated into one hunter function predictably led to the boys spending the entire final moments hunting one of their own.
Final Thoughts: Lord of The Flies tragically has become another one of those books like 1984 that has developed into a fulfilled prophecy in a lot of ways. The events of the last year and the early insanity of 2021 should remind us just how difficult it is to maintain a functioning society, much less ones that are on the kind of scale that exists today. Golding’s warnings stand the test of time: humans are inherently beasts and left to their individual devices, chaos reigns. We currently live in incredibly strange times where the subjective experience is being placed in such high esteem that the experience of others is forced to take the back seat. Simultaneously, identity politics and groupthink is rapidly spreading unchecked, causing people to line up into factions that almost resemble prison-yard turf wars. It’s a struggle to even make sense out of it all because of how contradictory these patterns are. Like the boys of the island, finger-pointing and division reign more and more each day. And like the two reasonable, middle-ground voices (Piggy and Simon), moderate arguments are silenced by the irrationally loud voices/actions of mobs. There’s obviously no easy answer but I think that Golding encourages a shift in attitude on the part of the individual, one that takes responsibility for not only the preservation of self, but also the preservation of the collective. We so easily take things for granted in modern society. The immense complexity of even turning on a light should make us all gasp in awe. If we could stop arguing and take an in-depth look around at what people have built together, the possibilities for improvement would be astronomical. But that involves taking a step back and making responsible choices that don’t leave the well-being of others out of the equation. I am sadly uncertain that our society is willing to do this and like the boys of the novel, that may inevitably be our downfall. The problem is, there isn’t anybody that will come to our rescue in the end. We have to put the work in ourselves.
Riot’s Rating: 9.5/10: Intense/Amazing read, would recommend to anyone. Only problem I had at times was following who was speaking. The informal speech of the kids and broken sentences often made them blur together.