The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Copyright 1954 Faber and Faber
Audience – High school students
Summary: This book is about a group of young boys who are stranded on an island. The young boys were the only survivors of a plane crash over the ocean. They were elementary age with a group of even younger boys. Without having supervision, the boys try to come up with a plan to survive. Ultimatly, the group of boys split into two different groups, the hunters and the builders. Instead of working together, the groups actually start to fight and compete against each other. During their time on the island, some lives are lost and some boys do things they thought they never would.
Themes:
Civilization: Threw out the book, the boys are trying to use their little known civilization ideas to survive. Some boys think it is a good idea, some believe you have to be savages to survive in the nature. Then through the different situations you can see that there isn’t really a clean line between civilization and savagery.
“The boys found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable.” Chapter 9
Innocence Loss: The boys are stranded on the island at such a young age. They don’t truly understand how the real world works. They have all relied on their parents or adult figures to tell them what is right or wrong in the past and now they have to make these huge decisions on their own. They are thrown into not only an adult life style but an adult life style that not even their parents are aware about.
"You can take spears if you want but I shan't. What's the good? I'll have to be led like a dog, anyhow. Yes, laugh. Go on, laugh. There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened? What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered” Chapter 11
Reaction: This book was my favorite in high school. Not only did it keep me interested to see what these young boys would do in such a terrible situation, but there are so many oppurtunities to understand the underlying story or details the author is trying to tell the reader. I learned a lot about symbolism and themes with this particular book. There are so many items on the island that symbolize civilized life. Also the themes and ideas about civilization and savagery intrigued me and made it an easier concept to learn. I now read books and know that basically everything has some sort of hidden meaning. It was like a game for me to find.
Copyright 1954 Faber and Faber
Audience – High school students
Summary: This book is about a group of young boys who are stranded on an island. The young boys were the only survivors of a plane crash over the ocean. They were elementary age with a group of even younger boys. Without having supervision, the boys try to come up with a plan to survive. Ultimatly, the group of boys split into two different groups, the hunters and the builders. Instead of working together, the groups actually start to fight and compete against each other. During their time on the island, some lives are lost and some boys do things they thought they never would.
Themes:
Civilization: Threw out the book, the boys are trying to use their little known civilization ideas to survive. Some boys think it is a good idea, some believe you have to be savages to survive in the nature. Then through the different situations you can see that there isn’t really a clean line between civilization and savagery.
“The boys found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society. They were glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that hemmed in the terror and made it governable.” Chapter 9
Innocence Loss: The boys are stranded on the island at such a young age. They don’t truly understand how the real world works. They have all relied on their parents or adult figures to tell them what is right or wrong in the past and now they have to make these huge decisions on their own. They are thrown into not only an adult life style but an adult life style that not even their parents are aware about.
"You can take spears if you want but I shan't. What's the good? I'll have to be led like a dog, anyhow. Yes, laugh. Go on, laugh. There's them on this island as would laugh at anything. And what happened? What's grown-ups goin' to think? Young Simon was murdered” Chapter 11
Reaction: This book was my favorite in high school. Not only did it keep me interested to see what these young boys would do in such a terrible situation, but there are so many oppurtunities to understand the underlying story or details the author is trying to tell the reader. I learned a lot about symbolism and themes with this particular book. There are so many items on the island that symbolize civilized life. Also the themes and ideas about civilization and savagery intrigued me and made it an easier concept to learn. I now read books and know that basically everything has some sort of hidden meaning. It was like a game for me to find.