lord of the flies
Psychological, Fiction (1954)
Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (261 pages)
Above all else, I’m happy to finally be able to say I’ve seen the source material for Lost (and every other plane crash/deserted island story that exists). It’s totally awesome.
In wait for my trip to the bookstore on Monday, I decided to pick up a classic that's been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read: Lord of the Flies by William Golding. About 26 hours later, I am happy to report that I can still knock out a fifteen-year old’s summer reading assignment in just under two days. Still got it.
To start, I was pleasantly surprised by the comprehensibility of the novel despite its post-retirement age. I flew through the prose, but every so often caught on a sentence that forced me to pause and digest (and admire the writing).
“Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an ape.”
I don’t have a lot to say in terms of a plot summary or dissection of the themes that hasn't been taught in high schools, except to suggest there are three arguable protagonists (that believe in mankind’s inherent good) proving the perseverance of the human spirit in even the most strenuous conditions, which of course was no match for a pointy stick and a bunch of satanic six-year olds, but oh well. Beneath the social critique umbrella, we also explore themes of bullying, authority, justice, friendship, and truth.
I appreciated that the character’s backstories were left out of the novel, spare for Ralph's. I think his coming from a privileged and educated background (with a Naval officer as a father) was an important detail to divulge, as it makes his battle with accepting responsibility and decision-making, as well as compassion and balancing friendships with useful alliances, all the more complex and rewarding.
Ralph was an excellent protagonist. I can see how a younger person reading this might see Ralph as mature, intelligent, and a prime candidate for chief, but as a young adult, I observed how Ralph felt both sub-textually and literally and unequipped to lead at every point in the story. He writhes under the weight of leadership, despite being surrounded by books, knowledge, and adults his entire home life. The island, by contrast, is the first place he has truly made to think for himself, to decide, to be relied on for the good of a group of people. The pressure of this role builds throughout the novel until it breaks him. He acknowledges Piggy’s intelligence, but refuses to uplift him in a way that would comprise his position as chief. He makes emotional and rash decisions. He starts fights with his cohorts in front of the littleuns. Ralph isn't an evil person or a bad leader, he isn’t even a good person or a good leader, he’s just a kid. At no point in the story does he fully feel ready or capable to accept the role of “boss”, but when he is asked at the end of the novel by the officer who the boss is, he takes the role on as it was chosen for him in the beginning. The survivors at the end of the story even silently acknowledge his position by not opposing him, and cry with him as they regress back into children. Ralph’s journey and progression throughout the novel amazed me, and it was a joy to analyze that from the perspective of an adult, understanding just how young, vulnerable, yet self-aware he was.
I like the fact that the mystery is never solved for the boys of who the beast truly was. Simon is the only one to both meet the titular Lord of the Flies and to discover that the “beast” was never really a beast at all, but a fallen soldier in a parachute. This makes his death all the more unsatisfying, as we’re left wondering what he might have said to the boys had he been allowed to live. What might have occurred if the boys learned the beast wasn’t real? Would they believe him? Would they have killed him anyway to preserve their new way of life? Who knows! But, I'd venture a guess that they would have killed him either way, as by that point in the story, the tribe was leaned in Jack’s favor and the plans for a rescue had been all but abandoned.
I found the deaths shocking, not because I didn’t know they would happen, but due to the pack-violence that led to them and the gruesome details that followed. Simon being mistaken for the beast and stabbed paralleling the death of the sow left me on the edge of my seat. I deeply enjoyed the foreshadowing of “maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us,” in two ways, both in the children's resorting to animalistic violence and in that Simon technically created the beast in his mind (making him the beast). I also found value in Piggy’s death via the conch and his fall being symbolic of his attachment to authority. He held onto the conch the entire story as a symbol for justice, as he likely felt for the first time in his life while on the island that his voice mattered for something, if only to soothe the group during times of turmoil. Ralph being chased and hunted with the practiced formation by the hunters (a group technically instated under his leadership) like a pig was very moving, and the imagery detailing that entire section was astounding.
I’m not surprised this book is used to teach young readers about symbolism. It’s a masterclass in foreshadowing, descriptive imagery, metaphor, symbolism, effective storytelling, and a truly sick and twisted plot twist.
I’ll be thinking about this book for a long, long time.
“He forgot his wounds, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet, rushing through the forest toward the open beach.”
. . .
(This review was originally written in June 2024.)