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William Golding: Lord Of The Flies

Clementine13 said:
Now I'm wondering what would happen if there was an island of schoolgirls.
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Ohhhh! Interesting. It would have been different. Probably just as disturbing, but in a different way.

*thinks*

One or more of the girls would have killed themselves. The others would have driven them to it.

The violence would be more emotional than physical.

Or am I just thinking in stereotypes?

Hmm.
 
But I think you're right, Kristo. While stereotypes are not foolproof facts for determining people's characters it is quite likely that a majority of the girls in such a scenario would indeed be skilled in emotional warfare - also known as The Art of Being a Girl" :p
 
I'm reading this book currently. I wish I could've read it when I was younger, it would have been much more revelational and I would've enjoyed it more. It's still really interesting, but it just reinforces what I think. Strange to say, but this book reminds me of the book "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. It's kind of the same savage jungle, and there's always a beast lurking around, but it's not an animal but a human that's the beast.
 
I read this book about four years ago, I think, and liked it. I probably should read it again now and still see if I like it the same or more. Having been forced to analyze many things for college, I could probably appreciate it more than I did at that time.
 
I just finished reading this book. It's really nice how the story seems as a simple book about kids on an island but can be examined for its symbolism to include much more. One thing I was puzzled about though was the beast, and if it was a real beast, a metaphor, or something else. At first I thought it was an actual person because there was a mention of a parachute and everything, then later on I thought it might've been a giant gorilla. Can someone clear that for me?
 
ecks said:
I just finished reading this book. It's really nice how the story seems as a simple book about kids on an island but can be examined for its symbolism to include much more. One thing I was puzzled about though was the beast, and if it was a real beast, a metaphor, or something else. At first I thought it was an actual person because there was a mention of a parachute and everything, then later on I thought it might've been a giant gorilla. Can someone clear that for me?
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I might be wrong on this as it's ages since I read it, but I think the beast was literally the dead body of the pilot entangled in his parachute, but only Simon actually finds this out. It must be metaphorical as well, the idea of worshipping a beast and 'the Lord of the Flies' being another name for the devil etc, to show how barbaric the children have become. I'm sure we were told in high school that Simon is a Christ-like figure as he is sacrificed so that would all tie in as well...
 
Mike said:
Did you know the "The Lord of the Flies" is from the Arabic Baal- Zebub , Beelzebub one of the manifestations of the Devil? . I found that in the notes!!
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There is more information regarding this name (Beelzebub) in a wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebub

The translation of this book title into Hebrew is also straight forward: "baal zvuv", (meaning lord-of-the flies :) ) all know what it means but not many where it comes from (which is first mentioned in 2 Kings 1.2–3,6,16 and later on also in a new testament)
 
ecks said:
I just finished reading this book. It's really nice how the story seems as a simple book about kids on an island but can be examined for its symbolism to include much more. One thing I was puzzled about though was the beast, and if it was a real beast, a metaphor, or something else. At first I thought it was an actual person because there was a mention of a parachute and everything, then later on I thought it might've been a giant gorilla. Can someone clear that for me?
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Of course that creature was a dead pilot. But the kids imagined there were something mighty & evil there, as kids often do.
But really the only evil that was present on the island were the kids themselves...
 
I just finished reading this. I read it about 15 years ago for school, and the main thing I remembered about the book was
Piggy's death
.

I enjoyed it as much, the second time around, except for the ending. It seemed a bit too.....abrupt. :mad: I wanted to find out what happened to the boys
after they were rescued
. Also does anyone know what time span the book covers? Weeks, or months? It all seemed to fall apart very fast, and I was wondering how long it took. :confused:
 
I wanted to find out what happened to the boys SPOILER: after they were rescued.
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The author wanted to present a point and in order to do that he needed to create an environment isolated from the rest of society. What happens after that is beyond the scope of the point William Golding was trying to present. Would u have liked to find out how the boys adapt to society now that they have unearthed their raw nature? It would have been nice, but it's a different theme nonetheless.
 
Has anyone seen the Japanese film, Battle Royale? It is very similar to Lord of the Flies, or the book Coral Island by Ballantane?
 
ecks said:
Would u have liked to find out how the boys adapt to society now that they have unearthed their raw nature? It would have been nice, but it's a different theme nonetheless.
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Yeah, that's what I wanted. It probably is beyond the point that Golding was trying to achieve, but it just made the book end too abruptly, IMO. Though, to write the story on what happens to Jack and Ralph and all the others afterwards would probably be the length of another book.
 
steffee said:
Has anyone seen the Japanese film, Battle Royale? It is very similar to Lord of the Flies, or the book Coral Island by Ballantane?
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Not seen the Japanese film, but I have read The Coral Island when I was younger. I can't remember much of it, but I remember being really engrossed in the story. I may pick it up again - see if it's as good now as it was back then. :)
 
Another point to examine is that in the beginning the writer did not portray the plane crash or the environment where they came from too much. I may overexagerate when I say this but I think the author sort of wanted to put them in a test tube and focus on what is going on inside that test tube. Mentioning too much about outside influence would not make his point universal but would isolate his theory about human nature to an select group, which I believe he wanted to escape from.
 
This book was one that I didn't really "enjoy" reading, but is great to study. Everything is so full of meaning and metaphor, and is surprisingly deep and emotional. The whole thing, even though pretty horrifying, is believable in context, which makes for sobering reading. This one stayed with me for a long time.

I found it interesting how the characters each represented something - Piggy being the "intellectual", Jack perhaps as Hitler [a little dubious maybe], Simon to an extent as Jesus Christ... Any others?
 
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