William Golding, Lord of the Flies Review

Overall Rating

Would you forget about rescue if you were stranded on an island? What would happen to you if you did? In Golding's work of allegorical fiction, he creates a symbolic microcosm of society to show what could happen when mankind turns its back on the greater good of civilized society to selfishly pursue its own appetites. Individuals degenerate into beasts and become the very things they fear. This novel, rich in Christian and Freudian symbolism, is sculpted with rich alliteration and an imaginative setting. The portentous tone has a rythmic rise and fall that foreshadows and ultimately leads to tragedy and anarchy. The ending is masterfully written and shows that outside deliverance is embroiled in the same struggles occurring on the island, indicating that rescue must come from within.

"Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was."

A WWII plane crashes on an uninhabited island and the surviving group of English boys must fend for themselves. The boys elect Ralph as leader who tries to maintain order by setting rules and sagely giving Jack charge of the hunters. Even with Piggy's intellect and Simon's purity, Ralph's leadership is condemned by the truculence at the heart of Jack. His influence spreads through the fear of an unknown beast and the beastial protection he impetuously claims he can provide. The boys descend into tribal warfare that leads to the demise of intelligence, spirituality, and the deaths of three boys. A naval ship arrives and rescues them, but removing the boys from the island does not wash away the guilt that exists in them nor provide light to the darkness that crept into these young souls.