Originally published on Yahoo Voices
The first time I heard about William Golding's Lord of the Flies, I was a junior in High School. My cousin gave me the book to read. He said it was a real good story. I agree. One day, I took a walk to the local park and sat on the bench. I read the whole book in one sitting. I liked it. I did several book reports on this book in school and in college.
Lord Of The Flies is a story of a group of children being taken to safety during a world war. The plane never reaches it's destination. It crashes near an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, all adults on the plane die and the children are left to fend for themselves on the Island.
Two kids, Ralph and Piggy find a conch which they use to call a meeting . The conch is the symbolic representation of a civilized society. At the meeting, Ralph is elected chief and Ralph appoints Jack, the head of a choir, as head of the hunters. The group decides to build a signal fire using Piggy's spectacles. This first fire, that spread to trees on a small plateau, was the scene of the first death.
Jack and his hunters have seen pigs on the Island. They decide to hunt and kill the pigs for food. When they encounter the first pig, Jack hesitates to stab it because he is not use to the site of blood. But Jack and his hunters soon overcomes this obstacle. At some point, Jack and his hunters paint their faces because they think the pigs see them
Piggy suggests starting a signal fire so they might be rescued. Piggy also states that maybe their moms and dads know where they (the kids) were going, but nobody knows where they are because they never got there! Perhaps that is why when Jack was on his first hunt, he borrowed some boys who were on the top of the "mountain" (on the island) and left the signal fire unattended.
Everything goes fairly smooth until the little kids start talking about a beast on the island. At first, Jack, Ralph and Piggy dismiss this as the little kids having nightmares. But the stories of a beast persist.
The fear of this beast becomes the turning point of the story. Fear drives people to do many things they later regret; especially those who become use to the shedding of blood. Everything comes in steps. First, hesitating to spill blood, then killing the pigs for food, then ...
Piggy claims that there could not be a beast because if there was a beast, nothing in the world would make sense. When Simon, a member of Jacks choir, is ask what he thinks the beast is, his answer is that maybe it is just the kids: All the kids including Simon.
One evening, Ralph says a prayer that there be a sign from the adult world before he goes to sleep. His prayer is answered. There was a sign that night, but the sign was misinterpreted. A dead parachutist lands on top of the mountain. The twins, Sam and Eric are one level below the top maintaining the signal fire. They hear a noise and peek at the next level to see the dead man in a parachute. But what they think they see is a beast that bulges: The bulge caused by the parachute being blown by the wind. They become petrified, panic and run down the mountain to tell the other kids what they saw.
This marks the beginning of the end. The conch is used to call a meeting and the frightened twins tell their story. Jack, Ralph and the hunters go up the moutain to find the beast, but run away in a panic when they see it. At a second meeting, Ralph insults Jack. Jack and his hunters leave to set up their own place to live. Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call them back and try to unite the kids. Piggy said that if Ralph doesn't try to keep everybody together, they will all become savages. But Ralph doesn't blow the conch. He says that if he blows the conch and the others don't come back, they will all become savages anyway.
As Jack an his hunters walk along the beach, they start to chant "Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood!" Soon it will become much more than a chant. Soon more blood will be spilled and not all of it will be the beast's or a pig's.
The meaning of the title of the story Lord Of The Flies comes out in one scene in the story. Simon decides to go up the mountain. Ralph, Piggy and the twins do not follow. Simon finds a nice thick bush and crawls under it. He watches Jack and his hunters carry a pig to a spot not far from him, cut off the pigs head, stick a stick sharpened at both ends into the ground and place the pig's head on the stick. They offer this gift to the beast so that it might not bother the kids. The Jack and his hunters leave the scene, but Simon remains where he is.
What follows is an exchange of words between Simon and the pig's head on the stick. The pig's head on the stick is referred to as the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies asks Simon who he thinks the Lord of the Flies is. Simon replies that the Lord of the Flies is a pigs head. The Lord of the Flies states that Simon is all alone with only the Lord of the Flies to protect him and claims it is the beast! The Lord of the Flies is amused by the fact that the kids think they can kill the beast. Then the Lord of the Flies states that it is the reason why things are falling apart on the island. It gives Simon credit for having known that the Lord of the Flies is part of everyone on the island. This scene confirms that the beast is a part of every kid on the island and warns Simon not to tell the others or the kids will "do" Simon. But Simon ignors the warning.
This scene reveals that the Lord of the Flies is much more than just a pig's head on the stick: The Lord of the Flies is evil. To figure out who the Lord of the Flies is, we turn to mythology. In mythology, there is an evil god named Beelzebub. Beelzebub represents decay, destruction, and demoralization: Exactly what took place on the island. The English translation of the word Beelzebub is "Lord of Flies."
I skipped many details in the above description of the story and I'll not tell the remainder of the story so the reader can read the book.
The first time I heard about William Golding's Lord of the Flies, I was a junior in High School. My cousin gave me the book to read. He said it was a real good story. I agree. One day, I took a walk to the local park and sat on the bench. I read the whole book in one sitting. I liked it. I did several book reports on this book in school and in college.
Lord Of The Flies is a story of a group of children being taken to safety during a world war. The plane never reaches it's destination. It crashes near an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, all adults on the plane die and the children are left to fend for themselves on the Island.
Two kids, Ralph and Piggy find a conch which they use to call a meeting . The conch is the symbolic representation of a civilized society. At the meeting, Ralph is elected chief and Ralph appoints Jack, the head of a choir, as head of the hunters. The group decides to build a signal fire using Piggy's spectacles. This first fire, that spread to trees on a small plateau, was the scene of the first death.
Jack and his hunters have seen pigs on the Island. They decide to hunt and kill the pigs for food. When they encounter the first pig, Jack hesitates to stab it because he is not use to the site of blood. But Jack and his hunters soon overcomes this obstacle. At some point, Jack and his hunters paint their faces because they think the pigs see them
Piggy suggests starting a signal fire so they might be rescued. Piggy also states that maybe their moms and dads know where they (the kids) were going, but nobody knows where they are because they never got there! Perhaps that is why when Jack was on his first hunt, he borrowed some boys who were on the top of the "mountain" (on the island) and left the signal fire unattended.
Everything goes fairly smooth until the little kids start talking about a beast on the island. At first, Jack, Ralph and Piggy dismiss this as the little kids having nightmares. But the stories of a beast persist.
The fear of this beast becomes the turning point of the story. Fear drives people to do many things they later regret; especially those who become use to the shedding of blood. Everything comes in steps. First, hesitating to spill blood, then killing the pigs for food, then ...
Piggy claims that there could not be a beast because if there was a beast, nothing in the world would make sense. When Simon, a member of Jacks choir, is ask what he thinks the beast is, his answer is that maybe it is just the kids: All the kids including Simon.
One evening, Ralph says a prayer that there be a sign from the adult world before he goes to sleep. His prayer is answered. There was a sign that night, but the sign was misinterpreted. A dead parachutist lands on top of the mountain. The twins, Sam and Eric are one level below the top maintaining the signal fire. They hear a noise and peek at the next level to see the dead man in a parachute. But what they think they see is a beast that bulges: The bulge caused by the parachute being blown by the wind. They become petrified, panic and run down the mountain to tell the other kids what they saw.
This marks the beginning of the end. The conch is used to call a meeting and the frightened twins tell their story. Jack, Ralph and the hunters go up the moutain to find the beast, but run away in a panic when they see it. At a second meeting, Ralph insults Jack. Jack and his hunters leave to set up their own place to live. Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call them back and try to unite the kids. Piggy said that if Ralph doesn't try to keep everybody together, they will all become savages. But Ralph doesn't blow the conch. He says that if he blows the conch and the others don't come back, they will all become savages anyway.
As Jack an his hunters walk along the beach, they start to chant "Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood!" Soon it will become much more than a chant. Soon more blood will be spilled and not all of it will be the beast's or a pig's.
The meaning of the title of the story Lord Of The Flies comes out in one scene in the story. Simon decides to go up the mountain. Ralph, Piggy and the twins do not follow. Simon finds a nice thick bush and crawls under it. He watches Jack and his hunters carry a pig to a spot not far from him, cut off the pigs head, stick a stick sharpened at both ends into the ground and place the pig's head on the stick. They offer this gift to the beast so that it might not bother the kids. The Jack and his hunters leave the scene, but Simon remains where he is.
What follows is an exchange of words between Simon and the pig's head on the stick. The pig's head on the stick is referred to as the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies asks Simon who he thinks the Lord of the Flies is. Simon replies that the Lord of the Flies is a pigs head. The Lord of the Flies states that Simon is all alone with only the Lord of the Flies to protect him and claims it is the beast! The Lord of the Flies is amused by the fact that the kids think they can kill the beast. Then the Lord of the Flies states that it is the reason why things are falling apart on the island. It gives Simon credit for having known that the Lord of the Flies is part of everyone on the island. This scene confirms that the beast is a part of every kid on the island and warns Simon not to tell the others or the kids will "do" Simon. But Simon ignors the warning.
This scene reveals that the Lord of the Flies is much more than just a pig's head on the stick: The Lord of the Flies is evil. To figure out who the Lord of the Flies is, we turn to mythology. In mythology, there is an evil god named Beelzebub. Beelzebub represents decay, destruction, and demoralization: Exactly what took place on the island. The English translation of the word Beelzebub is "Lord of Flies."
I skipped many details in the above description of the story and I'll not tell the remainder of the story so the reader can read the book.
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