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| Author | William Golding |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Pentagram |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Allegorical novel |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Publication date | 1954 in England and 1955 in America |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Paperback & Hardback) |
| Pages | 248 pp (first edition, paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-571-05686-5 (first edition, paperback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Followed by | The Inheritors |
Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It discusses how culture created by man fails, using as an example a group of school-boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results. Its stances on the already controversial subjects of human nature and individual welfare versus the common good earned it position 70 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged Books of 1990–2000. The novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was Golding's first novel, and although it was not a great success at the time — selling fewer than three thousand copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print — it soon went on to become a bestseller, and by the early 1960s was required reading in many schools and colleges. It was adapted to film in 1963 by Peter Brook, and again in 1990 by Harry Hook (see "Film adaptations").
The title is said to be a reference to the Hebrew name Beelzebub (בעל זבוב, Ba'al-zvuv, "god of the fly", "host of the fly" or literally "Lord of Flies"), a name sometimes used as a synonym for Satan. It may also be a reference to a line from King Lear - "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods, — They kill us for their sport". (King Lear Act IV, Scene 1)
A story of bum sex with their mummys and daddys. Very thrilling and horny
Characters
- Ralph
- Piggy
- Jack Merridew
- Roger
- Simon
- Samneric(Sam and Eric)
- Littun with the Mullberry birthmark
- Phil
- Percival
- Robert
- Bill
- Maurice
- Other Littuns
- Olivia Conway
- Your mum
Allusions/references to other works
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lord of the Flies" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Coral Island
In 1857, R.M. Ballantyne wrote a book called The Coral Island. It portrayed three boys: Ralph, Peterkin and Jack (two of these names are transferred to Golding's book; Peterkin is altered to Simon) landing on an island, much like that in Lord of the Flies. They have great adventures, typical of much children's fiction written during the period of the British Empire. It was very successful.
Golding read The Coral Island as he was growing up, and thought of Ballantyne as racist, since the book teaches that evil is associated with black skin and is external. In Chapter 11 of the original Lord of the Flies, Piggy calls Jack's tribe "a pack of painted niggers." The term was not viewed as offensive in 1960s British society as it is today as there was slightly more racism, being seen as a descriptive (rather than abusive) term for people of dark skin. In any case, the word was changed to "savages" in some editions and "Indians" in the mass media publication.(examples of this are also shown in To Kill a Mockingbird)
A number of references to The Coral Island are made in Lord of the Flies. To a certain extent, it can be said that Golding wrote this book as a response to The Coral Island, to show what boys would truly do if left alone on an island and to compare two different versions of boys' activities when left on their own. In Chapter 2, the boys speculate about what will happen, saying it will be "like in a book", mentioning "Treasure Island", "Swallows and Amazons" and "Coral Island". When the officer is on the island at the end he says "like the Coral Island".
Film adaptations
There have been two film adaptations:
- Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook
- Lord of the Flies (1990), directed by Harry Hook
Lord of the Flies in popular culture
Lord of the Flies has influenced or inspired multiple cultural works.
Literature
Writers have borrowed plot elements from Lord of the Flies. Robert A. Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky, published in 1955, can be seen as a rebuttal to Lord of the Flies as it concerns a group of teenagers stranded on a deserted island who manage to create a functional tribal society.
Stephen King has stated that the Castle Rock in Lord of the Flies was the inspiration for the town of the same name that has appeared in a number of his novels. The book itself also appears prominently in his novels Hearts in Atlantis and Cujo. King's fictional town in turn inspired the name of Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment.
In "The Artemis Fowl Files" the "Lord of the Flies" is described as Artemis Fowl's favorite book.
Television
Lord of the Flies inspired Sunrise Animation's classic anime series Infinite Ryvius, which follows the lives of nearly 500 teenagers stranded aboard a space battleship.
Lord of the Flies has been referenced multiple times in The Simpsons. The episode "Das Bus" is a parody of the book, with a plotline involving castaway school children on a deserted island. Many direct references are made to the book, including the use of glasses to make fire, calling meetings with a conch, a monster lurking in the forest of the island, and stronger kids chasing after "the nerds". In another Simpsons episode, Kamp Krusty, the Lord of the Flies novel can be seen in a shot, during a scene related to the takeover of a camp by children.
Lord of the Flies is referenced several times (often jokingly) in the TV drama Lost which is also set on a deserted island where the characters feel they are constantly under the threat of turning wild.
Was mentioned in the TV show "Two and a Half Men" the child Jake was reading it for school.
Spongebob refrences to the book in an episode where spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward, are stranded on an island. They are listening to a conchshell for instructions.
Film
Lord of the Flies has also served as a source of inspiration in film. According to film critic Benjamin Urrutia, the main sequence of Apocalypto – the lone hero being chased through the tropical jungle by fierce spear-wielding hunters, ending with an encounter on the beach by men from the outside world – mirrors the scene from the Lord of the Flies. In addition, a film adaptation of the book was one of the main inspirations for the reality TV show Survivor, according to host Jeff Probst.
Music
- The English heavy metal band Iron Maiden composed a song about the novel, with the title "Lord of the Flies".
- The debut studio album, Boy, by Irish rock band U2 was loosely based on the novel's theme of childhood corruption, and the final song on the album, "Shadows and Tall Trees," takes its title from the novel's chapter of the same name.
- The Bad Religion Song "1000 More Fools" Contains the title in its lyrics "Inchoate beatitude, the Lord of the Flies."
- Elton John released a 1986 B-side entitled "Lord of the Flies."
References
- "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000". American Library Association. 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- "The Complete List: TIME Magazine – ALL-TIME 100 Novels". TIME. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02388c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Beelzebub]
- Johnson, Arnold (1980). Of Earth and Darkness. The Novels of William Golding. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 132.
- Wagner, Thomas M. (2006). "Robert A. Heinlin: Tunnel in the Sky". SF Reviews.net. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- "Stephen King (1947-)". Authors' Calendar. 2003. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- "Lost: What Kate Did". TV.com. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
- Urrutia, Benjamin (2007). "Film Review: Charlotte's Web". The Peaceable Table. 4 (1). Retrieved 2007-03-27.
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External links
- The Lord of the Flies: A Study Guide
- Criterion Collection essay by Peter Brook
- Slashdoc: Lord of the Flies Literary analysis of the novel
- Nobelprize.org: Play the Lord of the Flies Game