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Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by the Nobel Prize winning author William G. Golding, first published in 1954 and made into film versions in 1963 and 1990.
It depicts the transformation into savagery of a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island without adult supervision in the aftermath of a plane crash that they got into while fleeing wartime Britain.
An episode of The Simpsons titled Das Bus was a parody of Lord of the Flies, mirroring it in many ways.
It has been said that the author's view on society is such that civilization is merely a thin layer, and that we are really all savages underneath. If the checks and balances of civilization fall away, the real, savage nature of humans surfaces. One can see such examples in the real world, e.g. Cultural Revolution in Communist China or mob behaviour during the French Revolution. This is illustrated in the book, as once arriving on the island most of the boys quickly lose their civilised behaviour and form tribal groups. Ralph, the hero, remains to the end of the book the only boy to have retained his original behaviour who is still alive. Piggy is knocked off a cliff by Roger towards the end of the book. His conch shatters on contact with the ground, while the boy's head shatters as it hits the white rock. The body twitches as it slips into the water. Sam and Eric are captured by Jack Merridew, leader of the savages, and are forced to reveal Ralph's location.
Because Ralph is still alive, he becomes hunted by the rest of the group, a tribe led by Jack Merridew. Throughout the book, Golding has each character represent a different aspect of civilization. Ralph can be thought of as representing democracy - initially he acts by taking votes - whereas Jack depicts savagery. Another central character nicknamed Piggy (we never learn his real name) probably represents science and knowledge, because of his clear methodical thinking. The fact that Roger kills Piggy and Jack hunts Ralph could be seen as Jack's and Roger's (and implicitly the savage human nature's) rejection of civilized society. The rotten big head represents the Lord of the Flies, or Beelzebub, which Simon, the incarnation of the good, wise and open-minded part of humanity, must confront.
For a similar novel, see The Beach.
ISBN numbers
- ISBN 0606001964 (prebound, 1954)
- ISBN 0399501487 (paperback, 1959)
- ISBN 0807231762 (audio cassette with paperback, 1977, unabridged)
- ISBN 1556515251 (paperback, 1988)
- ISBN 0026351218 (hardcover, 1990)
- ISBN 0571160565 (paperback, 1996)
- ISBN 1573226122 (paperback, 1997)
- ISBN 1561373842 (hardcover, 1998)
- ISBN 0791041352 (paper text, 1998)
- ISBN 1561373834 (hardcover, 1999)
- ISBN 0791047776 (hardcover, 1999)
- ISBN 0764108212 (paperback, 1999)
- ISBN 0140283331 (paperback, 1999)
- ISBN 0399529012 (paperback, 2002)
- ISBN 0807209546 (audio cassette, 2002, unabridged)
- ISBN 0399529209 (hardcover, 2003, Anniversary Edition)
- ISBN 1586633554 (paperback, 2003)
- ISBN 0884116956 (hardcover)
- ISBN 0807213640 (paperback)