Title: Lord of the FliesAuthor: William Golding
Date Published: 1954
Genre: Allegory
A lone island lies in the center of the blue sea. Suddenly, a loud crash. The wings of the airplane above splinter and crash onto the land. From the wreckage, figures emerge. Not, this is not an episode of Lost. The survivors are all preteens, ages 5 to 12. And nearly all of them are hideously flawed.
This incident initiates one of the most disturbing survival stories I have read yet. What seems to be every boy's dream, being stranded with no adults and no rules on a solicitous and kaleidoscopic paradise, soon turns into the darkest of nightmares. Ralph, the clear protagonist, represents man's attempt at moral order in his endeavor to be rescued. His lieutenant Piggy, the voice of reason, refocuses Ralph on that goal continually. However, the antagonist Jack (ironically the choirboy leader, a position created by adults and civilization) devolves to represent all that is base in society. Jack and Ralph's ultimate battle represents what civilization would become with no imposed order.
Although Golding's philosophy is slightly obtuse and dire, this book does serve as an admirable study of the human heart, unchecked by moral restraint or regulation. The plot asked much suspension of belief from the reader, but once I eradicated the nagging questions of how the boys survived the plane crash and why the island had nothing but pigs and mice, I was able to move on with the story and accept whatever happened. Though I anticipated the deaths of some of the characters, this by no means denigrated the chilling and sickening effect of their demises. The one apparent fault of the book was its fragmented writing style, which was slightly difficult to read and somehow managed to throw my gaze off the page into space. However, this style oddly suited the narrative and contributed to the general aura of horror. This story, though not a light read, remains a gripping warning of the darkness of the unregenerate human heart.
Plot: 8 (out of 10)
Style: 7 (out of 10)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 10)
Overall: 9 (out of 10)
