Lord of the Flies 491its death, Mrs. Peters fully comprehends Minnie’s
loneliness. It is this shared experience that convinces
her of the righteousness of Mrs. Hale’s manipulation
of the evidence. At first shocked when Mrs. Hale
sits down to undo a piece of Minnie’s quilt that the
latter had been working on but that had been sewn
badly and haphazardly due to Minnie’s state of
mind, Mrs. Peters tries to stuff the box that contains
the dead bird into her bag. Since she cannot fit it in
there, Mrs. Hale hides it in her coat pocket, so that
the men will not be able to find it and use it against
Minnie. The women thus decide that their human-
istic idea of justice outweighs the men’s dogmatic
reading of the law.
Elke Brown
goLDing, WiLLiam Lord of the Flies
(1954)
William Golding’s first novel, Lord of the Flies, was
originally published in 1954, and it has been required
reading in most schools and colleges since the early
1960s. The novel centers around a group of English
schoolboys whose plane crashes onto a deserted
island during World War II. They subsequently try
to form a mini-civilization only to reach a horrific
outcome. The book’s views on human nature and
its relationship to civilization, illustrated through
the boys’ behavior, has caused it to be one of the
most challenged books of the late 20th century.
The main characters consist of Ralph, Piggy,
and Jack. Ralph, one of the older boys, becomes the
impromptu leader of the group. He, with the help of
the socially inept Piggy, sets about creating a society
on the island through building shelters, constructing
a signal fire, and organizing the collection of food.
Jack is the leader of the hunters and Ralph’s rival
for power over the group. Eventually most of the
boys follow Jack’s example and become swept up in
the thrill of the hunt, leaving Ralph and the island
society behind, with disastrous results. Golding uses
these children to explore themes such as individual
and society, cruelty, survival, community,
ethics, isolation, and spirituality.
Lord of the Flies is meant to be an allegory. Its
characters represent abstract principles such as rea-
son, societal rules, spirituality, and savagery. Golding
seems to think that all of these influence human
behavior and have a part in human nature. However,
he appears to view savagery as the core of human
nature, based on the behavior of most of the boys by
the end of the book.
Ryan Neighborscruelty in Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies by William Golding centers on
a group of schoolboys who are marooned on a
deserted island after their plane crashes. Initially,
the boys try to set up life on the island much as it
was in civilization—they create an island democracy,
choose a “biggun,” Ralph, as their leader, and set
about building shelter and finding food. However,
as the boys spend more time on the island, they
become increasingly cruel.
This tendency toward cruelty can be seen very
early in the novel. For instance, in one scene, Henry,
one of the “littluns,” plays with plankton on the
beach, trapping them in his footprint when the tide
comes in. He enjoys this cruel control over other liv-
ing things. Little does he know that one of the big-
guns, Roger, is exerting the same control over him.
As Henry plays, Roger watches from the jungle,
throwing rocks in a circle around the little boy. The
implication is that Roger not only longs for that
control but also actually wishes to do harm to Henry.
All that stops him are cultural values he has learned
from his parents and from his society.
The cruelty in the novel continues through the
boys’ desire to hunt. This hunting begins innocently
enough—Jack, one of the older children, dubs the
choirboys the hunters and himself their leader,
intending to help provide food for all of the boys.
However, hunting soon becomes an obsession. In
fact, the hunters eventually shun all of their other
responsibilities in favor of the hunt. This even causes
the group to miss a chance at rescue, because the
hunters fail to keep the signal fire lit as a ship passes
by the island.
Their obsession with hunting eventually leads
them to bloodlust, frenzy, and murder. This descent
begins when the hunters kill a sow. They stick its
head on a pike and begin to dance in a ritualistic,
tribal celebration. In the midst of this commotion,
Simon, one of the older boys, wanders into the group,