Lord of the Flies
William Golding. Perigree: Berkely Publishing Group, NY. 1954.
I remember reading this book when I was 13, when it came out - and I was about the same age as the boys in the book, and it scared me to pieces, thinking how savage we could become in so short a time.
Reading it again, instead of fear, there is only sadness, really - especially since time and experience have led me to agree more completely with the theories set out in the book, because I've seen them . . . as most of us have.
However, as far as literature is concerned, I would have to classify this novel as a very good first novel, but it is definitely a first novel. It reads almost as an outline for a personal philosophy rather than a completely "fleshed out" book. Basically, the book is too short, and accomplishes the breakdown of society in the space of only seemingly a few weeks. By contrast, the television series "Lost" (while dealing with other themes, but this one included) has the time and the scope to develop the "breakdown" and resistance to it. The novel also has the same ability; however, Golding didn't use that opportunity.
But enough on the negative: suffice it to say, one could read the book as a complete allegory (this WAS written, btw, in the time of Animal Farm) and what drives the book is the characters. Each character, in turn, has their own strengths and weaknesses, except for some of the minor characters, such as the "comedic relief duo" of Sam'n'Eric (much like cummings' "eddienbill") and Roger - but Roger was disappointing, because he was drawn as savage just for the sake of being savage, which even though we all know of sneaky little bullies like that, it would have been nice to see some more dimension to his savagery.
Then, as now, I personally identified with Simon - the quiet introvert with a kind of mystical perception of reality and the people around him. Simon is essentially good, but sees the bad in people, and chooses to withdraw - which makes him the perfect hermitic character to come face-to-face with the Devil/hallucination.
Then there's Piggy - pure intellect, but no physicality. Ralph, who is charismatic but unfocused: he knows what must be done but is occassionally restrained by self-doubt, which becomes his undoing. Then finally, Jack - who has the forcefulness of a leader, and the ability to make quick clear decisions, but is more in love with power and control than in maintaining actual order.
In all honesty - each of the characters has an aspect or a part of the personality of a good leader - a good leader is made from a balance of each of these characteristics. It's just the imbalance that leads to a breakdown.
This book is great for many varied interpretations, and should keep both high school (and even college) students writing introspective papers for years to come.
It's a good read, and well-deserving of being on the "must-read" lists.
VG
I remember reading this book when I was 13, when it came out - and I was about the same age as the boys in the book, and it scared me to pieces, thinking how savage we could become in so short a time.
Reading it again, instead of fear, there is only sadness, really - especially since time and experience have led me to agree more completely with the theories set out in the book, because I've seen them . . . as most of us have.
However, as far as literature is concerned, I would have to classify this novel as a very good first novel, but it is definitely a first novel. It reads almost as an outline for a personal philosophy rather than a completely "fleshed out" book. Basically, the book is too short, and accomplishes the breakdown of society in the space of only seemingly a few weeks. By contrast, the television series "Lost" (while dealing with other themes, but this one included) has the time and the scope to develop the "breakdown" and resistance to it. The novel also has the same ability; however, Golding didn't use that opportunity.
But enough on the negative: suffice it to say, one could read the book as a complete allegory (this WAS written, btw, in the time of Animal Farm) and what drives the book is the characters. Each character, in turn, has their own strengths and weaknesses, except for some of the minor characters, such as the "comedic relief duo" of Sam'n'Eric (much like cummings' "eddienbill") and Roger - but Roger was disappointing, because he was drawn as savage just for the sake of being savage, which even though we all know of sneaky little bullies like that, it would have been nice to see some more dimension to his savagery.
Then, as now, I personally identified with Simon - the quiet introvert with a kind of mystical perception of reality and the people around him. Simon is essentially good, but sees the bad in people, and chooses to withdraw - which makes him the perfect hermitic character to come face-to-face with the Devil/hallucination.
Then there's Piggy - pure intellect, but no physicality. Ralph, who is charismatic but unfocused: he knows what must be done but is occassionally restrained by self-doubt, which becomes his undoing. Then finally, Jack - who has the forcefulness of a leader, and the ability to make quick clear decisions, but is more in love with power and control than in maintaining actual order.
In all honesty - each of the characters has an aspect or a part of the personality of a good leader - a good leader is made from a balance of each of these characteristics. It's just the imbalance that leads to a breakdown.
This book is great for many varied interpretations, and should keep both high school (and even college) students writing introspective papers for years to come.
It's a good read, and well-deserving of being on the "must-read" lists.
VG
posted by Verble Gherulous | 2:10 PM
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