Lord of the Flies Analysis

Before we get down to the details, we should address the fact that Lord of the Flies is one big allegory. Symbols aside, the boys as a whole can represent humanity as a whole. You can see where the...

Lord of the Flies takes place on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, at an unknown—but probably 1950ish—year during a fictional atomic war. And what an island it is. We don't find out m...

The narrator in Lord of the Flies moves back and forth omnisciently between different scenes and thoughts. Take Chapter Eight, for example, where in the space of a few pages we get Jack hunting, "h...

This isn't Gilligan's Island. It's not even Lost. Jack's wildly superstitious and violent group of boys, who are willing to kill one of their own with their hands and teeth, is as far from ideal, o...

If you like your medicine with a spoonful of sugar, you'd better find another book. (Unless this is required reading, in which case—we're sorry.) Golding takes a look at the worst, darkest side o...

Much like the forbidding patch of jungle in which the book takes place (for more on that, see "Setting") the Lord of the Flies is ominous—but irresistible. Let's check out the paragraph where we...

Let's get the easy part out of the way first: "the Lord of the Flies" is what Simon ends up calling the severed pig's head—presumably because it's covered in flies. So, calling the book Lord of t...

The end happens fast: Ralph is pretty convinced he's about to die, when all of a sudden he rolls (literally) into a British naval officer who promises to rescue them. When we meet the officer, we g...

Lord of the Flies is a standard on the middle school required reading list, but that doesn't mean it's kid stuff. Check out this passage:A thin wail out of the darkness chilled them and set them gr...

Home AloneWe start out post plane crash, on an island full of boys ranging from ages 6 to 12, and not an adult in sight.This is going to end well. Well, they start with a good faith effort: Ralph a...

Crash and BurnWhen their plane crashes, the boys who were on board find themselves on a strange island where they have never been before. Needless to say, this is a new situation for them. They'r...

Community OrganizerThe boys arrive on the island, realize that no adults are present, and start organizing. Ralph is elected chief, but Jack takes over the group of hunters. The seeds of conflict a...

Something around twenty publishers rejected Lord of the Flies.William Golding was knighted in 1988. Make that Sir William Golding. Rock Band Iron Maiden wrote a song called "Lord of the Flies." And...

Lord of the Flies is about a bunch of pre-adolescent boys, so, nope: no sex here, although there is extensive nudity and a few poop jokes. We would, however, like to draw your attention to a highly...

The names "Ralph," "Jack," and "Simon": R.M. Ballantyne: The Coral Island. The Coral Island was a classic 1857 "Europe can better the world through conquering it and forcing Christianity upon every...