William Golding's Lord of the Flies

William Golding's Lord of the Flies

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding tells the story of a group of boys on an island left out to self survive. The time was World War II when the plane the boys were in was shot down leaving young survivals on a deserted island without any adults. The whole story is about what happens during their stay on the island representing metaphoric ideas of humanity in each incident as Golding describes. Golding has reportedly said that he wrote the novel in response to his personal war experiences. “ (The war)… taught us not fighting, politics or the follies of nationalism, but about the given nature of man.” (Golding) By looking at Lord of the Flies, it is clear that Golding’s view of the nature of man is negative. As he describes the happenings, he puts out an idea of humanity based on some happening of the past allowing the reader to set his mind on that specific happening through out the incident and comparing parallel ideas that Golding describes in his metaphoric writing in Lord of the Flies. He clearly identifies our basic negative side within us, present in our society making a clear focus of it, symbolizing it to be very important, resulting us thinking about a big happening down in the pages of history.

The book starts with Piggy and Ralph meeting each other in an island that they are not sure of. Piggy, explained as the thoughtful, civilized and intelligent one has had problems with his physical features back in England which he does not want here in the island. As he says “I don't care what [you] call me so long as...[it's not] what they used to call me in school...They used to call me Piggy!” (Piggy, pg. 11) Golding clearly shows how mankind have always lived up trying to go further and further away from their problems not actually fixing them but just by not facing it at all. This is a general description of features of a man as in how we survive out our weaknesses. Golding also shows how we rather prefer hiding our bad side not letting anyone know instead of bringing it out and actually trying to change it.

As Ralph says “Better Piggy than Fatty” (pg. 25) Golding describes how humans tend to find ways to escape the blame. Golding shows how people can accept the bad due to their own reasons but still feel ok about it as if they are not to blame and not worry about it at all.

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...ge side in humanity determined to take down what stays in their way. Maybe they were now confident that they could or they were just shouting out their frustrations deep within them.

As Piggy boldly stands to get back his glasses, when the two are not optimistically supportive, he says “Like a girl” (pg 172) Golding strongly tries to show the sex discrimination by people in the history of mankind. Girls were thought and understood to be weak, men being better etc. One of the major mistakes that Golding flashes out in a 3 worded sentence. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong! We are all equal.

The story ends sad with Simon, a littlun and Piggy already dead in the progress of Ralph’s. Tears drop when that short second redefines all that happened in a complete different way. The boys are now rescued and so is Golding, done with his explanation, a plantation of education not through starvation.

Lord of the Flies is a really strong metaphor based book which takes the reader into a deep journey of they themselves. Golding has really done a great job defining humanity into a model world as the island. Its been great reading the book and I definitely want to give a big thumbs up on it.