Hello, readers of Hive!
The last book I finished was this famous classic by William Golding. I'm sure many of you might have read it already - perhaps as a compulsory read in school - or at least have some knowledge of the premise, like I did.
It's an interesting and twisted thought experiment and overall I enjoyed reading it.
It's a short read, anyone could take it on and be done with it in a few days.
In a similar way, you should not be intimidated by its status as a classic.
Although a bit dated, it's still an easy read and after having gone through it just once you'll already be able to grasp a lot of what it has to offer.
About the author
William Golding was born in 1911 in England. He studied in Oxford and eventually published some poems and even became a teacher.
He served his country during the second World War, an experience that by his own admission greatly influenced his literary works and views of the world.
In 1953 he published his first novel, the object of this review, which granted him fame and recognition and remains his most notable work in our collective memory despite having written many more books afterwards.
Summary
The story begins "in medias res", so without much of an explanation.
We quickly find out that there's been an airplane crash and the sole survivors of this event are kids. Some are quite young and even though nothing is exactly specified we're never lead to believe that the oldest in this group of survivors might amount to more than early teenagers, if that.
There's not much of a context for why these kids might have been traveling on a plane but we're eventually made aware of the fact that there's an ongoing war and the stranded survivors are from England.
With no adults in sight the kids are left to their own devices in an hostile setting.
The older kids quickly come together and decide to hold elections and form some kind of structured society.
They assign roles and come up with projects to ensure their survival. They decide to build huts for shelter, fully explore the island and hunt the wildlife that inhabits it.
In some ways, the island seems a bountiful and hospitable place to some of the kids at first.
Others are more practical-minded and immediately realize that this might be a dangerous place and rescue would be their best hope of long-term survival.
Collectively they decide to start a big bonfire whose smoke will act as a signal for their potential rescuers.
Groups quickly start to form. The younger kids are not exactly industrious and they spend most of the time playing and doing as they please.
Some kids specialize in hunting wild boars, providing some much needed food.
These kids, however, quickly become something of a tribe of savages and the main conflict of the story (other than the overarching quest for survival of the group as a whole) revolves around the more civilized kids and the fiercer hunters.
Characters
Although we're told the names of many kids only a handful of them are fully characterized and as a result the story becomes quite linear and easy to follow.
Ultimately it's simple to understand who are the positive or negative characters but I would say each of them has some flaws as well as redeeming qualities which makes for a compelling story.
Ralph is one of the older boys and at first he's elected as the leader of all the kids.
He relishes in this role but doesn't let the power get to his head and is ultimately well intentioned.
He believes there's no future for the kids on the island and even though he agrees with some ideas aimed at guaranteeing immediate survival, such as building shelters, firmly believes that help must come from outside and values the presence of the fire signal above all.
He acts as a reasonable leader and is willing to make compromises and hear the opinions of others.
When chaos ensues he will stick to his ideals and will be in great danger because of this.
Piggy is another character we're introduced to early on and is of great importance to the story.
Along with Ralph, he organizes the initial meeting of surviving kids and together they decide to hold elections.
Piggy is eloquent and rational but he lacks the natural charisma that Ralph seems to have.
He's far from athletic, miopic and has hastma.
He's whiny and rarely contributes physically to the projects the community undertakes.
Because of all this he's often an easy target of ridicule by some of the more mean-spirited kids.
His glasses are used by others to light up the bonfire (clearly there are no boy scouts among the multitude of stranded kids!) as well as to cook boar meat on occasion.
In spite of his rational thinking he lacks emotional intelligence and struggles to form meaningful bonds with the other kids.
Because of his strenghts and flaws he's by far the most symphatetic character.
Once one of the main activities of the surviving kids becomes boar hunting the nickname of this character becomes much more ominous and I personally wouldn't see it as a coincidence.
At some point he reveals his parents died and he spent a lot of time with his aunt, who spoiled him with baked goods and such. This tiny bit of characterization is already much more that we're allowed to know about the other characters' past and reinforces my idea that Piggy is supposed to be one of our main conduits throughout the story, if not the protagonist.
Jack is the leader of a group of choir boys that were present on the plane.
When the meeting for the elections is called he proposes himself as leader of the wider group but when the majority decides to trust Ralph instead he takes this defeat very personally.
In spite of his resentment he accepts the decision of the group and obeys Ralph.
He still remains the leader of the choir boys and he proposes that his group will undertake the role of hunters.
He's a strong and resourceful kid but his first hunt is not succesful.
He is not particularly graceful in defeat and doesn't like to be undermined or being perceived as weak and strongly seeks the approval and recognition of others.
In that sense, he's a very archetypal figure.
He perseveres after failing to hunt down a boar and his stamina and enduring spirit almost confer him some dignity in the beginning.
However, after succeeding in killin a boar we start to see a more sinister and bloodthirsty side of him.
It doesn't take long for him to become the leader of a tribal gang opposing everyone else on the island and will try to convert all the kids to his side using violence and fear against those who are on the fence.
The last character of note is Simon, a good natured and reasonable boy.
He doesn't talk much but when he does so it's to defuse conflicts or be productive. In one instance he defends Piggy in a heated moment.
After a while the kids start to suspect that there might be some dangerous beast coming out at night to harm the survivors while they sleep.
Simon shows courage by venturing into the heart of the island to seek out the truth about this supposed danger and it's in this occasion that he makes the finding that justifies the title of the novel.
I won't give many more details about this famous scene and you'll have to read the book for yourselves to find out exactly what the nature of this danger might be and what happens to Simon as a result. Just know that the lord of the flies is indeed a synonim of the devil and the worst inclinations of men, in this book.
Although not as central as the characters mentioned above Simon is a positive force in the story and a sympathetic character.
The narration is provided in the third person and generally follows one of these four boys.
As is often the case, characters are revealed in their true form when they come to interact with one another.
Some important interactions are, for instance, between Piggy and Ralph.
Their early conversations are the first events of note for the sake of the story and it is Piggy, scared and hopelessly worried, that poses practical questions about their future to the more optimistic Ralph.
Piggy is quite loquacious and Ralph is often dismissive of him, if not just mean spirited.
However Ralph essentially values Piggy's ideas and instead of reasoning out too much and debating with him tries to immediately put the ideas into action.
The early success of the creation of the group should be attributed to both of them and in an ideal world there would have been just one character, a mixture of these two boys, to lead the other survivors with his logic, charisma and sense of practicality.
This is a sad passage we can find at the beginning of the book.
Despite his plea, Piggy is made fun of by Ralph, but accepts it with resignation as he prefers that kind of attitude to being ignored.
This is also the moment where the two come up with the idea of calling a meeting to see how many survivors there are and make a census of sorts, asking everyone their names. This task will be carried out by Piggy, with his good memory.
After just a few pages there's a payout for this small moment between the two of them where Ralph cruelly betrays Piggy's trust and reveals his odious nickname to the other boys.
Even the narrator, who up until that point had simply refered to Piggy as "the fat boy", from here on out will only use this offensive nickname.
The passage is also important because here Jack makes his first appearance.
He clearly has an overbearing attitude and enjoys his role of lead choir boy.
We can also see how difficult it is for Piggy to be heard and stand up against others, especially against Jack and his crew.
After Ralph is declared leader some of the boys depart to survey the land and decide what to do next. At this point we have a touching exchange where Piggy confronts Ralph about the breach of trust around his nickname.
Jack, Simon and Ralph then venture deeper into the jungle to find a pig.
This is a very revealing passage for the sake of Jack's character. He loves theatrics and making a big show of himself. When he's confronted by his failure he becomes more agressive.
This defense mechanism shows that he cares deeply about how he's perceived and wants to be recognized as someone strong and of value.
Significantly, there's also this detail of Jack's face being hidden from the other boys.
Much later in the story Jack will have is face constantly covered in mud and revert to a more savage state.
Just like in this passage, a point will be made on two separate occasions of how the mud prevents the other boys from fully seeing his face.
In a similar way, Jack and his goons conduct an attack at night against some of the other boys.
Jack must be aware of how wrong and heinous some of his acts have been by that point but he can easily hide his shame and regret.
A bit later in the story coincidence has it that Jack and his team are assigned the duty of helping build some shelters and keep the fire alive. Jack goes on a hunt, instead, and comes back victorious. However at the same time a ship passes in the distance and Ralph as well as many others see it at their best chance of rescue but the fire died out and Jack is to be blamed.
Understandably, the situation is very awkward for both Jack and Ralph. On the one hand Jack did what no one else could have and hunted down a pig whose meat no one wants to refuse.
On the other hand he basically disobeyed the elected leader and is publically shamed for having spoiled the chance of being rescued by the grown-ups on the ship.
This is a very important passage and marks the beginning of Ralph and Jack growing apart as leaders of their respective groups, each with their own ambitions and values.
Another interesting moment is found later when Ralph reflects on his own role as leader.
I found this moment to be bittersweet. Ralph recognizes the value in Piggy ( he does so in several occasions ) and yet he never really shows him much appreciation.
More in general, the sad irony of this story is that the group is quite diverse and the boys all have different skills but they never get the praise they deserve and can't seem to work well with each others.
The last passage I want to share is at another pivotal moment where a meeting is called to discuss "the beast" that supposedly lurks in the jungle and scares the kids at night.
More of the same dynamics are at play here. Jack is angered and much more confrontational while Ralph and Piggy are losing hope of surviving and being rescued.
Themes
The central issue Golding tries to tackle in this novel is wether or not men are innately evil.
By having the protagonists be kids and putting them in the sterile setting of the deserted island the author seems to theorize that even a pure society will eventually devolve and fall into chaos.
After reading the preface of the book as well as searching on the internet I've found out that Golding had the idea for this story by observing a group of kids he was teaching.
The young kids split into two groups and started fighting until Golding himself, so an authoritative figure, intervened.
From there he went on to imagine what would happen if young kids were left on their own without adults in charge, in an hostile environment. Clearly a very dark but intriguing thought experiment.
seashell conch
In 1965, so after the publication of "Lord of the flies", six teenagers washed ashore in a deserted island in Polynesia. They were able to survive for more than a year there and eventually were found and rescued, although initially presumed dead.
This is likely as closer as we'll ever get in real life to the setting of this novel and this whole experience seems to discredit the notion that Golding set out to prove in his book as this true story of survival was based around an effort of collaboration and civilized collective living from the stranded teenagers.
What do you think??
Personally I think this novel is compelling and thought-provoking.
The lust for power and recognition, as well as other mechanisms, can lead men to do terrible things.
However it's not all so bleak and even stronger can sometimes be human ingenuity and the will to cooperate.
There's a few interesting and straightforward symbols that are employed in this book.
One is the conch.
Ralph finds it after the plane crash and blows it to have all the survivors gather around.
In the following meetings the kids will take turns ( or try, anyway ) to speak only when the conch is passed to them. In this sense, the item allows the boys to have their own primitive form of democratic government.
More in general, Ralph carries the conch with him and he is elected as leader not just for his charisma but also because "he was the one that blew the conch". This must be some kind of commentary by the author on how we choose our leaders based on symbols, such as the conch, and on wether or not they are perceived as confidente people.
By Ralph's own admission Piggy would actually be a good leader if he could get people to listen to him.
On the other end of the spectrum there's the leadership model based around Jack's tribe.
Some of the boys naturally followed him in his transition from lead choir boy to chief of the hunters and the social structure remained fundamentally the same, with one leaders giving commands to the other members of the team.
However, over the story, many of the boys defect to Jack's tribe because they perceive him as strong.
As a funny side note, during his explorations of the inner parts of the island Jack finds a big cave that menacingly overlooks the rest of the island from above. One of the last chapters of the book is indeed called "Castle Rock" in reference to this cavern that Jack will fortify and choose as his palace, of sorts.
Stephen King will pay homage to "Lord of the flies", a book he admittedly enjoyed in his youth, by setting several of his novels in the fictional Maine town of Castle Rock.
Moving on, other key symbols are the fire and the beast.
These two forces work against each others, like we've seen in some of the excerpts that I included above.
Characters such as Piggy have a strong, almost fanatical, faith in the fire as their only chance of salvation as it serves as a signal that can be seen from afar by the grown-ups.
However, as the rumors surrounding the beast spread the fire takes on an additional meaning.
It's now also a beacon to stand against the darkness of the night, the unknown and all the nightmares that come with it. In this new context the fire symbolizes the power of a clear and logical mind.
Jack's tribe will have its own way of dealing with the fire and the beast, resorting instead to strenght and numbers.
An easy comparison could be done with another famous english novel, Robinson Crusoe.
In that case we only have the one survivor on a deserted island but the set up is otherwise similar.
Even in comparison with other works of fiction William Golding's novel appears bleak and pessimistic.
In the case of Robinson Crusoe the protagonist manages to survive and get rescued. His story, in the eyes of its author, shows that with faith in God and the ingenuity of civilized europeans even great hardships can be faced.
Two centuries later, part of that sentiment is still present in "Lord of the flies".
In a few occasions it's mentioned that much would be expected from some english boys.
If you think about the time when the story was written it's easy to imagine how similar thoughts were justified.
Style
Golding's style in this novel is quite matter-of-fact and there's little place for humor.
The boys have to endure very real and practical hardships such as the lack of food, clean water and shelter. They have nightmares and cry into the night. They are exposed to the elements. Their hair grows and their clothes quickly deteriorate.
The approach to talk about these elements is overall quite realistic and there's not too much passion in most of the narration.
The terms he uses will indeed sound a bit strange and dated.
While reading the book I couldn't help but giggle at the author's fascination with the term "orgasm", which is used a good handul of times with its more archaic meaning of "great commotion".
Perhaps you might be more mature than me and you wouldn't find it as funny, but I'll still provide an example.
This seems to be just a choice of the italian translator as I couldn't find its equivalent in the english version.
I will still include its english counterpart below as the whole passage is indeed quite funny.
You can see that humor ( albeit quite dark ) is present in the book but only appears sporadically.
The overall tone of the narration is quite somber and dry.
Conclusions
Overall, this was an interesting read for me. I think that anyone who will try this novel will find himself wondering what he would do in these weird situations and more in general will be excited to find out wether or not the various characters will make it out of this ordeal.
I can't really pinpoint a specific aspect of this book I didn't enjoy and I think it achieved exactly what it set out to do.
I was particularly surprised by how involved and emotional I was towards the end of the story, when one of the characters was in some real danger. I really can't say much more than that but if you've read the story then you'll know 😉
And then, of course, there's the finale which I won't discuss here. However, I can say that I didn't mind how it ended. It really made me wonder what would happen to the characters after the narration ended, the trademark of a good book.
I really do hope my post was useful and some people will read it.
I'm open to critiques and feedback as to how to make my posts better and in general I'd love to interact with people in the comments about the review and the book.
My last post in this community didn't gain much traction but I'll still link it here in case someone might be interested in it.
It's a combined review of "Normal People" by Sally Rooney, "Smilla's sense of Snow" by Peter Høeg and a short book by Stephen King called "The Colorado Kid".
Lastly I will include my physical TBR down here.
"Those who walk away" by Patricia Highsmith
"This Sweet Sickness" by Patricia Highsmith
"Catch 22" by Joseph Heller
"The Master and Margarita" by Michail Bulgakov
"The Tin Drum" by Günter Grass
"The Luck of Barry Lyndon" by William Thackeray
"Atonement" by Ian McEwan
"Cat and Mouse" by Christianna Brandt
"The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman
Happy reading, everyone!