English literature:
Lord of the flies:
Lord of the Flies (LF) is about the dark side of human nature, and how the bystander effect will
overpower morality and allow normal people to follow the worst leaders. Its key messages are: There
are some savage, animal people in this world, and many will stand by or indulge in their acts without
speaking out. Golding uses characters to represent different aspects of the Freudian psyche to show
how savagery (the id) can take control over the ego and superego. These beliefs were formed by
Goldings service in WW2. He saw civilised people commit terrible acts, causing extreme devastation. He
thought after the war another evil like the Nazis could resurface at any time. Golding's teaching
experience also helped him to understand the psychology and nature of young boys. He had taught in an
all-boys private school for many years and described that he knew young boys with awful precision.
Chapter analysis:
Summary:
Chapters 1-3: A group of boys are stranded on an island after a plane crash. They have a meeting and
Ralph is elected leader, but Jack also wants the job. Ralph, Jack and Simon explore. Jack wounds a piglet,
but hesitates and lets it escape. The littluns are afraid of a beast one of them saw at night. Ralph uses
Piggy’s glasses to light a signal fire that excites the boys, but gets out of control killing one of them.
Ralph spends all his time building shelters with Simon, and is angry that all Jack and the other boys do is
hunt. Jack and Ralph argue, but come to a conclusion. Simon goes into the forest by himself.
Chapters 4-6: Ralph, Simon and Piggy see a ship, but as Jack takes all the boys hunting the signal fire has
gone out. The ship goes without noticing them. The boys come back chanting with a pig, killed by Jack.
Ralph and Jack argue about the fire, and Jack breaks a lens in Piggy's glasses. The boys act out a hunt,
Maurice pretends to be the pig while they dance and chant. The boys hold a meeting to discuss their
fears. A dead airman lands on the island, and is seen by Sam and Eric, who panic. They tell the others
they have seen the beast. The boys hunt and they find castle rock.
Chapters 7-9: Ralph injures a pig while hunting, and when the boys re-enact the hunt Robert is slightly
hurt. Ralph, Roger and Jack climb the mountain in the dark and see the dead airman, thinking it’s the
beast. Jack tries to get elected as chief but he fails. He forms his own tribe and the boys gradually join
him, until only Ralph, Piggy, Sam, Eric and the littluns are left. Jack’s tribe viciously kills a pig, and sticks
its head in the ground as a gift for the beast. Simon finds the head covered in flies – the lord of the flies.
He thinks it’s talking to him. He finds the dead airman and goes back to tell the others what the beast
truly is. Ralph and Piggy go to Jack’s feast and join in for the tribe's hunting dance. Simon stumbles into
the middle of it and they think he is the beast, killing him.
Chapters 10-12: Jack's tribe attack Ralph’s group and steal Piggy’s glasses, so they can light a fire. Ralph’s
group tries to get them back but Sam and Eric are captured. Roger levers a rock off a cliff killing Piggy.
The tribe begins to hunt Ralph and he runs into the forest to hide. He finds the lord of the flies and
destroys it. Jack’s tribe goes into the thicket Ralph is hiding in, and lights a fire to smoke him out. Ralph
runs away and the tribe chases him, when he runs into a naval officer whose ship saw the smoke from
the fire. The boys start crying.
Analysis:
Chapter 1: Piggy finds the conch first and understands how to use it and what it is, but he lacks the
ability to use it due to his asthma (metaphor for leadership and his role). Piggy also mentions an “atom
bomb” and says that all the adults are “all dead”, showing how the outside world is mean and violent.
When the marching choir boys arrive, they are described as “something dark”. The boys try to emulate
,society by having a democratic election that everyone respects, although none of them know who they
are voting for (this shows how democracy in society is often based on lies and we can never really tell
who we are voting for). The boys are excited for an adventure.
Chapter 2: Ralph sets up rules for the boys, based on the school rules, like hands up and taking turns to
speak. Golding introduced the conch as a symbol of democracy,
whoever holds the conch is the one who speaks. Jack is excited about the rules as he gets to punish
those who break them. This starts to show the difference between the two; Ralph wants the rules for
peace, and equality, but Jack wants them for control and power. The boys start to get scared when Piggy
says they may be on the island for a long time, and one of them says they saw a beastie, and his fear
spreads to the others. Ralph tries to calm them down but their fear is irrational; they are children. Jack
says he will look for it when he is hunting, undermining Ralph's authority and using the littluns fear to
get them on his side. As soon as Ralph says to build a fire the rules are forgotten as the boys want to
have fun. The fire gets out of control, burning all the firewood and killing a littlun. The boys are shocked
and ashamed, and change the tone of the novel from an exciting adventure to a serious danger.
Chapter 3: Jack sends the hunters away and tries to kill a pig himself. He has ditched his uniform and
now only wears shorts and “a knife belt”. The lack of clothes shows society’s corrosion, and throughout
the book they lose them more and more. He throws the spear at the pig but misses, showing how he is
no longer held back by society’s desire not to kill. He is becoming more savage. The difference between
the two becomes clearer, as Ralphs is interested in making huts (a home; a society) and keeping the fire
alive, the one thread attaching them to society, whereas Jack is just interested in killing a pig. Golding
uses the tension between Jack and Ralph to show the battle between barbarity and civilisation in every
person. Both play the role of the devil and angle to the boys trying to tempt one to one side of the
spectrum and one to the other. When the argument blows over (barely) Golding shows they cannot
understand each other – they look at each other “baffled, in love and hate”. Jack has to think to
remember his old life. Simon helps the littluns by picking fruit too high for them, showing his kindness.
He provides them with food – like Jack said he would, but he doesn’t ask for obedience or gratitude as
Jack did. He finds a quiet spot in the forest and sits alone. This scene shows Simon as spiritual, and
different from the others. Simon wears “the remains of shorts” and his “feet were bare”, showing how
long it had been since the boys had arrived.
Chapter 4: Violence begins to creep in; Roger and Maurice kick over the littluns’ sand castles, but
Maurice still feels “the unease of wrong-doing”, and leaves ashamed. Roger throws stones at a littlun,
but misses on purpose. He has been “condition” to not hurt others, but he wants to. Jack paints a mask
on his face making him an “awesome stranger” and “liberated from shame” as well as “capable of
anything”. The boys have a chance of escaping, but the fire is out. Ralph, Simon and Piggy see a ship, but
as Jack has taken everyone hunting, the fire has gone out. The boys are losing sight of reason to keep
the fire going, and their desire to hunt is starting to take over. They are upset when they find out about
the ship, as they haven’t completely forgotten about their old lives. This is the turning point in the
action. Jack feels ashamed by his actions and lashes out by hitting Piggy and breaking one of his lenses.
This shows that Piggy’s logical way of thinking is becoming less important. Jack apologises, and hands
out mean, earning the boys respect, and providing food. This foreshadows how he takes over later.
Ralph announces he will call an assembly, trusting in his rules and the conchs’ power.
, Chapter 5: Ralph begins to doubt his ability as a chief and sees his failings. His dirty hair and torn
uniform make him realise how far from civilisation they are. He calls a meeting to remind the boys of the
rules. They are beginning to ignore him and descend into savagery. Ralph sees the fear of the beast is
damaging the group and wants them to “decide there is nothing in it”. Piggy thinks the only thing to fear
is people, and Simon suggests the beast is themselves. No one takes them seriously. Jack insults the
littluns for being scared of the beast, and that it doesn’t exist and also that he will hunt it down. This
gives Jack power. Phil mistakes Simon for the beast foreshadowing his death later. The rules of the
conch are becoming less important, with Jack speaking without it and Piggy and Simon being interrupted
with it. Ralph tells Jack that the only thing they have left is the rules, Jack responds “bollocks to the
rules”. Jack breaks up the assembly to stage a mock hunt. Ralph doesn’t blow the conch to get them
back, afraid they will ignore It and he will lose his power.
Chapter 6: While everyone is asleep the body of a dead airman parachutes from an aircraft battle above
the island. It’s a reminder of the outside war. Sam and Eric see it and think it’s the beast. This means
that now all the boys believe in the beast. Ralph and Jack have different plans to deal with the beast.
Ralph wants to think things through but Jack wants to hunt it immediately. The boy's fear of the beast is
more immediate than their desire to be rescued, tipping the favour towards Jack. Ralph only stays as
leader as he agrees to hunt. Jack forces Ralph to hunt by suggesting he is afraid; Ralph is also afraid of
going to castle rock but he pushes himself through and does it anyway. Jack sees castle rock as a good
fort to stop enemies, while Ralph sees it as rotten, with no food, water or shelter. This shows how
civilization is much more sensible than savagery.
Chapter 7: Ralph feels trapped on the island, feeling “hopeless” and “condemned”. Simons’ prophecy
that Ralph will get back home helps him get control of himself and carry on. This reinforces the idea that
Simon is spiritual. Ralph joins in on one of the hunts, wounding a pig. He sees how appealing it is, and
feels he has earnt an “new respect” after injuring a pig. Jack puts him down saying he threw badly,
trying to keep control of the hunt. The boys re=enact the hunt, and it ends when Jack pretends to kill
Robert. Ralph uneasily reminds them it is just a game. Robert suggests using a pig next time so they can
actually kill it. Jack says they can “use a littlun”. Ralph suggests waiting until morning to climb castle
rock, but Jack challenges him. Neither of them wants to look like a coward Infront of the others. Their
struggle for power overcomes their fear of the beast, and they climb the mountain in the dark, seeing
the airman, but mistaking him for the beast. This shows how the beast is a reflection of their own fear
and savagery based on their unwillingness to be logical.
Chapter 8: Jack tries to take over as chief by holding another election, and loses, but secretly boys go to
join his tribe. Jack uses the beast to gain power, making the others believe he can deal with it. Ralph
dismisses the hunters as “Boys armed with sharp sticks”, similar to the words of the navy officers “little
boys” carrying “sharp sticks”, showing how mature Ralph is. Jack declares himself the leader of the new
group without any democracy. His group slaughters a pig, laughing as they smear it’s blood on their
faces, finding the violence funny, in contrast to Jack's hesitation in chapter 1. Jack leaves the pigs head
for the beast. This shows how his tribe is acting based on superstition rather than reason. Simon finds
the “lord of the flies” seeing it as a representation of evil inside everyone, and is afraid it’s inside him. He
has a choice, accept his savage side and “have fun” or ignore the lord of the fly’s threat that “we shall do