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Age Suitability
Add Age SuitabilityJihadiConservative thinks this title is suitable for 13 years and over
Summary
Add a SummarySchoolboys are stranded on an island together. Attempts at a civilized society are made, but as the hope of rescue grows farther away, as the terror of beasts and monsters takes control, the society is fractured. The boys deteriorate into a violent, brutal mob, praising and fearing a "beast" and brutally punishing those against them.
golding reenacts WWII in this book by showing how many young boys crash down into a mysterious island in a plane,and revert to savagery as their hope of survival
A number of English school boys suffered from a plane accident causing them to get stranded in an uninhibited island. The period was maybe during the World War II. Trying to be civilized, they elected a leader for themselves as well started the division of tasks (hunters, fire-watchers, etc). Things turned bad when there's a power struggle between the group leaders, worsened by various sightings of a monster in the island. No, don't think about "Lost" because this is way different.
This novel is about a group of young English boys who miraculously survived a plane crash. They are all alone in this mysterious and inhabited island of lagoons, cliffs, hills, wild pigs, flies and boulders. The author used many literary techniques to add zest to his novel. Character development, defined as a positive or heroic transformation in a character, is so well suited to Piggy – a protagonist in the novel.
Notices
Add NoticesViolence: A pig is killed in a sadistic and brutal way, with its head later stuck on a pike and devoured by flies. A boy is beaten and torn apart by the others, and later another boy is hit by a boulder, flies off a cliff, and has his head bashed open.
Violence: Since the boys are left stranded on the island, many of them turn into savages.Two boys are killed.
Violence: Oh yeah as if the book couldn't get bad enough, 3/4 of the way through they decide to bludgeon a boy to death and then they push another one down a mountain and crush him with a rock....
Quotes
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Comment
Add a Comment"Lord of the Flies" messages are deep, and, as Stephen King says in his introduction, they mean more to us as we learn about society and try to understand human behavior. It's about our good and evil traits, and that we all should recognize them both when they are in our midst. I likely read it for the first time in high school. It meant so much more to me now. It is a book that should be re-read.
Pay close attention to symbolism and imagery. This widely-studied classic makes the argument that human nature is not inherently civilized even more compelling by creating an artificial society of children and showing how rapidly it could become dysfunctional. This is a striking contrast to Western philosophy from Aristotle onwards and consistently popular in tales of island strandings from Robinson Crusoe to Jeff Probst's Stranded trilogy.
This particular audiobook is read by the author - he does it pretty well (far better than Toni Morrison reads her books), especially considering it was recorded in 1977 (I think; I can't quite tell) long before the minor art of reading books for recording was seriously developed. I was surprised by how mild his accent was (it seems Englishmen today have more pronounced accents than they did 40 years ago!). The work itself is exciting and excellently paced; some creative and shocking descriptions, the techniques for which were not overused so one really notices them when they are used; the psychological portraits also are vivid for such a short book.
This was my first classic book, and can I say I enjoyed it. The context was a bit difficult to understand, but past that, it was a book that shows people how not only William Golding sees the world in his time, but how our world has not changed from his world, and that people will never learn how to treat one another.
During a wartime evacuation, an airplane crashes on an uninhabited island stranding a small group of young British school boys. Disaster results when the boys attempt to organize their own society on the primitive island. The writing is excellent, and the story raises many important questions about the nature of evil.
Really great book that shows that a violent nature can dwell even in the best of us. The ending is rather startling and reveals that this violent nature does not just occur on deserted island. Highly graphic, but one of the greatest classics I've read.
The novel Lord of the Flies provides an interesting outlook on our modern day society. The main overall theme of the story suggests that if an individual is removed from a civilized and modernized society, their personalities greatly impact their actions and what they do to survive. In the story, Golding produces many different characters to show us, the readers, the different types of personalities through several different and unique characters. Several qualities are portrayed such as loyalty, thirsts for power and control, anger, leadership and fear.
I really loved this book! I loved the idea of being stranded on an island, and how it portrays human emotions that we all feel; jealousy, anger, revenge. A great classic, while still being modern and having a unique twist to it.
While it is a classic, this book may be too grotesque and unrelatable for some readers. Or perhaps the grotesque quality will appeal to you! The quick dissolution of social norms has larger implications for society as a whole, and may cause the reader to consider humanity's potential for descending into chaos. Or you may be grossed out and annoyed by the immaturity of the characters...
My kids just read this book and it made their stomachs sick. I am really glad I avoided this when I was a kid to avoid the topic of politics and eating other people!?!?!?! What was this writer thinking?!?!?!? It was also extremely boring to discuss. There was so much symbolism that it made my head hurt. There should be a warning on it saying "Before you read this book be prepared to be sick."