A review of "Lord of the Flies"

Essay by Anonymous UserJunior High, 9th gradeA+, January 1996

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The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, an adventure and suspense story, is written in 1857. The story sets on an deserted Pacific coral island. A group of school boys are marooned on this island after a plane crash on a trip to Australia.

The story begins with a large number of school boys on an uninhabited tropical island and two of the elder boys who have leadership qualities compete to achieve a semblance of order so as to survive. Ralph, who has found a conch and blows it to summon all the boys to a meeting, is concerned about the well being of everyone, while Jack is more concerned with making rules and punishing offenders. However, only one firm rule is established by Ralph and that is only the person holding the conch will be permitted to speak at meetings. The two leaders soon discover that they do not like each other because of their difference priorities and the conflict begins between them.

It causes the group to split into two, with Jack=s followers being in the majority.

Ralph is concerned with building shelters, arranging work and on being rescued but Jack only wants to roam the jungle and hunt. The failure to establish rules soon creates confusion and inappropriate behavior encouraged by Jack. Ralph=s only supporter is Piggy, a fat asthmatic boys who nobody likes because he is always lecturing and criticizing everyone=s behavior. Jack bullies him constantly and the other boys make fun of him. Jack and his followers spend most of their time hunting for wild pigs so Ralph=s efforts to organize the group fail. By now, most of the older boys are beginning to act like savages, hunting wild pigs, going into a frenzy when they succeed and celebrate their kill...