| Product: |
Lord of the Flies - William Golding |
| Date: |
27/08/04 (466 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: An enchanting tale of a group of young boys' loss of innocence
Disadvantages: None
Unlike many others who have reviewed this book, I was not forced to study it at school. My sister had trouble studying it for her GCSE examination set text so I agreed to read it and help her with it; and as I remembered enjoying it I thought it?d be worth buying for another read!
PLOT SYNOPSIS
A plane evacuating a bundle of schoolchildren from the horrors of the Second World War crashes into a desert island: the pilot dies and subsequently the children are left to fend for themselves.
The first character we are introduced to is Ralph; a confident, well built, tanned twelve year old. Immediately after, Ralph encounters a short fat boy. Together they celebrate the absence of any adults, free to roam around the idyllic island. Being a naturally trusting character, the fat boy almost immediately confides his nickname the children from his school had given him: ?Piggy.? Ralph laughs and mocks him but Piggy insists that Ralph keep it a secret.
Ralph, still pre-pubescent, removes all his clothes and basks in the glory of his newfound bliss, shortly followed by a rather self conscious Piggy. Ralph boasts that they need not worry about being stranded because his father is a commander in the Navy who will rescue them as soon as possible. Piggy however, panics, worrying that they?ll be on the island until they die.
Together they discover a precious shell in a pool which Piggy identifies as a conch shell. He informs Ralph that if blown in the correct manner the shell will make a loud noise. They decide that Ralph should blow it to alert the attention of the other children who had been on the plane.
As intended, the conch shell?s booming wail attracts lots of children who gather together to meet each other. Amongst the childre
n are a group of choirboys, the head of which is a boy named Jack Merridew. Jack is an over-confident, rather arrogant character and as they all introduce themselves to the group a disagreement arises. Ralph and Jack both believe they should be the ?Chief? of the group, which results in a vote.
Ralph wins the vote and it is decided that the person holding the conch shell is the only person who may speak; anyone wishing to speak must wait for the conch to be handed to them. Being the fair person that he is, Ralph agrees that Jack can maintain control over the choir and that he can choose their purpose. Jack elects the choir to be hunters.
Ralph makes various plans such as building huts for shelter and a fire for a smoke signal in order to attract the attention of any ships that may pass by. It all seems very sensible, orderly, and surprisingly civilised?but how long can it last? Will the boys be rescued? Or what will happen if it all goes horribly wrong?
MY ANALYSIS
It is interesting to note how different people can react to the same situation. Several of the children celebrate the fact that there are no adults on the island but others feel anxious as they are aware that children can?t really cope on their own. They scrape together a rough plan through Ralph: a natural leader. Although Piggy is clearly the most intelligent child on the island, he could never have been considered for Chief because he is physically inferior, too shy, and open to ridicule ? too weak even to blow the precious conch to attract others? attention. I felt this was an accurate portrayal of a group of school-aged boys as they would definitely respect a ?Ralph? character a lot more than poor Piggy.
Coming from a developed world, some of the children find it extremely hard to shed their natural mora
l cod
es to become wild island dwellers; notably Jack. He explores the island, accompanied by his hunters, with the intention of killing a pig to eat. He wrestles with his conscience and finds himself unable to lower his spear into the pig for he realises that after the first killing, there is no going back.
As a group, all the boys initially draw together and make a reasonable effort at sustaining a small community in order to survive. However, as time passes by the groups segregate: the hunters are most loyal to Jack and do as he says; the smaller children (nicknamed ?littleuns?) are of little use, eating fruit all day; and the larger children ?biguns? generally obey Ralph for the benefit of the group.
As yet further time passes; rumours are rife of a ?beast? that roams the island at night time. The littleuns live in fear, with little or no first hand evidence. Understandably, with adults to reassure them of their safety, they fear the unknown and believe everything they hear.
It is great to see Ralph?s relationship with Piggy develop. When they first meet Ralph mocks Piggy and teases him about his asthma (hence the title), but as their time on the island becomes more treacherous Ralph realises that within Piggy lies their biggest chance of rescue and grows to respect him and listen to his ideas.
I would like to analyse further but to do so would ruin the book so I shan?t.
CONCLUSIO& #78;
I enjoyed this book, perhaps not as much as I had expected to second time round but I think that was probably because I bought about four books and saved it until last to read. I think I built it up too much in my head. In saying that though, I am not criticising it in the slightest because I distinctly remember I enjoyed it very much the first time I read it a
nd I t
hink it rightfully deserves its status as a ?classic?.
This is a great story about the loss of innocence of a group of boys and I think it?s a brilliant to read at any age because there are so many different things that you can gain from reading it.
I particularly enjoyed this book because there are no slow moving sections or ridiculously long build ups to important events (something I really hate when reading novels). It starts with the aftermath of the plane crash and rockets forwards from there without actually seeming rushed.
William Golding achieves everything that is required to make his point in 225 pages of plain, simple English which anyone could understand, what more could you want?
ISBN 0-571-19147-9
£3.99 from www.amazon.co.uk
carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©
Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php
Capital letters courtesy of: http://www.chuckleweb.co.uk/fixit.php
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