josemaltaca 19/04/2021
A Powerful Book
Lord of the Flies, first published in England in 1954 by William Golding, narrates the story of a group of boys who crash on an island and have to deal with the absence of grown-ups to survive. What seems at first like a great opportunity to be free of society’s ties and to have as much fun as possible turns out as a nightmarish representation of how a community can easily fall apart and be overcome with fear and rage. Therefore, it is not a light book, but dense and full of shocking moments which are surprisingly described with a lot of gore. As a tale of boys who succumb to the tyranny of a cult, it is not comfortable to follow them in their way into darkness.
None of these excellent features would be achieved without the characters that populate the island. Ralph is the older boy, who is automatically elected leader, and tries to be reasonable so that they can find a way out of that desperate situation; Piggy is the chubby boy who has good ideas, but it too needy to be likable and properly heard; Jack is the boy whose early leadership is soon taken away, and resent this fact, undermining Ralph’s actions. Other characters include Simon (an introspect boy), Roger (a psychopath), the twins Eric and Sam and a myriad of little boys (names littluns). This tale is shocking because, in following some of these characters, it is utterly possible to understand their reasons to act the way they do, and the inevitable clash which ensues in the end of the narrative.
Nonwithstanding, the book does not shy away from suggesting parallels between our society and the one created by the boys, as the rise of dictators, the culture of war and aggression and the sensation of freedom of the anonymity are all causes of the fragmentation of the boys' society and its subsequent demise – problems faced even by today’s society. More disturbing, however, is the fact that Lord of the Flies makes us ask ourselves whether the violence is inherent to the human soul, and if ever the common sense is strong enough to triumph in desperate times. This allegory and these themes are very influential, and authors like Stephen King and Suzanne Collins have largely benefitted from Golding’s masterpiece. All these facts contribute to fact that this book is not to be missed.