Lord of the Flies

By William Golding

Reviewed by Chandan Somani

Fall 2016

REVIEW: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

ISBN#: 9781573226127

THE STORY:

A group of boys are left stranded on an island after surviving an airplane crash. Ralph, who is one of the oldest boys, is elected chief. Ralph tries to organize the boys to make it easier to become rescued. Piggy, a chubby boy with glasses, always concurs with Ralph when it comes to keeping a lit fire to attract ships and is also the most sensible one out of all the boys. Ralph’s most substantial problem is Jack, a strong and powerful boy who competed with Ralph to become chief. In one incident, instead of keeping the fire lit like
he was supposed to, Jack and his hunters went chasing after pigs. When Ralph found, he was furious because a ship had happened to pass by but did not see them because Jack allowed the wind to subdue the fire. From this moment on Jack and Ralph became bitter enemies. Jack especially despised the way Ralph made conservative decisions instead of bold ones. This anger causes Jack to form a new tribe where he is chief and he invites anyone who wants to join. To help the reluctant boys make a decision Jack throws a feast to show the boys what they would be doing in his tribe in the future. Ralph realizes that Jack has turned his tribe into a group of savages, which makes him remember how dirty and uncivilized he is. Subsequently, Jack ends up capturing or killing all the remaining boys in Ralph’s group. Everyone in Jack’s tribe is out to kill Ralph, who is considered as a traitor. Ralph figures this out, registers the fact that he is on his own, and knows that he must try to survive by outsmarting his enemies and using his superior intelligence. (293)

MY OPINION:

This book caught my attention because I love stories about people being stranded on islands. Early in the story, the author does a stupendous job of characterizing and introducing the characters. The sophisticated and figurative language allows you to almost enter the story and marvel at the setting. In the story, one main struggle the characters had were working with each other, which helps demonstrate the importance of always having strong leadership and rules. I could relate to the young boys in the story who sometimes decided to play and frolic instead of fulfilling their duties. This book does give you a small view on what it could be like to live in a tribe on an island. Whether it was the lack of common sense displayed or the constant annoyance provided by some characters, the author was always giving me something to think about. There were a few parts of the book that were difficult to understand due to the high level language, and for that reason I would recommend this book to people who are in late middle school or early high school. This book was definitely very fun to read, so I would give it a nine out of ten stars review. (205)

STUDY QUESTIONS AND VOCABULARY:

FIRST SECTION

1. Why can’t Piggy run?

1a. Piggy can’t run because he has asthma (pg 3)

2. What does Ralph use to gather all the boys?

2a. Ralph blows on a conch to call all the boys to him (pg 13)

3. Who is elected to become chief of the boys?

3a. The boys have an election and Ralph becomes chief (pg 20)

4. How did the boys light up the dry branches?

4a. The boys use Piggy’s specs to concentrate the sunlight on to the branches, and they created a fire (pg 42)

5. Why was Ralph so mad at Jack and his hunters?

5a. Ralph was angry because a ship had passed by, but because Jack went hunting instead of watching the fire, the fire was subdued by the wind (pg 74)

Upheavals (pg 4)

Decorous  (pg 11)

Suffusion  (pg 20)

Recrimination  (pg 45)

Foundered (pg 60)

MIDDLE SECTION

6. Who has shown the most hindrance to Ralph’s decisions?

6a. Jack has shown the most hindrance to Ralph’s decisions by constantly arguing with him (pg 101)

7. Who is the only person allowed to speak during meetings?

7a. Only the person with the conch is allowed to speak (pg 90)

8. Who claims to have seen the beast?

8a. Sam and Eric claim to have seen the beast while watching the fire

9. Why is Ralph constantly becoming frustrated?

9a. Ralph hates how the boys would rather play all day instead of work on being rescued (pg 122)

10. Why does Jack leave Ralph?

10a. Jack leaves Ralph because he feels like Ralph is a coward who isn’t fit to be chief (pg 134)

Convulsion (pg 84)

Mimicry (pg 101)

Leviathan (pg 118)

Traverses (pg 131)

Fervor (pg 152)

                               

LAST SECTION

11. Who is the Lord of the Flies?

11a. It is the head of a pig that attracted a lot of flies (pg 157)

12. Why does Jack hold a feast?

12a. He wants to split from Ralph and show everyone why they should join him (pg 173)

13. What did Jack steal from Piggy?

13a. He stole Piggy’s glasses in order to light a fire (pg 194)

14. How is Ralph changing?

14a. Ralph has tried to stay civilized, but while being hunted, he has turned into a savage himself (pg 224)  

15. How was Ralph able to be rescued?

15a. The Navy were able to see the smoke coming from the burning island (pg 233)

Furtive (pg 166)

Tremulously (pg 172)

Tendrils (pg 190)

Antiphonal (pg 218)

Incantation (pg 234)