Name: Matthew Jackson's review of Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Item: Lord of the Flies
Rating: 4
Author: Matthew Jackson

William Golding

William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary small boys marooned on a coral island has become a modern classic. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. As ordinary standards of behaviour collapse, the whole world the boys know collapses with them—the world of cricket and homework and adventure stories—and another world is revealed beneath, primitive and terrible.

Lord of the Flies

tianna

The pile of guts was a black blob of flies that buzzed like a saw. After a while these flies found Simon. Gorged, they alighted by his runnels of sweat and drank. They tickled under his nostrils and played leapfrog on his thighs. They were black and iridescent green and without number; and in front of Simon, the Lord of the Flies hung on his stick and grinned. 

Lord of the flies

Avarni B

There was a sudden bright explosion and corkscrew trail across the sky; then darkness again and stars. There was a speck above the island, a figure dropping swiftly beneath a parachute, a figure that hung with dangling limbs

"We'll have rules!" he cried excitedly "Lots of rules!"

They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormnity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.

Elene

great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped ose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy

A plane crashes on an uninhabited island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast.In this, his first novel, William Golding gave the traditional adventure story an ironic, devastating twist. The boys' delicate sense of order fades, and their childish fears are transformed into something deeper and more primitive. Their games take on a horrible significance, and before long the well-behaved party of schoolboys has turned into a tribe of faceless, murderous savages.First published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is now recognized as a classic, one of the most celebrated of all modern novels.

madeleine

Matthew Jackson

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance. First published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics. Now fully revised and updated, this educational edition includes chapter summaries, comprehension questions, discussion points, classroom activities, a biographical profile of Golding, historical context relevant to the novel and an essay on Lord of the Flies by William Golding entitled 'Fable'. Aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 students, it also includes a section on literary theory for advanced or A-level students. The educational edition encourages original and independent thinking while guiding the student through the text - ideal for use in the classroom and at home.

New Educational Edition

Geoffrey Froggatt

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.”

Out of all the books that were circulating my English classes in high school, this is the one that always caught my attention. The story is also the inspiration for a lot of my favourite survival horror stories. Despite this, I never got around to actually reading it until now. In the midst of a nuclear war, a group of British boys find themselves stranded without adult supervision on a tropical island. They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a civilizing impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal. Lord of the Flies explores the dark side of humanity, the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings. William Golding intended this novel as a tragic parody of children's adventure tales, illustrating humankind's intrinsic evil nature. He presents the reader with a chronology of events leading a group of young boys from hope to disaster as they attempt to survive their uncivilized, unsupervised, isolated environment until rescued. It may look as if Lord of the Flies is just a twisted version of a children’s adventure story. However, there is also a truth concealed deep inside the novel where Golding makes reader conscious of certain issues. The issues it concerns are: society, human nature, good vs. evil, ecological balance and cooperation. This is an allegorical novel where Golding employs the scene of a deserted island and a group of English school boys to serve as a framework, through which he explores the theme of his book. William Golding uses this deceptively simple setup to question just how civilized we really are and how quickly we can descend into a mob of crazies. The question for the reader is whether these are but immature children or an allegory for the adult world and how quickly mob rule can take over and how few dare to go against the herd. This story is a powerful depiction of human nature and its role in the rise and fall of democracy. Central to this story is the theme of fear: how it can be used as a means to control people and how it chisels away at our humanity. I loved the depiction of The Lord of the Flies and how it represented the primeval instincts of power and barbaric nature that take control of Jack’s tribe. This book leaves you feeling uncomfortable as you start to realize that man in a “civilized” society may not be any better. Golding reminds us that we all have the capacity for darkness and cruelty. This story stays with readers long after they have turned the last page because it is so savage, and it’s haunting because it’s clear that this could so easily happen in the society we live in today. This book is so simple and so effective. What makes this book so effective is the realization that our civilization is just one bad set of circumstances away from devolving into warring tribes, and given one bad day, any one of us could regress into our most primal and savage selves.

Meagan Fischer 

A disturbing vision of humanity through the eyes of a 20th century Brit. Says more about the culture in that time and place than humanity as a whole, as the author seems to think.

Melissa Palmer

The people in my school thought that this book was quite a let down and that the ending was bad. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought we’ll it can’t be that great because it’s an assigned reading. It definitely wasn’t the type of book I normally like reading but it was still an entertaining read. 

First things first, the ending. Did they or did they not save SamnEric? They didn’t mention them in the group while they were found. They were my second favorite. Golding better not have killed them off. The already killed off everyone’s favorite. 

Simon was the most relatable and the kindest in the entire book. And yet they tortured him before killing him off. Like ok. Rude much? also the way Piggy died was a bit brutal. Rodger is something else. 

The characters were not terrible but also not good. They didn’t have diverse personalities at all. They thought one thing and didn’t try to see other peoples views. That was kinda annoying to me. 

I did like the general message and themes in this book, which we talked about in class. I wouldn’t reread it, but I’m not mad I read it. 

Alice Perelta

The people in my school thought that this book was quite a let down and that the ending was bad. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought we’ll it can’t be that great because it’s an assigned reading. It definitely wasn’t the type of book I normally like reading but it was still an entertaining read. 

First things first, the ending. Did they or did they not save SamnEric? They didn’t mention them in the group while they were found. They were my second favorite. Golding better not have killed them off. The already killed off everyone’s favorite. 

Simon was the most relatable and the kindest in the entire book. And yet they tortured him before killing him off. Like ok. Rude much? also the way Piggy died was a bit brutal. Rodger is something else. 

The characters were not terrible but also not good. They didn’t have diverse personalities at all. They thought one thing and didn’t try to see other peoples views. That was kinda annoying to me. 

I did like the general message and themes in this book, which we talked about in class. I wouldn’t reread it, but I’m not mad I read it. 

Mia Caven

It was written well but I was so bored. And I hated that every fucking sentence was incoherent… they continued to interrupt each other literally on every. single. page. it was not for my brain my ocd couldn’t take it. good story but couldn’t read again because of its structure.

Andrew John Kinney

I read this book first when I was about 13, and loved it. A couple of years ago, I thought, hey I ought to re-read that, and so I picked it up, and.......it was not nearly as good as when I read it as a teenager. A much better book by William Golding, IMHO, is Rites of Passage, for which he won the Nobel Prize. By the time I read Rites of Passage, I had read Moby-Dick and some other sea-faring literature, so Rites of Passage was a good next book for me, but I would recommend it to anyone.

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us”

“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”

Roisin Ramdhayan 

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us”

“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”

Carmen Vergara

Urdida en torno a la situación límite de una treintena de muchachos en una isla desierta, El Señor de las Moscas es una magnífica novela que admite lecturas diferentes e incluso opuestas. En efecto, si algunos pueden ver en esta indagación de William Golding en la condición humana la ilustración de que la agresividad criminal se halla entre los instintos básicos del hombre, otros podrán considerarla como una parábola que cuestiona un tipo de educación represiva que no hace sino incubar explosiones de barbarie prestas a estallar en cuanto los controles se relajan.

El señor de las moscas

Alejandro de Vistú

«El vocerío del bosque de aproximaba»
Niños abandonados en una isla: nada puede salir mal, ¿verdad? Horrible y hermosa de principio a fin, con descripciones paisajísticas acertadas y sublimes, con cuadros de acción algo aburridos, pero con una lenta y muda evolución de los personajes, de sus pensamientos confusos y vacilantes en un grito que se apodera, amenazante, del cielo.

Mitch Stewart

I did not enjoy reading this book one bit, but I liked the overall message of it. Worth reading.

Intense, transportive writing, horrifying.

Charlie Winchester 

Janna Romano

totally a me problem but i hate reading from the perspective of twelve year olds

Matthew

** spoiler alert **
           I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. The link of the title with the book seems forced, almost as if the author felt compelled to put it in the book in some way, shape, or form.

In the beginning, there are so many characters, names, and switchbacks that we lose track of who is where and doing what. Eventually, as a reader, we tend to grasp onto the two leaders and piggy, and mesh all the rest together as side characters. It gets to the point that it doesn't matter who of these characters are doing what. We just know someone somewhere is doing something. Is it the same side character as we talked about a few pages ago? I'm not sure, and it doesn't matter.

The whole ending to me was also absolutely ridiculous, as if in the event of asking how many people were killed, someone would respond? "Only two were there?" And transport them home with little to no consequence.

I'm sure it's up to us to decide how the children acclimate back into society – but still, the ending was a total drag.

Definitely doesn't live up to the hype or the expected literary novelty.

Interesting but not one I will return to. 

Tracie McMurray

Katerina Matzavinou 

To tell the truth i expected much more of this when i decided to read it. The book has a promising stoty but it is burned by the terrible prose. The story goes around the basic line of how humans can deteriorate if left lawless and try to govern themselves, The fact that all these terrible things are actually done by kids makes it even more disturbing. Other than that anyone can see that its a story based solely on basic archetypes such as the leader,the fat kid etc. It could have been en excellent book if the prose was better and the characters were actually build on, something that never happens. The reader id bombarded with names of boys with none of whom he can relate and none of whom goes beyond the basic characteristics and archetypes.

brianna

i read this for class and had to use it for my final but fuckkk... it was good

poprika

Critical essays and notes on the novel and its author accompany the story of a group of British schoolboys marooned on a desert island

Rachel Braithwaite

good story, terrible and false moral, annoying author, kind of engaging writing.

going to be honest i fell asleep as we were finishing the book in my language arts class so don’t ask me how it ends i don’t know.

Mark Anderson

meg graham

Dana Paduraru

if you read it, please take your time to think about what every character symbolises.

Alyssa Witt

I loved reading this in class.... I would want to join them because I would be able to do a way better job on surviving.... It wasn't even that hard idk, I know I could do bette *yawn*

Alyssa 

really didn't like it. but that was probably because I hated the teacher who taught it to us and made us find all the symbolism.

covey

** spoiler alert **
           okay, it’s only a 4 star because of HOW THR ENDING WENT. i loved piggy. those british shit heads DESERVE DEATH! fuck everyone but simon,piggy, and ralph! I HATE BRITISH KIDS. the facts they were dumb and thought a dead body was a beast?!? british people obvi don’t get education! the writing was nice. it was a long ass build up. i enjoyed it.

Matthew Jackson &
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Matthew Jackson &Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Matthew Jackson &
Lord of the Flies by William Golding