I picked this book up with little expectation. All I previously knew about this was the fact that a group of boys are unleashed into a wilderness, and are made to fend for themselves. Little-little-LITTLE! did I figure that there’s more to this than a simple story. [Don’t judge a book by its cover, DC… Don’t!]
(Oh, and this may not the survivalist book you’d want, I think. You’d get more tips from Robinson Crusoe :D)
This started out rather slow for me. Too random, too detailed, too matter-of-fact. The history of what happened to them, the boys playing and lounging about, the seemingly nonsensical talk between mates. Don’t let this fool you, though. Each and every movement here has an underlying meaning– even an innocent-looking shell.
The boys here all have their own personalities, though some, of course, tend to be more pronounced than the others. We see in here leaders (civilized and savage), unleashed terror (mental and real) and intellect (pretend and actual). We see in here the thin line that divides fantasy and reality. We see in here the game that we think we play, as opposed to the game that we actually play.
In short: we see here our purest forms, without the touch of social convention.
By using young bodies to play this gruesome tale, Golding shows us that it *may* take very little for humans to shed their inhibitions once the heavy eye and arm of society has removed their attention from them. After all, wouldn’t you just want to stop everything you’re doing, and live free and unbound around close chums? Golding also shows us how very easy it is to deceive ourselves (and others) if we have pride, if we have skill, if we have determination. If we want power over others.
(Thinking about it, we may actually see a little piece of us in each of the boys here.)
This is not a survivalist book. This is, however, about the survival of the fittest. Note that having a fit body may be different from having a fit mind.
Final thoughts:
– I’ve always felt something for Piggy, although he annoys me, like a little grain of conscience.
– Simon’s a favorite with me.
– Jack is terrifying, but Roger more so.
– Ralph = “greatness thrust upon us”
– This is a deep, dark book.
This book isn’t meant to be read lightly. This is a discourse on our passions, on our darkness, on our hate. While the events in this book are haunting in themselves, the ideas that revolve around it are so much food for thought – if you’re willing to chew on it. Don’t expect a fairytale ending, because though it seems resolved in your eyes, there is – and probably will be – an ongoing turmoil past the end of this book’s pages.
Read on, but tread carefully. Someone behind you may be calling for blood.
Other update(s):
-The first few pages really turned me off… But then the events started making weird (non)sense, and I ended up liking this. A lot.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
