Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by William Golding. A group of British boys is stranded on an uninhabited island. Through their attempt to govern themselves, the book’s focus becomes a study of human nature and their disastrous attempt to control themselves. The boys take sides in a conflict between two competing human impulses: the instinct to live by rules and respect moral traditions and the instinct to gratify their desires. Individuality does not survive when it conflicts with the group’s collective will, mostly the resulting influence of the more dominant members, two of which are Ralph, who stands for civilization and democracy, and Jack, who signifies savagery and dictatorship.

The boy named Piggy is a central character in the story, and he represents intellect and rationality. At first, his glasses influence him since the group can only get fire by using the mirror to magnify the sun. Piggy is fat, a rule follower, and he is eventually killed. His violent death symbolizes the loss of order, innocence, and savagery that takes over the group.

The potential existence of a beast is used as the main symbol in this novel, and many boys believe the beast is the source of evil on the island. The Lord of the Flies is a reference to the devil, and as the boys fear more and more the beast, as a symbol of the devil, they become more savage and evil.

Simon is a boy who, because of his goodness, is felt to be a protection for the others from the beast, but soon after, he learns that the beast is nothing more than a paratrooper who landed in a tree and died their long before Simon himself is killed.  

Eventually, a British sailor finds the boys on the island, and he is disappointed with what they have become. The boys quickly become just boys again.

Lord of the Flies Quotes

• “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend Piggy.”

• “The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.”

• “We did everything adults would do.

• “The greatest ideas are the simplest.”