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The Lord of the Flies By Tyler, Veronica, & Annie
Major Characters Ralph - The protagonist, the twelve-year-old English boy who is elected leader of the group of boys stranded on the island. Piggy - Ralph’s “lieutenant.” A whiny, intellectual boy. Piggy represents the scientific, rational side of civilization. Jack - The antagonist, one of the older boys stranded on the island. Jack becomes the leader of the hunters but longs for total power and becomes increasingly wild, barbaric, and cruel as the novel progresses. Roger - Jack’s “lieutenant.” A sadistic, cruel older boy who eventually murders Piggy by rolling a boulder onto him. Simon - in some ways the only naturally “good” character on the island, behaves kindly toward the younger boys and is willing to work for the good of their community. Simon is the only character whose sense of morality does not seem to have been imposed by society. Simon represents a kind of natural goodness. The Lord of the Flies - The name given to the sow’s head that Jack’s gang impales on a stake and erects in the forest as an offering to the “beast.” The Lord of the Flies comes to symbolize the primordial instincts of power and cruelty that take control of Jack’s tribe.
Summary of TLOTF • After a plane wreck leaves a group of young boys stranded on an uninhabited island, the boys must learn to fend for themselves and survive. Quickly, the boys decide to vote Ralph as their chief. Ralph is primarily concerned with preparing shelters and retaining a smoke signal in case rescue boats sail by. Ralph befriends Piggy, a very smart but chubby and uncoordinated boy who is teased by the others. Ralph struggles to maintain order in the small tribe of boys, and urges them to keep the smoke signal lit. The younger boys, called the “littluns,” are not interested in working, and another older boy, Jack, craves the power that Ralph has. Jack was given control of a group of hunters who try diligently to kill wild pigs for meat. Once Jack and his hunters are successful, they begin to ‘live’ as hunters, ignoring Ralph’s calls for order and favoring the savage lifestyle of wild hunters. Tension between Ralph and Jack continues to build while Piggy takes Ralph’s side and Simon, a quiet, peaceful boy, remains neutral. The others believe that Simon is “batty” because he prefers to be alone and sit quietly in the woods.
Summary cont. • The littluns become increasingly worried that a “beastie” is living in the forest. Jack declares that his hunters can protect them from the beast. With each new pig they kill, the hunters become more and more savage, singing hunting songs and painting their faces while dancing around the fire. Ralph and Jack continue their hostility towards one another. While military planes battle overhead, a dead parachutist floats down and lands on the island. When two of the boys see it, they believe it is the beast. The boys all go to hunt the beast, but are obviously unsuccessful. Jack decides he is sick of following Ralph, and creates his own ‘enemy’ tribe on the other side of the island. Simon has climbed the mountain by himself, and realizing that the beast is really only a dead parachutist, drags his weary body back to the other boys to tell them the news. Meanwhile, Ralph has desperately led his tribe to Jack’s in order to eat the meat that only Jack’s hunters can kill. While performing their savage hunters dance, the hunters become so engulfed in savagery that as Simon crawls out of the woods to them, they brutally murder him in the heat of the moment. Ralph’s tribe returns to their side of the island, obviously shaken and distraught from seeing Simon’s death.
Summary cont. 2 • Jack’s tribe has grown to include all of the boys except for Ralph, Piggy, and two twins named SamnEric. Jack’s tribe raids Ralph’s shelters in order to steal Piggy’s glasses so that they can make fire. In response, Ralph’s tribe marches down the island to Jack’s place to demand the glasses back. Once there, SamnEric are taken by Jack’s tribe, and Ralph fights with Jack. Jack instructs his tribe to throw rocks at Ralph and Piggy, and when one hits Piggy on the head, he dies suddenly and Ralph is now alone. Ralph escapes into the forest, knowing that Jack’s tribe will pursue him. When Jack’s tribe hunts Ralph with the intent of killing him the next day, Ralph has no choice but to run for his life. All of the boys are now trying to kill Ralph. They burn the entire forest in an attempt to smoke him out. As he narrowly escapes the savage killers, he runs into a naval officer who has come to rescue the boys. Immediately, the boys all stop their murderous hunt and break into childish sobs.
Explanation of themes • Civilization vs. savagery- Ralph is the symbol of civilization with his constant thoughts of being rescued and shows signs of leadership. His civilization keeps the boys organized in the beginning of the novel, but then Jack the symbol of being a savage convinces most of the boys to be under his rule. Jack, the leader of the hunters becomes obsessed with the killing of the pig, begins to paint his face and encourages the other boys to fallow him. The two boys show how island affected the thought of civilization and savagery. • Loss of innocence- In the beginning of Lord of the Flies and at the end the boys have all changed significantly. The beginning chapters show how the boys all were used to fallowing rules, for example the idea of the conch shell. The boys all understood the rules of who ever had the shell could talk. By the end of the novel the boys had no intention of listing to who ever had the conch. They had changed so much that they started to paint the there faces and hunt animals. Golding is telling us that evil is inside all humans and that we would leave behind civilization for being savage.
Explanation of literary devices Personification: • “Then the sea breathed out again in a long slow sigh...” • “but on the other the fire thrust out a savage arm of heat…” Imagery (GREAT AMOUNT of this): • “the thing was crawling out of the forest. It came darkly, uncertainly…” • “It was clear to the bottom and bright with efflorescence of tropical weed and coral.”
Explanation of literary devices Symbols: • The beast – Represents evil and animalistic urges within all men. In the beginning, all are afraid of losing control and meeting ‘the beast;’ the savagery that eventually kills Simon and Piggy. • The conch shell- Ralph uses the conch shell to hold meetings in an orderly way. The shell represents order and civilization, which is why Jack refuses to honor it. • Simon – A Christ-like figure who is wholeheartedly good. Can represent nature or Christ.
Social/Historical Relevance • Lord of the Flies was written in 1954 during the Cold War but was influenced by World War II. The feelings form WWII brought on the inspiration for the Lord of the Flies theme. The thought that people are warlike, savage and evil, helped Golding bring the story to life with his examples using young boys on a deserted island. The boys are the example of what was happening during Golding’s life in the war.
Evaluation This book was an easy read compared to the other novels we’ve read. It was obvious that the theme of the book dealt with the aspects of good and evil and how people are manipulated by both sides of the spectrum. Overall, this book was fun to read and kind of played out like a movie on paper. The book started off kind of slowly, introducing each character’s personality. However, the last three chapters of the book moved very quickly because this is where the majority of the action took place.
