Lord of the Flies.
A perfect description of childhood.
The follies of a child alongwith their unfettered imagination, innocent hopes and fears, their taking charge of things and subsequent strife for survival- everything woven into a simple story about a group of young boys stranded on an island.
Account of the 'littleuns'- their actions, thoughts, games and fears will bring a smile on your face. The blissful ignorance of death and tragedy is what helps the little protagonists to smile. Yet, it is the intution of danger, the knowledge that they are not at home and that something that might hurt is near is what helps them survive.
They are wicked, all right. Wicked just like you'd expect a child to be. They'll be mean to each other, will laugh when the other falls, hurt each other, but in the end they are comrades in arms. They huddle together in fear. The older ones assume the role of grownups. But in them too, we find such naive emotions- raw and pure, that even the acts of sheer stupidity cannot be blamed. At one place, we find that the kids are still under the influence of the society and the civilizatioan they come from. The guilt of wrongdoing is proof enough and so is the proud declaration of the English being best at everything.
Halfway through the book, you realise this is not an adventure story of a few boys stranded on an island. Golding has achieved a mastery over symbolism. The children all become mere characters of a fable, part of the huge symbolism that this whole story is woven around. While Ralph is the voice of system, of morality-he is the Superego, Jack is nothing but the personification of Id- that basic instinct that pays head to nothing but the simple formulae of pleasure and pain, Piggy is the voice of all that is reasonable and rational-the Ego and Simon, Samneric, Percival- are all humans, stuck between Id, Ego and Superego. The last quarter of the novel is nothing but horror. There is murder and buchery. These are not acts that you can ignore merely on account of the perpetrators being children. They are acts that bring to light the 'defects of the society via the defects of the human nature'(as was said by Golding in an interview).
The novel is a psychological comment, yet it is not a bore. Perhaps a mention of Speluncean Explorer's case is much called for at this juncture. If you like this book, then this case is worth reading. Think not from the glasses of law, think not from the glasses of what you have been taught is right or wrong, think and try to see without any glass. You will then be thinking, feeling, listening, speaking- all through your heart. And that is what the book deserves. A pure unbiased, unprejudised, uneducated, untrained thought on the human society- the political system, the moralities we have defined for ourselves and our basic nature.
Why read?
For a book that'll make you think.
You like AND UNDERSTAND symbolism, psychology and philosophy.
For the first part of the book, which is nothing but a beautiful description of a child's innocence that will make you smile.
Why not read?
Nearing the end, the book becomes a horrifying tale of how a bunch of kids lost their innocence.
Unless you understand symbolism and basic psychological concepts of Id, Ego and Superego, the book is nothing but an adventure story.
The description at some places becomes boring and you will be tempted to skip those pages.
Where to download?
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