Lord of the Flies is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. The novel's themes include morality, leadership, and the tension between civility and chaos.
Source: Lord of the Flies – Wikipedia
I read William Golding's Lord of the Flies a few years ago when it was one of the options in the literature circles. I remember the death of Piggy, but nothing else particularly stayed with me.
It is interesting rereading this after reading the commentary around how the historical case was different. I wonder if that is the fault of the book or the fault of the reader? The seed that may have produced the idea (along with The Coral Island) does not need to be reflected in the actual novel? With the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I have been listening to a range of podcasts reflecting upon World War II and the Nazis. It leaves me thinking about the history that is forgotten because nobody was able to pass it on. With this in mind, if a bunch of boys had been marooned on a tropical island, without any sense of order, how long would they last until they had [depleted all of the resources](Galapagueana | Pirates, whalers, settlers and scientists), such as pigs and fruit trees?
I listened to the book via Libby.
Marginalia
“Maybe," he said hesitantly, "maybe there is a beast." […] "What I mean is, maybe it's only us.”
“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.”