Lord of the Flies

[SVZ]

What are your experiences with this book?

I remember reading this in...Grade 6 I believe, and I loved it!

The relationships between the boys and how they developed and eventually led to their downfall.

I found it interesting that the leaders became the outcasts, and that the sheep became the ones with the power. How people were only useful for their posessions, such as Piggy with his glasses.

[deckchick]

That is an excellent book and film. It is interesting to see the progression of savagery. The pack mentality/peer pressure is so clear in this book/movie. I have watched this movie several times with both my kids, they too find it very interesting.

[buttmunch]

I've never read it for some reason. Is it worth it?

[SVZ]

Yes!! Totally...

Though I don't know if it will have the same effect on you as it did on a 15 year old gay kid

[A*O]

As usual, I prefer to the book to the movie.
It's very cleverly written and the way the plot evolves makes perfect sense when you understand the situation the boys find themselves in.
(I'm being discrete because if anyone has not read this book, you really should).

[buttmunch]

OK, it's on my list. Keep the suggestions coming.

[Glasgow53]

I read this when I was young, too, about the age of some of the boys in the book, and it totally affected me. I so had a crush on Ralph, and I cried for Piggy (No spoilers, but if you read it, you know). I re-read it when I was older and even felt sorry for Jack, because in his own way, he was a mess, too. To me it seemed believable, because I had been to summer camp, and saw how the dynamics of the kids would fluctuate, and imagined that in a more desparate situation (without adults, having to do everything for yourself just to survive) it would be so much worse. If you never read it, you should.

[ourmaninBusan]

I re-read it recently, and it's interesting to see how much of a
moralist Golding was. He firmly believed in a moral order
that transcended our perceptions of good and evil.

SPOILER ALERT about Simon (highlight to read)
The chapter where they hunt and kill one of their own,
pretending he is a 'beast,' vividly illustrates that God and
the Bible were right--after all the boys are asleep,
the body of the 'beast' (Simon) is washed out to sea,
and the author calls the boy Simon again...because
when all is said and done, he wasn't a beast--he was
a boy, and they have committed murder...and when the
Naval officer arrives at the end of the story, he appears
like God, and the boys all burst into tears because of
an attack of conscience, which they cannot extinguish
in spite of themselves. Just because they are immersed in
a jungle doesn't mean they can completely extinguish their
civilized nature.

Of course, there are some who will say that's just conditioning,
and if the boys had been raised on the island things might have
been different...but that's not what Golding wrote.

[A*O]

Golding writes very convincingly about what might happen if a group of boys suddenly find themselves without any adult influence or supervision. They quickly revert to being savages. It's the old Nature -v- Nurture debate.

[mklady]

I never read this book only because I saw parts of the movie. The scene with Piggy was too much for me, I was told I needed to leave the room and I was already up the stairs. Although, working in a day care or going to Chuck E. Cheese will give you examples of behaviors illustrated in the book.

[Algernon]

I've read the book several times. Are there two movies, an older one and a newer one? At any rate, I haven't seen the movie, if it's any good I wouldn't mind seeing it.

Definitely a good read.

[tofucheesecake]

That highlighting trick was clever!

Additional Comment:
I didn't like it - it borderline disgusted me. Partly because boys of that age borderline disgust me (most of the time). However, the theme of humanity reverting to its most primal when left without civilization is also displayed in a really violent, but allegedly quite good Japanese movie called Battle Royale that I am dying to see.

[Glasgow53]

I think the book is meant to disgust you, the fact that boys could be so inhuman toward each other is truly disgusting. I read that book when I was in junior high, and many times since, and the first time it really shocked me, I was approximately the same age as the characters, and could really imagine how it could happen. And Algernon, for some reason I think there are two movies, one older British one, and a newer one, but I could be mistaken, I often am.

[ourmaninBusan]

There are two movies -- one was in 1990, and the other was a
low-budget venture in b&w from 1963, I believe. In spite of the
mediocre sound quality it's actually better.

[alcohol the honey]

The 1990's version was awful.