Lord of the Flies
A novel about stranded boys descending into savagery.
William Golding’s first novel, *Lord of the Flies*, came out in 1954. The story follows a group of British boys, not yet teenagers, who are left on their own after a plane crash on an empty island. Their efforts to set up a working society fall apart, and they slide into violent, primitive behavior. The book looks at questions of right and wrong, what makes a good leader, and the conflict between organized society and raw instinct. Critics generally liked it, and it remains a common choice for school reading lists.
Golding got the idea from *The Coral Island*, a children’s book that celebrated British colonialism and Christian values. He found that story unrealistic and asked his wife if he should write a version where children acted as they truly would. Before writing, Golding had taught philosophy and served as a Royal Navy lieutenant, commanding a landing craft during the D-Day invasion in 1944. After the war, the Cold War and fear of nuclear destruction made him think deeply about human nature, which shaped the novel. Many publishers turned the book down—one called it “absurd… Rubbish & dull.” It was finally accepted by Faber & Faber. The original title, *Strangers from Within*, was seen as too vague and direct, so Golding switched to *Lord of the Flies*, a direct translation of Beelzebub, a demon linked to pride and war. Editor Charles Monteith pushed for major changes, including cutting the entire opening section about an evacuation during nuclear war. He also trimmed Simon’s character, removing a scene with a mysterious figure hinting at a god. Golding agreed to the edits, later saying he had lost all objectivity and could barely look at the novel. The revised manuscripts are kept at the University of Exeter library.
The plot starts with a British plane crashing on an island during a wartime evacuation. Only boys survive, all in middle childhood or early adolescence. A fair-haired boy named Ralph meets a chubby boy called Piggy. They find a conch shell, and Ralph uses it to call the others together. Ralph quickly takes charge and is elected chief. He sets three goals: have fun, stay alive, and keep a smoke signal going to attract passing ships. Ralph, a red-haired boy named Jack, and a quiet boy named Simon use Piggy’s glasses to start the signal fire. Order breaks down as the boys grow lazy and ignore Ralph’s efforts. They become scared of an imaginary monster they call “the beast.” Ralph can’t convince them it isn’t real, but Jack gains followers by promising to hunt and kill it. At one point, Jack takes the boys who were supposed to watch the fire to hunt a pig. The smoke goes out, and a ship passes without seeing them. Ralph is furious and nearly gives up being leader, but Piggy talks him out of it.
One night, an air battle happens nearby, and a dead fighter pilot drifts down in a parachute. Twins Sam and Eric mistake the body for the beast. When Ralph, Jack, and another boy named Roger investigate, they panic and run, now believing the beast is real. Jack tries to turn the others against Ralph and leaves to start his own tribe, with most boys joining him. Jack’s group puts a pig’s head on a stick in the forest as an offering to the beast. Flies swarm around it. Simon, who often goes into the forest alone, imagines talking to the head, which he calls the “Lord of the Flies.” The head tells him there is no beast on the island—the real monster is inside the boys themselves—and warns that they will turn on him. That night, Ralph and Piggy visit Jack’s tribe, who now paint their faces and do wild dances. Simon realizes the beast is just the dead pilot and runs to tell everyone, but the frenzied boys, including Ralph and Piggy, mistake him for the beast and beat him to death. Ralph and Piggy convince themselves it wasn’t their fault and let Simon’s body wash out to sea.
Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s glasses in the night. Ralph goes to confront them with Piggy, Sam, and Eric. Roger drops a boulder, killing Piggy and smashing the conch. Ralph escapes, but Sam and Eric are taken. That night, Ralph sneaks to them, and they warn him that Jack plans to hunt him. Ralph tells them his hiding spot. The next morning, Jack’s tribe sets the forest on fire. Ralph barely gets away, running right into a British naval officer who has come ashore to check on the smoke. Ralph, Jack, and the other boys break down crying over the “end of innocence.” The officer is disappointed to see them acting so wild and warlike, then turns away, embarrassed and moved, to stare at his cruiser waiting offshore.
The main characters include Ralph, the athletic and charismatic protagonist who is elected leader and stands for order.
- author
- William Golding
- genre
- Novel
- nationality
- British
- themes
- morality, leadership, civility vs. chaos
Lore & Background
Golding got the idea from The Coral Island, a children's adventure novel with a focus on Christianity and the supposed civilising influence of British colonialism. Golding thought that book unrealistic and asked his wife whether it would be a good idea if he wrote a book about children on an island who behave in the way children really would behave. After the war, the Cold War and threat of nuclear annihilation led Golding to examine the nature of humanity, inspiring Lord of the Flies.
Reader's Guide
Lord of the Flies was rejected by many publishers before being accepted by Faber & Faber. An initial rejection labeled the book as 'absurd... Rubbish & dull'. The draft was titled Strangers from Within, considered 'too abstract and too explicit'. Golding chose Lord of the Flies as the title, a literal translation of Beelzebub, a biblical demon. Editor Charles Monteith worked on major edits, including removing the entire first section describing an evacuation from nuclear war and heavily editing the character of Simon. Golding accepted the edits, writing that he had lost objectivity over the novel. The edited manuscripts are available at the University of Exeter library. The novel subverts colonial narratives found in British books of the period, such as The Coral Island, and explores the duality of human nature through themes of morality, civility, leadership, and the potential for rapid degeneration into chaos.
Did You Know?
- The novel's title is a literal translation of Beelzebub, a biblical demon.
- The draft of the book was titled Strangers from Within.
- Editor Charles Monteith removed the entire first section describing an evacuation from nuclear war.
- The edited manuscripts are available to view at the University of Exeter library.
The Making of a Novelist
R. M. Ballantyne grew up in Edinburgh as the youngest of ten children, educated mainly by his mother and sisters before a brief period at Edinburgh Academy. At sixteen he went to Canada, spending five years trading furs with First Nations peoples for the Hudson's Bay Company. He later credited the long letters he wrote to his mother during that time as the origin of his writing ability. The Coral Island, his second novel, was written in a seafront house at Burntisland on the Firth of Forth. Having never visited the South Pacific, he relied on secondhand accounts, embellishing them with what he described as theatrical violence to thrill young readers. His ignorance produced a well-known blunder—portraying coconuts as soft and easy to open—which led him to vow he would write only from personal experience. Modern scholars have also identified extensive borrowing from James F.
A Founding Text of Boys' Adventure Fiction
The Coral Island arrived during what is often called the first golden age of children's fiction, and it helped establish a template that remains standard in the genre: a story told from the perspective of boys, for boys. Literary critic Minnie Singh identifies this 'congruence of subject and implied reader' as the novel's founding contribution, preserving the moralizing impulse of didactic literature while making it feel natural to its young audience. The book is a classic Robinsonade in the tradition of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and among its central concerns are the civilising power of Christianity, the hierarchies of leadership, and the imperial outlook of nineteenth-century Britain in the South Pacific. Frank Kermode argued the novel could serve as a document in the history of ideas, while professor John Rennie Short emphasised Ballantyne's deep religious conviction and his sense of duty to instil codes of honour, decency, and religiosity in Victorian middle-class boys.
Publication, Profit, and a Bitter Copyright Dispute
It was issued by T. Nelson & Sons, who, like many publishers of the era, purchased the copyright outright rather than paying royalties. Ballantyne received a lump sum of between fifty and sixty pounds. As the novel's popularity grew and editions multiplied, he attempted to buy back his rights but was refused. Despite this commercial frustration, the book has never gone out of print.
Influence, Reassessment, and Enduring Presence
For much of the twentieth century the book occupied a secure place in British primary schools and on American high-school reading lists. Yet modern critics such as Joseph Bristow and Brian Street have challenged its worldview as dated and imperialist, reflecting the assumptions of a Victorian empire that no longer holds moral authority. Despite this critical re-evaluation, the story has not disappeared.
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