Context

On the 13th of June 1940, the start of World War II, many families in Britain evacuated their children away to safe locations to get them away from the danger that Britain were to face by the Germans.

The context in the novel, Lord of the Flies, is during the World War II period on a remote, tropical island. A group of young English schoolboys were fleeing the country in order to save themselves, only to be unluckily shot down by the Germans. They crash-landed onto a remote, tropical island and have been there ever since. The issue of human evil is explored in the book. The deserted island displays nothing but emptiness and isolation from the real world. An example from the novel that supports this isolation from the real world is what Ralph states in an assembly, "We're on an island. We've been on the mountain-top and seen water all round. We saw no houses, no smoke, no footprints, no boats, no people. We're on an unihabited island with no other people on it."
"We may stay here till we die." The island may be uninhabited and have no form of electricity but the novel shows signs of food like pigs and fruit, meaning it would be fairly possible to live on the island.

Golding has depicted many signs and symbols in the novel, specifically on the island. When the plane crashed, it left a huge scar across the beach for the survivors. The scar represented a memory. Like scars on human skin, they would always remain, reminding you of what had happened. At one end of the island is where this scar is, where the plane had most likely crash and skidded across the island, "A long scar smashed into the jungle."

Character

Colin: Hey Andrew! Have you read the novel "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding? It's so good, seriously! You would love it.

Andrew: Hey Colin! LORD OF THE FLIES! OH MY GOD! Yes, I have read it. Man, that was one of my favourite novels of all-time. The way Golding depicted society after the Second World War.. Absolutely genius.

Colin: I know! It's surprising how that might've happened during the Second World War. Like, you know, a group of schoolboys our age get shot down in the their plane trying to leave the country and then have no choice but to stay alive and wait for their rescue.

Andrew: Can you believe some of the boys were only six! Well at least they managed to act in a civilised manner for a while. Ralph! One of the key characters in the novel did a really good job of keeping law and order in their 'mini-society'. He posssess such important personal qualities to keep the story going on and interesting. He has leadership qualities and also has moral integrity, unlike Jack. If I was in Ralph's shoes, I don't think I would have been able to do a better job than him. Don't you reckon?

Colin: Yeah, haha, for a 'while'. Yeah! Ralph did to a great job in trying to keep law and order in their 'mini-society'. It was interesting when Jack started to come in and try to disrupt the law and order that Ralph was trying to initiate. A good example of Jack's disruption amongst an assembly is, "Jack broken in, contemptulously." and also, "Conch! Conch! We don't need the conch anymore." But still, Ralph did a great job, such as when he maintained calmness of the littluns when they told everyone at the assembly that they saw a beast during the night. Ralph reassured them by taking the matter into his own hands and going up the mountain to prove the littluns wrong.

Andrew: Yeah. Coming to think of it, Ralph really is amazing! I would say he's definately the hero/protagonist in the novel. But honestly, I reckon Ralph isn't only of good nature. I think he represents the average man in society. Even though he was the leader, he still did things that degraded himself to the integrity if a savage animal. For example, he participated in the killing of Simon. "That was Simon." and "Piggy, that was murder."

Colin: Yeah, I figured that one of Golding's messages in the text is; the conditions of society are closely related to the moral intergrity of its individual members. In the novel, Golding seems to show the reader that 'ethical nature' is not inherent in humankind. Indeed, there is a certain capacity for evil that resides in all humans. Such as when Simon talks to the pig's head on the stick, which is the Beast itself that resides within him. The 'Beast' actually said, "Fancy thinking the Beast is something you can hunt and kill!", which means that the Beast resides within human beings.

Andrew: Yeah, scary stuff. I wonder if we would be like that if we were stuck on an island? I guess Golding is right. the Beast resides inside all of us. Even the most kind and righteous of people.

Colin: Yeah, the Beast is just like the other side of us, the evil alibi that everyone has within them. Well Andrew, enough discussing for tonight. I'm getting tired now so i'll be off. Goodnight.

Andrew: Alright, goodnight then. Be sure to read Lord of the Flies again!

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies, written by the Noble Prize-winning author William Golding, is about how man destroys society. He has portrayed this novel very well, with clear meaning to what the message is that he is trying to get across to the reader. A group of British schoolboys crash-landing on a deserted island. The boys attempt to maintain law and moral codes among themselves but fail and see the disastrous results.