“Lord Of The Flies” is a book that most high schoolers read throughout their ninth or tenth-grade year. It follows a group of boys, ages 6-12, that crash on a remote island without any adults or a way to contact the outside world. Taking place in the 1950s around a fictional world war, “Lord of the Flies” is a great book for a language arts class.

William Golding, the author of “Lord Of The Flies,” was in the British Navy during WWII. He worked on ships, and after seeing so much cruelty between people in the war, he thought every human, even a child, could be cruel if needed or even allowed. This idea was one of his inspirations for “Lord Of The Flies.”

“Lord Of The Flies” has four main characters. These are Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Simon. These boys are all in the older age range (about 11-12). There are other important characters, but these boys become the most focused on throughout the book due to their age. Most of the little kids on the island are not named or counted and mostly play and eat fruit. At the novel’s beginning, the kids elect Ralph as the leader, and though Jack feels that he should have been, he is selected to lead the hunters, which keeps him occupied.

The group of boys immediately starts to unravel and become chaotic without an adult or supervisor to help them. Ralph does not have much control over the boys, and Jack begins to paint himself and others in war paint when they hunt; leading to killing becoming easier because the paint allows him to hide from the pain he is enacting on others.

This book is excellent for students to be able to analyze the behavior of others when put into situations such as these. Golding uses the idea of violence to show how people adapt to new conditions. Some cannot resist the idea of power over others which is shown clearly throughout “Lord Of The Flies.” Though others can resist violence, can it stop violence from spreading? If enough people believe in something, right or wrong, it becomes the way of life. When violence becomes the answer in this book, it allows the reader to analyze it. By the end of the book, everyone is wondering; What would you do if you were stuck on an island alone with no one to help you?

“Libguides: US English-Lord of the Flies: Historical Context.” Historical Context – US English-Lord of the Flies – LibGuides at American School of Madrid, https://asmadrid.libguides.com/c.php?g=682384&p=4867765#:~:text=Golding’s%20War%20 Experiences,hand%20the%20horrors%20of%20war.