“I don’t care what they call me,” he said confidentially, “so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me in school.” Ralph was faintly interested. “What was that?” The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Ralph. He whispered.
“They used to call me Piggy!”
For the rest of the story, the boy’s called Piggy. This is one of the funny things in the book, there’s a lot of cruelty besides that. There’s an interesting contrast between the two main characters Ralph and Jack. Besides Piggy, Ralph and Jack there’s about 30 other kids who have been crashed on an inhabited island. Ralph is a rational goodguy, who’s been chosen to be the leader of everyone on the island. He creates a fair system so that everyone has the right to speak as long as they are holding the conch. Jack’s only responding to the emotional part, he wants to go hunt instead of waiting around the fire and hope to be rescued like Ralph does. The writer discribes how one handles a crisis-situation in a very interesting way.
The story is realistic and the way the main character reacts is the way most people would react. Also it’s interesting to read from the point of view from children, it’s notable that the boys remain very calm dispite the great fear. Because Golding discribes the island beautifully, the reader gets the time to think about what will happen next. Besides that it’s nice to think about the beauty of an island instead of the problems happening on the island.
The book is published in 1954, just after the second world war. Lord of the Flies is an old classic, widely praised. William Golding wrote this book because of the cruelties he saw during the second world war, he worked for the British navy. In an interview he spoke about the time he served the navy, he said “man produces evil, as a bee produces honey.” This gives a good image of how Golding thinks about people. Golding has taught English and philosophy, in his personal journal he wrote stories about two groups of boys set against each other. That’s a possible inspiration to write Lord of the Flies. Golding’s father was a really rational man, someone who has had a big influence on Golding’s life. The book could be categorized as drama, adventure or as a thriller. It has been turned into a movie twice, once by Peter Brook in 1963 and once by Harry Hook in 1990.
Because of the writer’s knowledge of psychology, enormous fantasy and personal experiences the bookt is credibly written. The reactions of the kids after an assembly are logical and easy to follow for the reader. That makes it possible to believe everything that’s happening in the book eventhough there are things that are hard to understand because they are so cruel.
This book really tells what people are willing to do to survive or to get power. The writer used his personal experience and psychological insight to write a book that will leave you thinking for long after the book is finished.
http://www.shmoop.com/lord-of-the-flies/identity-quotes-all.html
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