Book: Lord of the Flies
Author: William Golding
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Completed this for the 52 Book Club Challenge Prompt #16 (Deux Ex Machina).
A group of boys is stranded on an empty island after a plane crash.
At first, it is all fun and games, and then it is briefly orderly. But before long, all descends into chaos and darkness.
I first read this in High School, and it was a book that left a lasting impression on me.
While I didn’t remember all the details, its darkness and despondency lingered in my memory for decades.
When I got the chance to re-read it, I jumped at it.
My feelings about some of the characters shifted – I remember feeling much more sympathetic towards Piggy back in the day – while on this read I found him a little obnoxious.
There are some other characters and plot points that I had forgotten altogether.
It is a story about human nature – and the tendency of humans to devolve into primal instincts and violence, competing for resources, and ignoring all we have been taught through “civilisation.”
It also examines power – how it is gained, how it is asserted, and how it is lost. What things move the masses.
It is surprisingly relevant today, when it seems far easier to unite people through blanket hate and the desire for destruction, than complex emotions like compassion and love.
It shows how fear can propel certain types of leaders to power and channel humans towards terrible deeds.
I’m glad I re-read this although it was a difficult book to revisit.
It’s a complicated commentary on humans and society.
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