Lord of the Flies (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: William Golding
- First Published: 1954
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—closed universe
- Time of Work: An indeterminate time in the future
- Setting: A previously uninhabited tropical island
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Science fiction, Near future and distant future fiction, Robinsonade
- Subjects: Power, personal or social, Politics, Murder or homicide, Superstition, Leadership, Future, Alienation, Emotions, Law or legislation, Violence, War, Islands, Death or dying, Good and evil, Human behavior, Cruelty, Loneliness, Totalitarianism, Boys, Pacific Ocean, Reason or reasoning
- Locales: Islands
The Plot
A plane evacuating a group of schoolboys following an atomic war apparently is shot down, but not before a passenger capsule containing children is ejected. Initially happy to enjoy an adult- free, fruit-filled, sunny environment on a tropical island where they land, all the boys are determined to have fun. They soon see the need for governance and choose the “fair-haired” Ralph as their leader.
Ralph, like the others, at first sees the absence of adults as an opportunity to have fun, but he soon feels burdened with the weight of a leader’s...
[The entire page is 1128 words long]
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