Lord of the Flies (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: William Golding
- First Published: 1954
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fable
- Time of Work: The future, during a nuclear war
- 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
Places Discussed
Pacific island. Unnamed tropical island on which the novel is mainly set. The island serves as a metaphor for society in general, providing the setting for the boys’ trials and adventures. Through the use of the only symbol of authority they have, a conch shell, they try to re-create British civilized society. The conch, like a whistle, yields an assembly of older boys and “littluns.” Throughout the novel, the group who identify themselves as choir boys, and are under the leadership of Jack, progressively stray from the civilized behavior of the assembly...
[The entire page is 701 words long]
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